UAE. It is often said to be “the greatest show on earth”, but these days the Olympic ideals of citius, altius, fortius (faster, higher, stronger) can just as easily be applied to the lucrative commercial ventures accompanying the world of sport.   

As the events of London 2012 play out around the world, London Business School, in collaboration with Deloitte, is exploring the lessons shared between business and sport, bringing together a world-class line-up of speakers from the worlds of sport, business and academia at its Global Leadership Summit on 21 May 2012.  

Up for discussion are:

·         what can other industries learn from the sports industry about leveraging and staging successful sporting events

·         how we evaluate the benefit to brands, cities and countries who engage with the world of sport; what other industries can learn from the sports industry

·         how principles of teamwork, leadership and motivation in the sports world can be applied to business

The sporting world will also be represented from the business brains behind such big brands as Juventus, Manchester United and Arsenal football teams, and cricket’s Indian Premier League.

Sir John Armitt, Chair of Olympic Delivery Authority, Beth Comstock, Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, GE, and Heather Hancock, Lead Partner, London 2012 & Managing Partner for Innovation & Brand, Deloitte UK, are among the top-level business thinkers debating the global impact of major international sporting events.  They will cover infrastructure, sustainable legacy, the value of sports industry brands and the reasons behind corporate sponsorship of major sporting events.

Sean Fitzpatrick, Founder, Front Row Leadership and former New Zealand All Black rugby captain will be tackling a panel on strategies for leadership, looking at the parallels between business and sport alongside Niels de Vos, Chief Executive Officer at UK Athletics, and London Business School’s Professor Lynda Gratton.    

Sir Andrew Likierman, Dean, London Business School, said: “The relationship between business and sport is not always straightforward. Without sponsorship, some sporting activity would not be possible. But there are criticisms about excessive commercialisation. So what is the right balance?

“With the Olympics on our doorstep, this year’s Global Leadership Summit is the perfect platform to bring together the leading lights in sports and business for, what promises to be, lively debate on this and other crucial issues.”

For the first time at the Global Leadership Summit, academics from London Business School will be joined by peers from some of the world’s leading business schools. Stepping up to the plate will be experts from US-based Wharton, NYU Stern and Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, and Spanish school IE.

For the latest details of the speakers and programme, click here.

London Business School’s Global Leadership Summit is in collaboration with Deloitte, with advisory partner Odgers Berndtson and media partner CNN.

About London Business School

London Business School's vision is to have a profound impact on the way the world does business. The School is consistently ranked among the best in the world for its full-time MBA programme*. In research, the School is ranked top ten and holds the highest average research score of any UK academic institution**.
 
The School's faculty, from over 30 countries, is grouped into seven subject areas – Accounting; Economics; Finance; Management Science and Operations; Marketing; Organisational Behaviour; and Strategy and Entrepreneurship. Additionally it has four research centres: Aditya Birla India Centre, Centre for Corporate Governance, Coller Institute of Private Equity, and Deloitte Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
 
Studying at the School provides access to an unmatched diversity of thought. With a presence in four international cities – London, New York, Hong Kong and Dubai – the School is well positioned to equip students from more than 100 countries with the capabilities needed to operate in today’s business environment. Students further benefit from our 33,500 alumni from more than 130 countries, who provide a wealth of knowledge, business experience and worldwide networking opportunities.
 
The School awards over 1,000 degrees every year, across MBA, Executive MBA, EMBA-Global, Masters in Finance, Masters in Management, Sloan MSc and PhD programmes. The Executive Education team offers a portfolio of over 25 open programmes as well as custom-designed programmes developed to meet the specific needs of individuals and their organisation. Annually, over 7,000 participants attend executive programmes that are led by many of the world’s leading business thinkers.
 
For more information, please visit www.london.edu

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