Governance and Shared Responsibility Discussed at Management Symposium

At the recent annual symposium hosted by the Management as a Liberal Art Research Institute (MLARI) in partnership with the California Institute of Advanced Management (CIAM), distinguished leaders from various sectors gathered to discuss the complexities of governance and shared responsibility in today’s organizations.

The symposium, which brought together experts from corporate governance, ethics and compliance, technology, healthcare, academia, and public service, aimed to explore how organizations and their leaders can navigate increasing complexity while maintaining accountability to the communities they serve. Keynote speaker Scott Mitchell, founder of OCEG, the organization behind the widely adopted concept of Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC), and a global community of more than 225,000 members, set the stage for the day’s discussions.

An accomplished panel of speakers, including Vera Cherepanova, Executive Director of Boards of the Future®; Stanton J. Rowe, a pioneering medical-technology executive; Dr. Carol J. Geffner, director of the Executive Master of Leadership program at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy; Jill Ingram, former City Manager of Seal Beach; Dr. Kristine Kawamura, Academic Director for Societal and Global Impact at Claremont Graduate University’s Drucker School of Management; and Bob Zukis, founder and CEO of Digital Directors Network, provided diverse perspectives on critical topics such as the distinction between ethics and compliance, building ethical organizational cultures, balancing long-term responsibility with immediate pressures, board performance during crises, and the growing need for digital and AI literacy among organizational leaders.

The symposium was moderated by Dr. Karen Linkletter, Research Director of MLARI, and Dr. Maria C. Akopian, CIAM Associate Vice President of Marketing and Chief Marketing Officer. Dr. Linkletter highlighted the importance of governance as a matter of responsibility, emphasizing that it is not only about who has authority but how that authority is exercised and whom our institutions are meant to serve. Dr. Akopian, CIAM’s representative, underscored the significance of bringing together leaders from different sectors to foster a dialogue around governance, leadership, and shared responsibility.

The symposium was supported by a distinguished group of event partners, including the Regional San Gabriel Valley Chamber of Commerce, Boards of the Future®, IEEE Women in Engineering, San Fernando Valley, Armenian Engineers and Scientists of America (AESA), California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, Armenian American Medical Society (AAMS), and the City of Glendale. These partners reflected the symposium’s interdisciplinary approach to advancing dialogue around governance, leadership, and shared responsibility.

Founded in 2011, the California Institute of Advanced Management is a nonprofit, WSCUC-accredited graduate institution dedicated to teaching the practice of management as both a science and an art. Guided by the principles of Peter F. Drucker, CIAM’s experiential learning model equips students to become effective, ethical, and socially conscious leaders in a rapidly changing global economy.

The Management as a Liberal Art Research Institute (MLARI) advances the principles of Management as a Liberal Art through research, education, and interdisciplinary dialogue. Inspired by Peter F. Drucker’s human-centered approach to management, MLARI brings together scholars, practitioners, and thought leaders to explore responsible leadership, ethics, and the role of organizations in society.

This symposium, supported by the Financial Times Agenda Digital 50 recognizing digitally savvy corporate directors, marks a significant step in the ongoing dialogue around governance and shared responsibility in management.