Title of Dissertation:
The Ethics of Markets in Modern Society: An Ordonomic Approach at the Intersection of Moral Philosophy and Economics

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ingo Pies
University: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
Scholarship: SDW Scholarship
Cohort: 5. Cohort, 2018-2021

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[item title="Short Abstract"]

“The most fateful change that unfolded during the past three decades was not an increase in greed. It was the expansion of markets, and of market values, into spheres of life where they
don’t belong” (Sandel, 2012, p. 6). The renaissance of Aristotelean virtue ethics since the late 1950s has brought up an extensive philosophical literature criticizing that markets, although
tremendously beneficial in producing good for most people, impose a threat to the moral life of citizens. It is concluded that we need moral limits to markets.

What should be the moral limits and what are the moral qualities of markets? How we respond to this question shapes the design of markets.

In my doctoral research, I look into a variety of repugnant market transactions, from “price gouging” in the aftermath of natural disasters to kidney markets. Taking a deep look at the
virtue-ethical market critique, I develop (counter-)arguments that can be justified both from economic and philosophical considerations.

The overall aim of my research is to facilitate mutual understanding between the disciplines of economics and philosophy and by that to improve the public discourse about the morality
of markets.

Sandel, M. J. (2012). What money can't buy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

[/item]

[item title="PhD Related Publications"]

• Reese, A. and Pies, I. (2021). What About “Price Gouging" By Employees, Business Ethics Journal Review, 9(3), pp. 14–20. doi: 12747/j1i03.
• Gombert, A., Kirner, B., Ng, R., Reese, A. P., & Pies, I. (2020). EDEKA & WWF—moral commitments in a joint sustainability partnership between a business form and a civil society organization. The Case Center. https://www.thecasecentre.org/main/products/view?id=168978

[/item]

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Title of Dissertation:
Exploring boundary conditions of aspirational CSR communication through a business ethics lens – evidence from the garment industry

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Andreas Suchanek
University: HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management
Scholarship: KSG Scholarship
Cohort: 5. Cohort, 2018-2021

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[item title="Short Abstract"]

Companies are increasingly confronted with the demand to respond to an increased level of stakeholder sensitivity to ethical, social, and environmental issues. Consequently, corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication serves as a strategic means to counter negative public outcry, build reputation, as well as to attain legitimacy (Palazzo & Scherer, 2006). However, in a context of public suspicion and distrust, discrepancies between CSR talk and action are being perceived as sources of hypocrisy or greenwashing and potential threats to organizational authenticity, the call for consistency seems to be appropriate (Christensen et al., 2013). A recent example is H&M’s “Conscious collection” which is part of the company’s ambitious plan to only use organic or recycled materials by 2040. The company claimed on their website, that every piece in the collection is made from sustainable sourced material, such as 100 percent organic cotton, Tencel or recycled polyester. However, some products of the collection were made of only 5 percent recycled materials, and 95 per cent non-recycled polyester, misleading consumers (Alexandra Mondalek, 2020). In the shadows of green washing accusations, H&M’s public commitments to sustainability, seemingly fail to respond to the public’s expectations of consistency in walking the CSR talk. Yet, such requests ignore the performative nature of communication and the prospect of aspirational corporate messages to stimulate further exploration and developments in the CSR arena, leading to social change (Christensen et al., 2013). Therefore, the aim of this research is to answer the following research question: under which conditions can aspirational CSR talk unfold its the performative potential?

Answering the call for more theoretical exploration as well as empirical research on the performative nature of CSR communication (Christensen et al., 2013; Schoeneborn et al., 2020), the thesis will combine both approaches.

First of all, the concept of self-commitment, relevant inconsistencies as well as the concept of the double syllogism (Suchanek, 2015) will serve as a conceptual foundation for a systematic analysis of boundary conditions of aspirational talk as signals. The concept of self-commitment will serve as a starting point to analyze the moral implications of aspirational talk as well as under which conditions it can be successful.

The ethical of concept of self-commitment has been chosen, due to its ability to make sense of the space between talk and action. This space might hold some insights about the effectives of aspirational talk, since it presents time to navigate certain (re)actions. Due to a remaining lack of regulatory framework concerning corporate responsibility, organizations commit themselves (voluntary) to be guided by certain aims and values under restrictions such as competition and scarce resources. The concept of self-commitment refers to a reflected behavior, aiming to reach ones goals and values, by increasing the cost of opposing courses of actions (Suchanek, 2015).

