- Oxford Leadership Academy
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The Oxford Leadership Academy (OLA) is an international leadership consultancy based in Oxford, United Kingdom. The firm specialises in values-driven leadership development , strategy execution and culture change in complex global organizations. The company aims to improve the social responsibility and ethical commitments of business leaders. It has 200,000 alumni and 215 people in 28 countries.
Contents
Philosophy
The company supports the corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement, a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. Brian Bacon, OLA's President says: The company’s consulting processes and approach to leadership development are influenced by the work of Willis Harman, Ken Wilber, Peter Senge, Joseph Jaworski and Margaret Wheatley.
Programmes and services
The main activities of the company are consulting in strategy execution, leadership development and culture change for multinational corporations. It also undertakes pro-bono work in support of non-profit organisations, including Girl Scouts USA and the British Red Cross.
History
The company had its origins in Australia in 1983 when Brian Bacon formed the management consulting arm of global advertising agency DDB Needham. The company supported the implementation of global marketing strategies for the Ford Motor Company, McDonald’s, P&G and Glaxo from 1983 to 1989. In 1990, the company separated from DDB Needham, and became International Pacific Consulting (IPC).
From 1990 to 2000 the company worked with the micro-economic reform agenda of the Australian Federal Government, mainly on organisational reform in federal government, the national power industry and telecom sector as well as for global clients such as Volvo, Ericsson, Scandia, Pharmacia and Levi’s; and international agencies including the ILO and the United Nations in Geneva and New York.
The CEO, Brian Bacon, served on the WBA Board as Regional Vice-Chair for Europe from 1988-1996. He considers the thought leadership of [1] World Business Academy co-founder Willis Harman, to be a major influence in the work of OLA. In 1996, IPC Worldwide was engaged by Karen Jespersen, then the Danish Minister of Social Affairs, to engage prominent business executives to contribute to the debate on the social responsibility of enterprises and to encourage businesses to take initiatives which are designed to increase the social well-being both of their own staff and the local community in which they are located. More than 250 delegates from international companies and organisations, along with ministers and representatives of 17 governments were invited to discuss new partnerships for social cohesion at a conference on 16–18 October 1997 [2]. This initiative, known as ‘New Partnerships for Social Cohesion’ involved representatives of international business in a "think-tank’ in conjunction with members of the European Commission, the International Institute for Labour Studies (ILO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) , the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) , the Japan Institute of Labour and representatives of Danish labour market organisations. This effort resulted in the formation of The Copenhagen Centre, which later became the Danish Centre for CSR in the Danish Commerce and Companies Agency.
Seeking to continue this work further, in 1999 IPC Worldwide joined with Oxford Research in Denmark (representative of Oxford Analytica in the Nordic countries ) to form Oxford IPC Worldwide, a strategic management consultancy firm. In 2000 the company entered into a new phase of growth with major strategy execution consulting assignments for McDonald’s (2002–present) and for the Mexican Government. Brian Bacon was a special advisor to Mexico President Vicente Fox from 2000- 2006. On behalf of the Mexican Government Office of Innovation and Quality he led the leadership development and strategic focusing of several Government Ministries and the Cabinet of the President. During this time, the company also supported the EU with the Balkans Stability Pact in conjunction with Swedish Government Agency, International IDEA International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, working closely with Foreign Minister Anna Lind.
The company relocated its headquarters, UK to Oxford in 2005 and became the Oxford Leadership Academy. The founding directors of OLA were Dr Kim Moller, Dr Ron Nahser, Alan Johnson and Brian Bacon. Oxford Leadership Academy opened its offices in UK, Denmark and Hong Kong in 2005; Stockholm, Sweden in 2009; San Francisco, USA in 2010 and Madrid, Spain in 2011.
OLA is engaged in the leadership consulting and training of top management teams for multinational clients including Unilever, Telefónica, AkzoNobel, BASF in 28 countries. it also provides pro-bono leadership training for non-profit organisations including the Girl Scouts USA and the British Red Cross.
Administration
Cyril Legrand is Chief Executive Officer since May 2011. He was previously a senior executive with French multinational Pernod Ricard in Asia before joining Oxford Leadership as Director of Client service in 2009. He is an alumnus of HEC in Paris and Oxford Said Business School.
Dr. Kim Moller is co-founder and President of Oxford Leadership in Nordic Region and Chairman of the Oxford Research, a sister company of Oxford Leadership. He is a strategist and researcher, formerly with Copenhagen Business School.
