The World Economic Forum: Establishment and Cooperation

The World Economic Forum began as a private initiative in business management. In 1971, Klaus Schwab organized the European Management Symposium in Davos, Switzerland, aiming to introduce European business executives to new management knowledge and discuss corporate social responsibility. Hilde Stoll helped with the early preparations. Approximately 450 participants from 31 countries met scholars from American universities and figures from European institutions. Initial work focused on management training, strategic discussion and cross-border contacts.

The Forum's institutional history dates the first meeting from 24 January to 7 February. Only as it developed into a recurring gathering did it grow beyond a single course or business conference. The familiar dialogue among political and business leaders was a later development.

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The organizing body was initially called the European Management Forum. Its institutional history records initial foundation capital of 25,000 Swiss francs and a registered seat in Chur, in the canton of Graubünden. The founding deed of 29 January 1971 and formal registration on 8 February should be distinguished from the first meeting's opening date. The foundation provided a continuing organizational vehicle for preparing meetings, maintaining contacts and undertaking subsequent activities.

This method of establishment also defined its nature: its initiators organized cooperation among business, academic and public-sector figures, rather than states creating an intergovernmental institution by treaty. Adoption of the name World Economic Forum in 1987 reflected the expansion of participation and issues from European management to global economic policy.

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The 1973 Davos Manifesto supplied an intellectual framework for early cooperation. It placed customers, shareholders, employees and society alongside one another as constituencies that management should serve, asking managers to reconcile different interests. For customers it stressed product value and fair competition; for employees, continuity of work, income and working conditions; and for society, resources, innovation and tax responsibilities.

The manifesto did not exclude profit but treated profitability as a condition for fulfilling responsibilities over the long term. Its importance lay in proposing management ethics for common discussion, not in making enforceable law for every company. Attending a meeting and endorsing principles also do not directly demonstrate that a company has implemented its commitments.

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On 31 January 1999, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan proposed the Global Compact to business leaders in Davos. This offers a concrete example of the Forum as a convening venue. Annan linked companies' investment, employment and production capacities with international norms already established in human rights, labour and the environment, inviting companies to act within their own operations.

The speech also called on businesses to support corresponding public policies and on the United Nations to facilitate dialogue between business and other social groups. The Forum provided an occasion for direct contact between public institutions and companies. The initiative's proposer, subsequent organizational work and companies' implementation responsibilities nevertheless remain distinct and should not all be counted as the Forum's own administrative achievements.

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Long-term cooperation requires institutions beyond a meeting venue. The 2024–2025 annual report lists a Board of Trustees, a Managing Board and a management structure led by the President and Chief Executive Officer. Thematic centres and regional teams maintain participant contacts, organize multi-year projects and produce research. The annual meeting concentrates face-to-face encounters, while permanent personnel sustain daily work.

The same report's financial notes identify revenue from membership, partnerships and event registration and disclose expenses including personnel and events. Corporate participation and conference services thus form important resource relationships. These are records of later operations and cannot be used to assume the same fee structure, organizational scale or project capacity already existed in 1971.

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In 2015, the Swiss government signed an agreement with the Forum confirming its status in Switzerland as a foundation and granting corresponding facilities under host-state law. The official designation of 'other international body' does not mean that states transferred legislative or governing power to it. It primarily influences issues through convening, knowledge production and networks of cooperation, rather than issuing orders directly binding on countries.

Research by Calmettes and Pfister further argues that discourses such as multistakeholderism can legitimize business participation in global governance. Evaluation of the Forum therefore requires more than counting famous attendees. It must also ask who gains access to discussions, how corporate views influence public agendas and whether initiatives produce verifiable action. Its historical significance lies in the process by which a private meeting organization gradually became a platform for cross-sector consultation.

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