Due to the relative scarcity of empirical research on aspirational CSR communication, and more specifically of research into its boundary conditions, grounded theory methods are employed in this study in a second step. To explore and describe under which conditions aspirational talk turns from being motivational to being perceived as hypocrisy, a case study approach is suitable (Eisenhardt, 1989). Therefore, perspectives of different stakeholders will be gathered in order to gain insights into their daily experiences with aspirational talk, to identify certain incidents and learn more about the practice and potential boundary conditions of aspirational CSR communication.

Data collection will be built on several in-depth qualitative interviews with experts working in the apparel industry. The focus of this research is the apparel industry, where significant challenges need to be addressed to ensure sustainable production of garments within complex and global supply chains. The interviews will be approached in a semi-structured way, with the overall aim of discovering how organizational members are making sense and experiencing the process of communicating CSR goals and intentions. The concept of self-commitment will be used as a structure for the interview guide.

Until this point, the case selection in terms of geographical scope and organizational size is not clear yet. Further the hierarchical level of the interviewed organizational team member has not been defined yet. Potentially, extreme cases, so-called polar types will be chosen for analysis.

Identifying boundary conditions, under which aspirational talk can unfold its full potential could lead to valuable strategic implications for CSR management. Especially, by gathering practical insights from CSR managers about how they experience challenges in the process of aspirational talk, could lead to best or worst practices derivations.

From a theoretical perspective, this research answers the demand for more conceptual and empirical research on aspirational CSR communication (Christensen et al., 2013; Schoeneborn et al., 2020). Applying a business ethics frame, using the concepts of self-commitment, relevant inconsistencies and the double syllogism, adds a normative perspective to the discussion and broadens the view on aspirational talk.

Literature:

Alexandra Mondalek. (2020, Mai 18). How to Avoid the Greenwashing Trap. Business of Fashion. https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/professional/greenwashing-fashion-sustainability-marketing

Christensen, L. T., Morsing, M., & Thyssen, O. (2013). CSR as aspirational talk. Organization, 20(3), 372–393. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508413478310

Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Building Theories from Case Study Research. The Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 532. https://doi.org/10.2307/258557

Palazzo, G., & Scherer, A. G. (2006). Corporate Legitimacy as Deliberation: A Communicative Framework. Journal of Business Ethics, 66(1), 71–88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9044-2

Schoeneborn, D., Morsing, M., & Crane, A. (2020). Formative Perspectives on the Relation Between CSR Communication and CSR Practices: Pathways for Walking, Talking, and T(w)alking. Business & Society, 59(1), 5–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650319845091

Suchanek, A. (2015). Unternehmensethik: In Vertrauen investieren. Mohr Siebeck.

 [/item]

[item title="PhD Related Publications"]

N/A

[/item]

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Title of Dissertation:
Exploring the roots of historical bias amplified by artificial intelligence: the programmer’s role
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Laura Marie Edinger-Schons
University: University of Mannheim
Scholarship: KAS Scholarship (Konrad Adenauer Stiftung)
Cohort: 7th Cohort, since 2020
Email: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein.

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[item title="Short Abstract"]

Businesses and governments increasingly employ automated decision making through artificial intelligence (AI) in areas that threaten fundamental human rights. Machine learning (ML), a branch of AI that learns from historical data, reflects continuous unfair discrimination due to historical bias. In response to these ethical issues, most previous research focuses on technological and statistical fixes. Therefore, I argue against technological solutionism to fix cultural problems, given that historical bias reflects society's prejudices, values, and the world as it is or as it was. These issues are an opportunity to question structural inequalities and the values implicitly encoded in technology. Furthermore, understanding bias in AI aids to avoid harm to vulnerable populations, business scandals, and discrimination lawsuits. In the most ambitious classification experiment of our times, classifiers as race, gender, disability, amongst others, must be understood to avoid further harm and the repetition of historical injustices through AI. There is a lack of research about the mechanisms of bias transfer from programmers to the AI, especially susceptible in the initial problem formulation stage, framed by the stakeholders in control of the AI process. Programmers are political actors because they also encode bias when choosing a fairness metric that decides to preserve biased decisions of the past. It depends on whether they assume the status quo is neutral or not.

Computer ethicists identify three categories of bias: pre-existing social bias, technical bias related to data and technology limitations, and emergent bias, which results from the interaction of society and technology. This paper focuses on the pre-existing social bias reflected in the problem formulation stage, where a problem is identified and hypothesized as solvable by technology. The lived experiences of the programmers inform their causal inferences and impacts the entire AI pipeline. Bias goes so deep that it is entrenched in our language and word embeddings which serve as foundations for more complex algorithms. Hence, this paper explores historical bias and prejudices from the programmers through an online survey experiment. It also explores programmers' perception of fairness in AI, modern racism scale (MSR), psychological ownership, agency, legitimizing justifications for system inequality, and social orientation dominance theory to predict endorsement of actions to level the playing field or correct system inequalities. Moreover, Ethics Position Theory on relativism and idealism and Machiaveniallism will be explored, which predict unethical behaviour in IT systems (Winter et al. 2004) and bridge understanding about the global AI ethics debate between different cultures.

