世界经济论坛主席克劳斯.施瓦布

世界经济论坛主席克劳斯·施瓦布

2011-11-29 14:12

世界经济论坛主席克劳斯·施瓦布(Dr. Klaus Schwab)，1938年3月30日出生于德国的拉芬斯堡，后来加入瑞士籍。他先后就读于瑞士苏黎世高等技术工程学院和弗里堡大学，还奔赴美国哈佛大学的约翰肯尼迪学院进行深造，在求学经历中，他先后获得机械工程学博士、经济学博士和公共管理学硕士学位，并能够娴熟地交替使用德、法、英、意4种语言，从而方便了他在后来的世界经济论坛中用不同的语言来和不同国家的与会者交流。

上个世纪70年代初，施瓦布在美国学习期间，已经看到了经济全球化的发展趋势以及跨国公司将要扮演的重要角色。所以，只有34岁的施瓦布在1971年就邀请400位欧洲工商界人士在瑞士发起成立了“欧洲管理论坛”，主要目的就是要以新的管理模式来重塑欧洲跨国企业的形象。施瓦布曾回忆说，当初，他并没有想到一个欧洲的论坛，能发展到如今的规模和档次。

用半生的精力，办出一个世界经济顶级论坛，我们该如何定义施瓦布？有人认为他是学者，有人认为他是思想家，也有人说他是政治家，还有说他是商人的。在2007年5月出版的美国《时代》周刊上，施瓦布更是跻身最具影响力的“科学家与思想家”，被列入2007年度全球最具影响力百人榜。面对这些称呼，这位老人笑称，我更愿意称自己为艺术家--一位为公众利益工作的艺术家。

还有人曾经总结过施瓦布先生说话的特点，喜欢抬起双臂，掌心向上，一如他的个性：自信、开放并乐于接受

Klaus Schwab:Founder and Executive Chairman

2011-12-19 16:01

Klaus Schwab is Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, the organization he founded over forty years ago.

The World Economic Forum began life in 1971 as the European Management Forum. It was the idea of a young business school professor, Klaus Schwab. Schwab brought together over 400 participants for a conference in a city in the Swiss alps. Its success was the making of the institution that Klaus Schwab leads today.

The mission of the World Economic Forum is expressed in its motto: "committed to improving the state of the world". It fulfils that mission by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

It was Klaus Schwab who carried forward the vision for a Forum on the principle that economic progress without social development is not sustainable, while social development without economic progress is impossible.

It is an independent, international organization, incorporated in Switzerland as a not-for-profit foundation. In 1987, the foundation changed its name to the World Economic Forum, something Klaus Schwab saw as better reflecting the global nature of its activities. Klaus Schwab summed up the Forum as "entrepreneurship in the global public interest".

The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship developed that theme. Set up in 1998 by Klaus Schwab and his wife Hilde, it works to identify, recognize and connect the individuals building strong and sustainable organizations with a strong social purpose. Klaus Schwab also established The Forum of Young Global Leaders - a community of

inspiring and dynamic leaders from among the under-40s - to respond to the growing consensus that the challenges confronting the world demand integrated solutions.

Klaus Schwab was born in Ravensburg, Germany in 1938. His parents were both of Swiss origin. Klaus Schwab says: “The legacy of the wartime situation had a huge impact on me. I became very interested in reconciliation and dialogue. We had to create a new Europe based on these two things.”

Schwab has two doctoral degrees, one in mechanical engineering, and one in economics and social sciences. Klaus Schwab spent a year at Harvard University and went on to be the youngest professor at the University of Geneva.

It was whilst in Geneva, in the emerging field that applied academic analysis to the world of business, that Klaus Schwab developed "stakeholder theory", the underlying principle behind all his future work at the World Economic Forum. The principle that Klaus Schwab outlined is that companies serve not only shareholders but all the stakeholders of their organization. This means all the social groups connected directly or indirectly to the enterprise which are dependent on its success and prosperity, including not just shareholders and creditors but also employees, customers, suppliers, the state and the society in which the enterprise is active.

Klaus Schwab himself sees the World Economic Forum as the …glue‟between different stakeholders in society. He explains: “The World Economic Forum is not a decision-making body. It is a platform for initiatives, programmes and taskforces. It gives each of our participants the possibility to shape their own opinion based on the latest strategic insights.”

Adds Schwab: “I believe fundamentally in the inter-relationship between economic development and social progress. I feel that governments today alone cannot address global challenges nor can business alone and nor can non-governmental organizations.

“At the World Economic Forum we have to create platforms for the three main pillars of society, that is, government, business and civil society, to interact and confront the issues which we have on the global agenda,” Klaus Schwab says.

Source: WEF