Positive Business Conference Marks 10 Years of Shared Insights, Inspiration
The Ross School of Business has long led the way in advancing the principles of positive business. In the 1990s, Professors Kim Cameron, Jane Dutton, and Robert Quinn pioneered the field of positive organizational scholarship — “the science and practice of designing and sustaining thriving organizations.”
In 2002, these leading scholars founded the Center for Positive Organizations. Housed at Michigan Ross, the center has become an industry leader in studying, teaching, and applying the principles of positive business. Its research-based insights help current and future business leaders build positive and thriving workplace environments.
Ross introduced the Positive Business Conference in 2014 as a new way to share this important work. The idea was to bring together practitioners and academics focused on positive business principles for an event that would offer ideas, exchange success stories, and further advance the field. The inaugural event attracted more than 300 attendees and was used to establish a template for future events. Attendees would learn from academics who studied the concept and from business people who put it into practice, showing how positive practices benefit customers, employees, and the company as well.
“At Ross, we believe in the power of business to be a force for both economic and social good,” Dean Alison Davis-Blake said at the time. “This new era of competition and globalization demands increased productivity, regular innovation, and results. Positive business practices deliver on that by leveraging the power of people to build businesses focused on long-term gains that benefit individuals, shareholders, and communities.”
By the second year, the PBC was regularly drawing around 500 people, quickly becoming one of the signature annual events at Michigan Ross. The list of past speakers shows the range and depth of participants sharing their insights over the years.
The event was held annually until 2020 when it was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a two-year pause, the PBC returned for its eighth edition in 2024—reinvigorated and reimagined as the Positive Business Conference Amplified.
“The Positive Business Conference is an important part of our mission to build a better world through business,” Edward J. Frey Dean Sharon Matusik said. “At Ross, we aim to be a place where everyone can do their best work and a thought leader in terms of how to enable other organizations to do the same. The conference is a highly effective way to share ideas, strategies, and evidence-based practices related to positive business, and I’m so pleased we continue to provide a forum for like-minded individuals to come together around these important ideas and practices.”
This year’s timely theme was “Amplifying Human Enterprise: How Might We Find Uplift Amid Upheaval?” Several sessions and workshops focused on how leaders can create supportive cultures that foster well-being, renew their commitments to inclusion and belonging, and increase employee engagement. Highlighted by a featured keynote from author Susan Cain, the event included speakers from various industries—such as Deloitte Consulting, Shinola, and the United Way — as well as faculty from across U-M.
For the first time, this year the conference offered a combination in-person and online sessions including “Amplifying the Human,” “Tell Me Your Story,” and “Unlocking the Power of Culture,” while 20 workshops covered topics such as “Amplifying Diverse Teams,” “Building a Healthy Business,” and “How to Help Very Busy People Grow — Including Yourself.” Another innovation this year was the integration of artwork creation throughout various parts of the conference in cooperation with the U-M Arts Initiative.
More than 500 people from around the world attended the hybrid-format event.
“The conference was very successful,” organizer Angela Ceely said. “We were amazingly pleased with the attendance and the feedback we received. We had a bigger vision to produce it in person and also offer a robust online experience. Our online conference offered a fully interactive, professionally produced event portal that featured exclusive online content, interactive workshops, and full networking, video, audio, and text interaction.”
Plans are already underway for next year’s conference, which will be held May 15-16, 2025. It will again include both in-person and online options.
Sources: Michigan Ross website, Dividend magazine, original research.
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