The experiment has different stages. One of them involves asking for feedback from programmers on an AI chatbot represented as a white male and measure if any of them suggest diversity; the treatment group will watch a video on intersectional theory and bias. The treatment group will also assess the impression or negative affect from the speaker: one speaker is a black transexual woman, and another is a white male. The next step consists of evaluating their endorsement for affirmative action regarding the diversity of representation in an algorithm designed to admit students in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Moreover, their conceptual understanding and preference for fairness metrics to assess algorithmic bias will be evaluated. To subsidize blindspots and include multiple perspectives, I propose an intersectionality framework to map unintended consequences in AI. There are implications for stakeholder consultation, endorsement of affirmative action to the target group of black trans women and fairness notions in AI, and gender and racial bias in programmers at the problem formulation stage. Additionally, theoretical contributions to social dominance orientation and its new subdimension of egalitarianism that refer to group based orientation, to be complimented by intersectionality theory which considers subgroups and the overlapping of multiple systems of oppression. Filling in the gap regarding programmers’ agency on AI bias and their role to reduce it.

[/item]

[item title="Research Interests"]

• Ethical Leadership and Entrepreneurship
• Gender Equality
• Poverty and Social Inequality
• Intersectional and Decolonizing Theories
• Artificial Intelligence and Fourth Industrial Revolution Technologies

[/item]

[item title="Education"]

• 2018, Master of Science in Public Policy, University of Bristol, England

• 2016, Bachelor of Law, Universidad Iberoamericana, Dominican Republic

[/item]

[item title="Professional and Academic Career"]

• 2020, Human Rights Advisor on Artificial Intelligence and Inclusion, GENIA Latina, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• 2019, Independent Gender Consultant, Woman Up, Mate Consultancy, Bristol, England.
• 2018, Director of Gender and Inclusion, Ministry of Women, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• 2018, President, Volunteering in Global Shapers Santo Domingo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
• 2016, Research and Innovation Director, United Nations Programme for Development and the Office of the Vice-President of the Dominican Republic joint program
• 2016, Research Intern, Run for America Political Consultancy, New York, United States.
• 2013, Research Fellow, Vice-president of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

[/item]

[item title="Publications"]

• Roman, Arlette. How Should an Understanding of Gender Inequalities Inform the Design and Delivery of Policies to Tackle Global Poverty. Rome, Italy: BC Publishing House, 2019. Review of Socio-Economic Perspectives (RSEP), University of Washington Rome Centre. ISBN: 978-605-80676-9-1

[/item]

[item title="Conference Contributions: Talks"]

• 2021, Business and Society Conference, University of Namur, "Exploring the roots of historical bias amplified by artificial intelligence: an interdisciplinary approach", Belgium.
• 2020, Cumbre Internacional de Jóvenes Líderes, “Artificial Intelligence and Inclusion for Latin America”, Puerto Rico.
• 2020, UNIDAS Dialogue on COVID-19 from a Gender Perspective, “COVID-19 and Digitalization: Evaluating Impact through an Intersectional Lens”, German Foreign Ministry, Germany.
• 2019, 15^th RSEP International Conference on Economic, Finance and Social Sciences, “How an understanding of gender inequalities informs policies to tackle global poverty?”, University of Washington in Rome, Italy.

[/item]

[item title="Conference Contributions: Posters"]

• N/A

[/item]

[item title="Memberships"]

• Member, Executive Board in the Global Artificial Intelligence Ethics Institute (GAIEI) by Prof. Dr. Emmanuel Goffi.
• Member, Global Shapers Community, World Economic Forum (WEF).
• Member, “UNIDAS” Initiative by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Cooperation with Latin America.
• Founder, International Law Students Association Chapter Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE), Dominican Republic.
• Member, United Nations Association in Dominican Republic (UNA-DR).
• Director of International Relations, Faculty of Law Alumni Association, Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE).
• Member, ATLAS Women Lawyers in Human Rights Berlin

[/item]
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Title of Dissertation:
Debating Due Diligence and Responsibility: from Law to Impact Valuation

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Laura Marie Edinger-Schons
University: University of Mannheim
Scholarship: tba
Cohort: 7th Cohort, since 2020
Email: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein.

