Megaprojects: From Profit to Purpose

Join us for this Vital Topics event where our panel of industry experts and academics will discuss how companies can transition from a focus on profit to an orientation embracing social and environmental purpose.

One of the persistent puzzles in management is how companies can legitimately transition from one orientation focused on the creation and capture of economic value to purpose – so, shift from a ‘profit’ orientation towards one that embraces the creation of social and environmental value alongside conventional financial objectives.

While many organisations have attempted to do so and/or have incorporated social and environmental goals into their mission statements and marketing efforts, efforts to transition are often met with objections by shareholder and investors and protests from conservative media. Moreover, the motives of those who have embraced ESG or Social Responsible Investment (SRI) are often questioned by critics.

The task of legitimately transitioning from value capture to purpose is therefore fraught with challenges.

To further the debate, and 200 years after the start of the first megaproject of the industrial era- the world’s first railway line between Manchester and Liverpool - we turn to the management of ‘megaprojects’, the capital-intensive enterprises that develop large-scale infrastructure.

To gain commitment from shareholders and investors, megaproject managers must comply with regulations and legal rules concerning capital investment by designing the project so that its economic benefits exceed the costs. But to execute the project, managers must encourage collaboration from a large stakeholder ecosystem.

As managers incorporate changes in the design valued by downstream stakeholders, the project becomes purpose oriented post hoc.

With a panel of distinguished guest speakers, we will explore how managers can tackle the inescapable trade-offs between financial, social, and environmental goals that they experience as they seek to legitimate a transition from profit to purpose.

Speakers:

Nuno Gill, Professor of New Infrastructure Development, AMBS

Nuno was born in Lisbon, Portugal, where he trained as a civil engineer and worked as a project manager. Nuno joined The University of Manchester in 2002, after earning a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of California at Berkeley; he moved to Alliance Manchester Business School in 2004.

Nuno focuses his research on the design of structures and processes can bring the best of people in consensus-oriented (pluralistic) settings, and make the world a better place to live and share with future generations.

Nuno has worked or done research with various organizations including CH2M HILL, Intel, Rolls Royce, BAA (now Heathrow Ltd), BP, Manchester City Council, Network Rail, London2012, Crossrail, High speed 2, Thames Water, and the UK Cabinet; Larsen &Toubro and DFCCIL (India), World Bank, UNHabitat (Egypt), JICA (Japan); Lamata (Nigeria); and UNRA and KCCA (Uganda).

Further speakers to be confirmed.

Vital Topics

Vital Topics is Alliance MBS' series of prestigious business lectures, bringing powerful ideas and original thinking to audiences from the Manchester city-region and beyond.

Find out more about Vital Topics here.

This is a hybrid event that will also be streamed online - please select your preferred option when you register and you will be sent the relevant joining instructions a few days before the event.