Mount Professor of Business, Accounting and Economics, Dr. Kirk Davidson is having a whirlwind fall semester. He’s traveled to three continents to present papers on his academic specialty: corporate social responsibility and marketing.

The first presentation took place in Merida, Mexico, at the annual meeting of the International Association for Business and Society.  The second was in Rome, Italy at a conference sponsored by a consortium of Catholic universities from around the world and a department of the Vatican.  The third found the Mount professor in Brisbane, Australia, at an annual meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Marketing Association. According to Davidson,  “all three papers (the second in collaboration with Mount  Professor Dr. John Larrivee) bring together in different ways my work on the subject of corporate social responsibility and marketing.  The first and third papers both deal with Wal-Mart which is an interesting case study in itself.  The company is widely (and appropriately) criticized for its tough pay and benefits policies, but it uses these cost-cutting policies to drive prices even lower to benefit its customers.  To judge whether or not the company is being socially responsible in doing this is not so easy.”

How does he feel about these "globe-trotting" presentations?  “It is certainly exciting to participate in these quite different environments, and it is very educational to be exposed to the different perspectives on corporate social responsibility issues expressed by professors in these very different locales. That, by itself, should benefit me in the classroom working with Mount students.  I am also grateful to have this semester's sabbatical leave which makes it all possible.”