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[item title="Short Abstract"]

Governments and businesses alike are increasingly interested in accounting for the social and environmental impacts of businesses’ endeavors. On the one hand, a growing number of governments are seeking to define human rights due diligence responsibilities through national legislation. On the other hand, groups of companies are developing ways to measure their positive and negative externalities by creating new impact valuation methodologies. These differing approaches represent just two ways to account for corporate moral responsibility in an interconnected world.

This dissertation asks the following questions: how is moral responsibility conceptualized in these debates, and how are ethical unintended consequences addressed? The first paper examines the debates surrounding the German Human Rights Due Diligence Law (also known as the supply chain law). The following papers examine the ethics of Impact Valuation—the process of putting a monetary value on businesses’ positive and negative social and environmental impacts—as it relates to risk, business ethics, non-financial reporting, and unintended consequences.

[/item]

[item title="Research Interests"]

• Normative Discourse
• Business and Human Rights
• Social Responsibility and Business
• Intersectionality
• Radical Individualism / Common Good Divide
• Impact Valuation

[/item]

[item title="Education"]

• 2018, Master of Theological Studies in Religion, Ethics, Politics, Harvard Divinity School, United States of America
• 2015, Bachelor of Arts in Religion and Peace and Justice Studies, Wellesley College, United States of America
• 2014, Semester Abroad, Kings College London, United Kingdom

[/item]

[item title="Professional and Academic Career"]

• New Editor Literary Services (2020)
• Arvato Financial Solutions (2020)
• House of One Berlin – House of Prayer and Learning (2019)
• The Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights (2017 - 2018)
• Andover-Harvard Theological Library (2016-2018)
• Zentrum Überleben (2015-2016)
• Wellesley Centers for Women (2011-2015)

[/item]

[item title="Publications"]

• N/A

[/item]

[item title="Conference Contributions: Talks"]

• Business and Society Research Seminar, University of Namur, Belgium 17 -16 June 2021

• Business and Human Rights Young Researchers Summit, Geneva, Switzerland 16 -17 September 2021

[/item]

[item title="Conference Contributions: Posters"]

• N/A

[/item]

[item title="Memberships"]

• N/A

[/item]
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Title of Dissertation: Essays on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as Risk Management Strategy

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Laura Marie Edinger-Schons

University: University of Mannheim
Scholarship: KSG Scholarship
Cohort: 7th Cohort, since 2020
Email: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein.

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[item title="Short Abstract"]

This research examines the social and cultural issues in corporate digital responsibility (CDR). Based on data to be collected from staff of telecommunications companies in both Nigeria and Germany, this research investigates the influence of firms’ business models on their practice of corporate digital responsibility, how firms’ internal incentive structures impede or promote the implementation of sound corporate digital responsibility, the social and cultural barriers that impede the implementation of sound corporate digital responsibility, the roles played by data protection and regulatory agencies, and how do these influence firms’ approach to CDR. This research also investigates consumers’ evaluation of CDR, as well as the extent to which socio-demographic variables influence consumers’ attitudes to CDR. Primary data to be collected   from   respondents   (telecoms   employees   and   consumers),   and   secondary   data   from   annual reports, ethics statements, news articles, and regulatory records will facilitate answers to the research questions, making it possible to also identify cross-country differences in approaches to CDR.

[/item]

[item title="Research Interests"]

• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Corporate Digital Responsibility
• Responsibility for new technologies
• Shaping ethical workplaces

[/item]

[item title="Education"]

• 2019, Master of Science Management, Technical University of Munich, Germany
• 2014, Bachelor of Technology Computer Science, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Nigeria

[/item]

[item title="Professional and Academic Career"]

• 2019 – 2020, Consultant, Allianz Technology, Munich, Germany
• 2018 – 2019, Working student, Allianz, Munich, Germany
• 2017 – 2018, Intern – Product development, Infineon Technology, Munich, Germany
• 2017 – 2018, Graduate Research Assistant, Technical University of Munich, Germany

[/item]

[item title="Publications"]

• N/A

[/item]

[item title="Conference Contributions: Talks"]

• N/A

[/item]

[item title="Conference Contributions: Posters"]

• N/A

[/item]

[item title="Memberships"]

• N/A

[/item]
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Title of Dissertation:
Systematic study of coaching ethics: economic approach

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Andreas Suchanek 
University: HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management 
Scholarship: KSG Scholarship
Cohort: 7th Cohort, since 2020
Email: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein.