Brian Bacon is Chairman and Founder of Oxford Leadership Academy. He was previously a Founding Trustee and President of World Business Academy. He was a mentor and strategy advisor to McDonald’s CEO Charlie Bell from 2002 to 2005; a special advisor to Mexican president Vicente Fox and the Office of Government Innovation from 2002 to 2006. He was a special advisor to the Swedish Government in the modernization of the Foreign Ministry from 2004 to 2006. He is a former visiting scholar at the International Institute of Labour Studies in Geneva and has been an advisor to the governments of Australia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Thailand and Sweden.
The Supervisory Board of Oxford Leadership Academy comprises Brian Bacon (Chairman) UK, Andre Bischoff (Commercial Director) UK, Cyril Legrand (CEO) France, Thomas Hurley (President USA), Juan Carlos Murillo (President Mexico), Ken O'Donnell (Vice Chair Latin America) Brazil, Juan Rovira (Vice Chair Iberia) Spain, Dr Kim Moller (President Nordic) Denmark, Lasse Wrennmark (Head of Leadership Training)Sweden, Kazemaru Yukawa-Bacon(Human Sustainability Division) USA, Dr Erika Kleestorfer (Senior Fellow) Austria.
Awards
In 1997, Brian Bacon was awarded the Willis Harman Award by the [3] World Business Academy, inspired by the work of Willis Harman, a social scientist who articulated the possibility for humankind to transcend the limits of outmoded thinking.
In 2006, Brian Bacon received the INNOVA Award from the Mexican president Vicente Fox,[1] one of only 10 commendations given by President Fox to individuals and institutions who made a special contribution to the Republic of Mexico during the Presidential term of Vicente Fox.
References
- ^ "Lanza Presidente nueva gasolina". Reforma (Mexico). 2006-10-20.
- OLA. "Interview regarding business leaders and change.", Sox First website, 25 October 2007.
- OLA. "Speech to the BCA 2007 Annual Dinner.", Business Council of Australia website, 24 October 2007.
- OLA. "Book article.", Educate and Innovate in Sustainability by Rodrigo C. da Rocha Loures, 2009.
- OLA. "Article for crisis leadership blog.", Managing Self in a Crisis, 10 July 2009.
- OLA. "Article for Fieldnotes.", Leadership in Times of Crisis, 29 May 2009.
- OLA. "Interview for the Brisbane Times.", Dance to a Different Drum, Leon Gettler, 24 October 2007.
- OLA. "Quotations used in article for EnlightenNext Magazine.", The Business of Saving the World, Elizabeth Dabold.
- OLA. "Article for the Business Council of Australia.", The New Paradigm of Business in Society: A Purpose Beyond
the Product, 24 October 2007.
- OLA. " The Graduate Management Association of Australia Inc (GMAA) - Presentation excerpts.", Changing the Trajectory of Your Life during Turbulent Times, 16 August 2004.
- OLA. "Article for AZCentral.com", Girl Scouts tap into business leadership model, Christia Gibbons, 5 June 2008.
- OLA. "References in article for The Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeast Europe", Building a Future Together, 7 September 2007.
- OLA. "Article for the Smart Company website.", Purposeful leadership, Marcia Griffin, 7 August 2007.
- OLA. "Article for the Knowledge Futures blog.", Brian Bacon presentation, Luke Naismith, 28 July 2007.
- OLA. "Interview with Fieldnotes.", Shifting the Currents, Susan Szpakowski, November 2004.
- OLA. "References with article for the Democratic Dialogue Network.", Inter-ethnic dialogue as a personal and collective healing process, Sheila Cannon, 30 July 2004.
- OLA. "References in article for ProgressMedia.ca", 'PowerUP Canada: from idea to action, David Holt, 2008.
- OLA. "Article on the Thailand Tsunami of 2004", 'TSUNAMI: MEANING and REFLECTIONS, Brian Bacon, 2005.
- OLA. "BCA News", 'Brian Bacon keynote speaker at BCA 2007,
- OLA. "Article on Jornale website", Mirian Gasparin , 17 August 2009,
- OLA. "Article on Bebel Ritzmann's blogspot", Bebel Ritzmann , 17 August 2009,
- OLA. "Article on FIEP website", 17 August 2009,
- OLA. "Article on CNI website", 2009,
- OLA. "Article on Unindus website", 2009,
- OLA. "Article on Cesarabicalaffe website", 2009,
- OLA. "Article on Plantao website", 2009,
- OLA. "Article on Unindus website", 2009,
- OLA. "Article on Net Marinha website", 2009,
- OLA. "Article on Acimacar website", 2009,
- OLA. "Article on SIGEP website", 2009,
- OLA. "Article on FIEP website", 2009,
- OLA. "Article on Odiario website", 2009,
- OLA. "Article on CIN website", 2009,
- OLA. "Article on ALIA Institute website", 29 May 2009,
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