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Spring 2016 Sir Gordon Wu Distinguished Speaker Forum

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How We Did It: Sustainable Manufacturing in Esquel

Marjorie Yang
Chairman, Esquel Group

Moderated by Wei Jiang
​​Arthur F. Burns Professor of Free and Competitive Enterprise
Director, Chazen Institute for Global Business
Columbia Business School


The textile and garment industry is among the most cutthroat on the planet. Competitiveness is predicated on slashing costs.  With the aspiration to take the innovation and environmental lead in the industry, generating a positive cash flow can seem impossible. 
 
Esquel, one of the world’s leading producers of premium cotton shirts based in Hong Kong, has managed to balance the profit motive with corporate citizenship – even in regions with the most fragile ecosystems.  Marjorie Yang, Esquel’s chairman, will make a rare US appearance to talk about how she’s run one of the world’s largest textile and apparel manufacturing companies without compromising her ethics – or the bottom line.
 
What you’ll learn: 

  • How an “old economy” business can be married to new technology and new business models  
  • Why doing good also ensures doing well
  • How to gain internal and external buy-in for sustainability initiatives
  • How even SMEs can embed sustainability into their operations.

 

About the Speaker
Marjorie Yang is Chairman of Esquel Group, a leading Hong Kong-based textile and apparel manufacturer with operations throughout the world.  She is dedicated to sustainable development and environmental conservation and is a strong advocate in promoting innovative technologies.

Marjorie has been a Member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference since 2003. She also serves as Deputy Chairman of the Seoul International Business Advisory Council (SIBAC), with the purpose of providing advice to the Mayor of Seoul, and she is the Honorary Chair of Shan Shui Conservation Center. 

Marjorie is Co-chairman of the advisory board of CSAIL (Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab) at MIT. She also serves as Member of various advisory boards including Harvard University, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan and Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management. She has been the Chairman of the Council of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for six years till year 2015.  

Marjorie is an Independent Non-executive Director for both The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited and Swire Pacific Limited.

Marjorie has a Bachelor of Science degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School.  

 

About the Forum
The Sir Gordon Wu Distinguished Speaker Forum at Columbia Business School promotes the academic study and professional understanding of China's economy and business practices. By bringing recognized business leaders and policy makers to New York to share their perspectives on this vital region, the Sir Gordon Wu Speaker Forum informs and engages Columbia Business School faculty, students and alumni through an active dialogue about China and its prospects in the 21st century. The Sir Gordon Wu Distinguished Speaker Forum at Columbia Business School was made possible by the generosity of Sir Gordon Wu and the Wu family.

When
May 5th, 2016 6:30 PM
Location
The Columbia University Club
James Madison Room - Second Floor
15 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036
United States
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Contact
Phone: 212-854-4750