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[item title="Short Abstract"]

According to a global study by ICF (2020), the largest coaching association in the world, there were an estimated 71,000 coaches in 2019, which is 33 % more than in 2015. The number of managers using coaching methods has increased by 46 %. At the same time, coaching community is confronted with increasingly complex ethical dilemmas. What understandable and manageable ethical guidance can coaching ethics offer coaches and coaching associations in this situation?

Since there is no binding (legal) coaching regulation (Ebermann, 2018) and no "coaching assessment "pope"" (Geissler, 2016, p. 52) that define coaching and determine its rules, coaching community is confronted with ethical pluralism (Iordanou & Williams, 2016, p.2). Coaching is thus both an expression and a reflection of modern society (Aristu, 2016, p.115). This dissertation project therefore aims to investigate how, despite competing coaching approaches and the pluralistic spectrum of individual, cultural and professional values, an integrative core (Suchanek, 1994) of coaching ethics can be defined that allows understandable and manageable, yet differentiated ethical orientations to be derived for coaches and coaching associations.

The integrative core is defined as do no illegitimate harm (Suchanek, 2017) and represents, within the framework of economic theory, a kind of systematic - in the sense of: theoretically integrated – side constraint (Suchanek, 1994, p.103) of an ethical coaching practice. This side constraint can be understood at the same time as a free-standing point of view (Rawls, 1998) claiming universal applicability independent of pluralism of partly competing purposes (Kirchgeorg et. al., 2019) of various coaching stakeholders. To define the integrative core of coaching ethics, the concept of pragmatic reduction is used, which allows the introduction of a schema "...as a very general, systematic, unifying structure for the manageable overcoming ("calculation") of problems..." (Suchanek, 1994, p.53). A (purely) market perspective on coaching, as an exclusively instrumental action process (e.g., Hannafey & Vitulano, 2013) with rather positivist view on coaching ethics (e.g., Oellerich, 2016; Schermuly & Graßmann, 2019) (Thesis) and its (purely) philosophical-normative viewpoints (e.g., Geissler, 2004; Schmidt-Lellek, 2015) (Antithesis) are integrated (Synthesis) with the help of the economic approach (Suchanek, 1994). The concept of legitimacy (Suchanek, 2019) provides another theoretical foundation.

For exemplary differentiated applications of the integrative core of coaching ethics, the concept of the Ethical Compass (Suchanek, 2019) is applied. The choice of the Ethical Compass as a heuristic can be justified on the basis of the practical syllogism (Suchanek, 2015, p.42 - 45).

Literature

Aristu, J. (2016). Gott schuf den Menschen, und der formt sich selbst. In: Wegener, R., Loebbert, M., Fritze, A. (eds) Coaching und Gesellschaft. Springer, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-09636-6_7

Geißler, H. (2004). Braucht Coaching eine philosophisch begründete Ethik? Zur Begründung eines systemischwertrationalen Imperativs für Coaching. Organisationsberatung – Supervision – Coaching, (2), 173–186.

Geißler, H. (2016). Die Bewertung von Coaching-Prozessen als ethische Herausforderung. In: Wegener, R., Loebbert, M., Fritze, A. (eds) Coaching und Gesellschaft. Springer, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-09636-6_4

Hannafey, F.T., Vitulano, L.A. Ethics and Executive Coaching: An Agency Theory Approach. J Bus Ethics 115, 599–603 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1442-z

International Coach Federation (2020, January). 2020 ICF Global Coaching Study: Executive Summary. Abgerufen am 23, Februar 2022, von https://coachingfederation.org/app/uploads/2020/09/FINAL_ICF_GCS2020_ExecutiveSummary.pdf

Iordanou, I., Hawley, R. & Iordanou, C. (2016). Values and Ethics in Coaching (1. Aufl.). SAGE Publications Ltd.

Kirchgeorg, M., Meynhardt, T., Pinkwart, A., Suchanek, A., & Zülch, H. (2019). Das Leipziger Führungsmodell (3. Aufl.). Leipzig, Deutschland: HHL Academic Press.

Oellerich, K. (2016). Negative Effekte von Coaching und ihre Ursachen aus der Perspektive der Organisation: Eine Mixed Methods-Studie. Universität Kassel. doi:10.19211/KUP978373760303

Rawls, J., & Hinsch, W. (1998). Politischer Liberalismus (1. Aufl.). Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.

