JRD Tata Oration at XLRI Jamshedpur highlights ethics as cornerstone of modern business
Mail News Service
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Jamshedpur, Nov 7: XLRI, India’s oldest business school, hosted the 33rd Annual JRD Tata Oration on Business Ethics at the Tata Auditorium, reaffirming its long-standing commitment to ethical leadership and responsible management.
Sanjay Pradhan, President of the World Forum for Ethics in Business (WFEB), delivered this year’s keynote oration on the theme “Business and Ethics: Contradictory or Complementary?”
Addressing corporate leaders, academicians and students, Pradhan asserted that ethics is not a barrier to business growth but the foundation of sustainable success.
The programme began with a traditional lamp-lighting ceremony. Fr. Joseph Mathew, S.J., Chairperson of the XLRI J.R.D. Tata Foundation for Business Ethics, spoke about the Foundation’s legacy since its establishment in 1991 and its mission to promote ethical business inspired by Jesuit values and the principles of J.R.D. Tata.
Introducing the orator, Fr. Sebastian George, S.J., Director of XLRI, highlighted Pradhan’s global work in business ethics, AI governance and anti-corruption.
In his address, Pradhan drew on powerful corporate examples to demonstrate how ethical decisions foster trust and long-term value.
He cited J.R.D. Tata’s leadership, Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol recall and Patagonia’s sustainability initiatives as benchmarks for integrity-driven business.
Conversely, he pointed to the Volkswagen emissions scandal and the 2008 financial crisis as cautionary tales of ethical failure.
Pradhan described WFEB’s vision as the “third wave” of ethical evolution—beyond compliance and CSR—where conscience-based leadership aligns profit with purpose.
He outlined WFEB’s work across three key areas: AI Ethics, Regenerative Climate Action and Anti-Corruption, proposing tools such as bias audits, watermarking, integrity pacts and regenerative business charters.
Using a “three-layer cake” metaphor, he emphasised value creation, leadership transformation and inner conviction as pillars of ethical organizations.
The event concluded with a vote of thanks by Sanjay Patro, Dean (Academics), who reaffirmed XLRI’s mission to nurture leaders driven by conscience, competence and compassion.
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