Schermuly, C. C., & Graßmann, C. (2019). A literature review on negative effects of coaching – what we know and what we need to know. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 12(1), 39–66. https://doi.org/10.1080/17521882.2018.1528621

Schmidt-Lellek C. (2015) Ethik und ethische Kompetenz im Coaching. In: Greif S., Möller H., Scholl W. (eds) Handbuch Schlüsselkonzepte im Coaching. Springer Reference Psychologie. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

Suchanek, A. (1994). Ökonomischer Ansatz und theoretische Integration. Tübingen.

Suchanek, A. (2015). Unternehmensethik. UTB.

[/item]

[item title="Research Interests"]

• Ethical Leadership
• Responsible Business Coaching and Training
• Self-Leadership and Purpose
• Competency Diagnostics
• Competency Management

[/item]

[item title="Education"]

• 2016, MBA, HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Germany
• 2011, M.A. Philology, Pushkin State Russian Language Institute, Russia
• 2009, B.A. Philology, Pushkin State Russian Language Institute, Russia

[/item]

[item title="Professional and Academic Career"]

• 2019-2020, Regional Consultant, LAMSA e. V., Halle (Saale), Germany
• 2015-2018, Project Manager, Kontor Lighting & Living GmbH, Leipzig, Germany
• 2012-2014, Project Manager, Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, Moscow-Sochi, Russia

[/item]

[item title="Publications"]

• N/A

[/item]

[item title="Conference Contributions: Talks"]

• N/A

[/item]

[item title="Conference Contributions: Posters"]

• N/A

[/item]

[item title="Memberships"]

• Forum Gemeinwohl e.V.

[/item]
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Title of Dissertation:
Essay on Corporate Social Responibility (CSR) as Risk Management Strategy

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Philipp Schreck
University: Martin Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg (MLU)
Scholarship: KSG Scholarship
Cohort: 7th Cohort, since 2020
Email: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein.

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[item title="Short Abstract"]

As concerns about climate change intensify, corporations are increasingly put on the spot to align their practices with international frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Climate Agreement, and the UN 2030 Agenda. My research probes the strategic role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and associated Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives in the realm of firm-government interactions.

My research examines this firm-government interplay, focusing on regulatory compliance and economic value preservation. A comprehensive literature review informs the design of two empirical chapters. The first study asks whether a firm's CSR activities influence its likelihood of committing fraud and whether these activities affect the propensity of regulatory sanctions from bodies like the Securities Commission. Employing a utility-based strategic approach, this study reveals the dual role of CSR initiatives in both mitigating fraud within firms and enhancing the effectiveness of governmental oversight mechanisms. The second study explores how firms adapt their CSR strategies to manage financial risks. It examines the shift in strategic priorities toward incorporating social responsibility while maintaining economic prudence. The complexity of this inquiry increases when considered in the context of varying regulatory landscapes across nations, as well as in relation to the 2008 financial crises.

Overall, my dissertation offers actionable insights valuable for both policy and practice.

[/item]

[item title="Research Interests"]

• Corporate Sustainability and CSR
• Innovation and strategy
• Digital Transformation

[/item]

[item title="Education"]

• 2020, Master in Management, National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE), Russia
• 2017, Bachelor in Electrical Engineering, National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (NUCES), Pakistan

[/item]

[item title="Professional and Academic Career"]

• 2020, Research Trainee, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) / Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Brussels, Belgium
• 2019, International Summer School in Human Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
• 2019, WFI International Summer School ‘Firms in Society’, The Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
• 2017, RAN and Operations Engineer, ZTE Corporation, Islamabad, Pakistan

[/item]

[item title="Publications"]

• Shayan A.K., Mariia K. “Digitalization of Job Market.” Master diss., National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE), 2020

[/item]

[item title="Conference Contributions: Talks"

• 2019, Analytics for Management and Economics Conference (AMEC), “Determinants of Sustainability Reporting in Russian Companies”, Saint Petersburg, Russia.(https://amec.hse.ru/mirror/pubs/share/320114166); ISBN 978-5-90363-339-5

• Corporate Sustainability Seminar, Baruch College, New York, 11 October 2022

• Academy of Management (AOM), Seattle, 27-28 August 2022

• European Group of Organizational Studies (EGOS), Vienna, 7-9 July 2022 

[/item]

[item title="Conference Contributions: Posters"]

• N/A

[/item]

[item title="Memberships"]

• WCGE – Wittenberg Center of Global Ethics
• BEMA – Friede springer chair of Business Ethics and Management Accounting
• IDLAB – International Laboratory of Intangible-driven Economy

[/item]
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Title of Dissertation:
Relative Performance Incentive Schemes in Organizations and their Negative Consequences

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Philipp Schreck
University: Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg
Scholarship: KSG Scholarship
Cohort: 2. Cohort, 2015-2018

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[item title="Short Abstract"]

Contests are widely used in business contexts because competition is believed to increase effort and performance. A downside of competition is that it also encourages unethical behavior, such as sabotage. Sabotage refers to costly activities that employees carry out in order to reduce the performance of competitors; for instance by spreading negative rumors about them (Chen, 2003; Lazear, 1989). Sabotage among employees is always undesired because it reduces overall output (Chen, 2003; Chowdhury & Gürtler, 2015).

As a first step, we review the literature on competition and unethical behavior. We find a significant lack of terminological clarity: the same terms are often used to refer to different concepts, while different terms are used to refer to similar concepts. Stanne, Johnson, and Johnson (1999, p. 134) state that “competition has been defined as a situational variable, a cognitive variable, a trait, a motive, or an attitude.” We suggest that this confusion is not merely a matter of terminology but that it reflects a lack of conceptual clarity on a more fundamental level. In our view, this lack of clarity hinders the progress of research because it impedes the integration of existing knowledge on the behavioral consequences of competition and the development and use of appropriate measuring instruments.

To tackle the problem, we develop a simple but comprehensive conceptual framework for studying the relationship between competition and unethical behavior. The framework offers a clear terminology and helps integrate diverse studies from various fields, including economics and psychology.

Moreover, we use our framework for reviewing and classifying the empirical literature on competition and unethical behavior. So far, individual competitiveness has been conceptualized as a stable trait variable, i.e., a preference (Newby & Klein, 2014). However, an individual’s competitiveness in a given situation is also dependent on situational factors (e.g., rivalry with a competitor; Kilduff, Galinsky, Gallo, & Reade, 2016). Following the state – trait distinction in psychology, we introduce the concept state competitiveness to account for situational differences in individual competitiveness. According to our framework, the specific characteristics of a contest (e.g., group size), together with moderating influences of the actor’s characteristics (e.g., trait competitiveness) and the situation’s characteristics (e.g., corporate culture) determine someone’s current state competitiveness, which in turn is associated with unethical behavior. In order to empirically test the concept state competitiveness and its relations to contest characteristics and unethical behavior, an instrument to measure the concept is necessary. We develop this instrument and provide initial evidence of its construct validity. In a first study (N=199) we construct a questionnaire with 10 items using factor analysis. A subsequent study (N=90) shows that the scale is moderately correlated with three established scales of trait competitiveness, suggesting convergent validity of state competitiveness. To demonstrate discriminant validity, we conduct a lab experiment in which subjects compete in a simple math task. We manipulate the contest design by varying prize spread.

As a last step, we want to demonstrate the effect of state competitiveness on sabotage in a lab experiment. This would give us valuable insights into how competition unfolds its effects, and how contests need to be designed in order to yield performance increments among contestants, but not increase unethical behavior, such as cheating or sabotage.

References

• Chen, K. P. (2003). Sabotage in promotion tournaments. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 19(1), 119-140.
• Chowdhury, S. M., & Gürtler, O. (2015). Sabotage in contests: a survey. Public Choice, 164(1-2), 135-155.
• Kilduff, G. J., Galinsky, A. D., Gallo, E., & Reade, J. (2016). Whatever it Takes to Win: Rivalry Increases Unethical Behavior. Academy of Management Journal, 59(5), 1508–1534.
• Lazear, E. P. (1989). Pay equality and industrial politics. Journal of political economy, 97(3), 561-580.
• Newby, J. L., & Klein, R. G. (2014). Competitiveness reconceptualized: Psychometric development of the competitiveness orientation measure as a unified measure of trait competitiveness. The Psychological Record, 64(4), 879-895.
• Stanne, M. B., Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (1999). Does competition enhance or inhibit motor performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 125(1), 133-154.

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Title of Dissertation:
Brücke im Individual-Systemkonflikt? Die Chancen einer Neudefinition des Produktivitätskonzepts

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Andreas Suchanek
University: HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management
Scholarship: KAS Scholarship (Konrad Adenauer Stiftung)
Cohort: 6th Cohort, 2019-2022

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[item title="Short Abstract"]

In today’s world, productivity is usually associated with economics, with efficiency and cost cutting, with the maximization of output in relation to some kind of input. However, in its etymologic roots the term has an entirely different focus: It means the process of a subject laying open something which is already constitutive of the subject’s nature. In this sense, it touches upon the very essence of human purpose anddescribes the “production” of a relationship to the world surrounding us in which we are free, in which we can “be” humans. With the advent of modernity and the industrialization, however, this notion of productivity as “being” in the world changed, and was now increasingly used to describe the clear economic X-Y-relationship of input and output. By making productivity quantifiable, and at the same time, gradable, the original meaning of the concept was displaced by a logic of maximisaiton with a clear and measurable physical or  monetary output. At the same time, however, with the increasing colonisation of our lifeworld via economics, the notion of productivity was again applied to human nature itself, with the self-optimisation regime being its consequence. “I was super unproductive yesterday” - such statements are familiar to all of us and result of this process. This self-dependence on our apparent measurable accomplishments, however, restricts the freedom which was the auguration of modernity: Instead of the material abundance freeing us from having to focus on just reaching the next day, it instead keeps us dependent, it hinders us in being in the humanistic sense “productive”, in the sense Karl Marx and Erich Fromm meant it. Here, it is argued that semantics play a crucial role in shaping how we think, how we look at the world and us in it. The productivity concept shapes our reality of life to a large extent and the original etmylogical meaning of the term still holds true when we for example ask ourselves when, for the last time, we really “felt” productive. Suddenly, the emotional dimension allows us to grab the deeper layers of the term, making us think about when we felt anchored in the world, doing something meaningful, and the pure economic dimension fades away.

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Title of Dissertation:
The Gender Debate – An Example for Discourse Failure(?)

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ingo Pies
University: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
Scholarship: KSG Scholarship
Cohort: 6th Cohort, since 2019
Email: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein.

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[item title="Short Abstract"]

Gender equality is high up the agenda of many western countries. This is not only a matter of fairness as men and women nowadays have the same constitutional rights, but also from a business perspective. Equal (paid) labor participation would lead to more consumption and investments and thereby boosting the global GDP. Further-more, any hindrance of the best possible distribution of talents hampers societie´s growth. As the shares of women in leadership are especially low, many arguments point in the direction of discrimination and the public´s focus is on policys addressing this issue. Yet, academia provides many further explanations beside discrimination, e. g. insufficient family policies and malfunctionings in childcare services, risk aver-sion, personal career choices and differences in preferred fields. The mere focus on discrimmination can lead to discourse failure and in turn to bad/ inefficient policy out-comes.

In my dissertation project I focuss on the ‘blind spots’ of the gender debate, arguing that gender equality is not equality in numbers.

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[item title="Research Interests"]

• Discourse failure
• Gender governance approaches
• Public vs. rational choice
• Social media impact
• Gender equality
• Feminism
• Gender Debate

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[item title="Education"]

• 2019 Master of Science & Laurea Magistrale European and International Economy, University of Halle-Wittenberg and Universtità Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Mailand
• 2016 B.A. Berufsakademie Dresden

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[item title="Professional and Academic Career"]

• 2016 - 2017 Shared Delivery Center KPMG AG Leipzig

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Title of Dissertation:
Reframe Team Reflexivity – Realize Do No Harm: Applied to the Cases of Burnout Prevention and Speak up Freely in Teams

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Andreas Suchanek
University: HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management
Scholarship: KSG Scholarship
Cohort: 6th Cohort, 2019-2022

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[item title="Short Abstract"]

Team reflexivity has gained increasing research attention as an effective response to the core challenge of constant learning, innovation, and adaptation in teams due to changing circumstances. Under the right conditions, empirical studies have found that team reflexivity can improve team performance, team learning, team innovation, team creativity, and team member well-being. Thus, research shows that team reflexivity is an effective means to improve teamwork and team outcomes.

This thesis addresses the problem that team reflexivity research is focused too narrowly on improving these empirical team outcomes while neglecting the importance of normative principles and values in good teamwork, such as the do no harm principle. Therefore, this thesis proposes that the team reflexivity concept needs broader reframing and deeper reflection to realize normative principles and values in teams as a precondition for good teamwork, e.g., do no harm. It further presents two team reflexivity tools and applies them in the cases of burnout prevention and speaking up freely in teams to illustrate the point of this thesis: Do no harm in teams requires team reflexivity, and vice versa, team reflexivity requires do no harm.

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[item title="PhD related Publications"]

• Felix Wittke. Reframe Team Reflexivity — Realize Do No Harm. Springer: Schriftenreihe der HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, 2023. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-658-40433-8

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Title of Dissertation:
Stakeholder Democracy & Multi-Rational Competence.
A Mixed-Methods Study in Search of Factors Determining a Viable, Sustainable, Ethical and Efficient Stakeholder Inclusive Process of Business Decision-Making.

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Laura Marie Edinger-Schons
University: University of Mannheim
Scholarship: Scholarship by the sdw (Foundation of German Business)
Cohort: 6th Cohort, 2019-2021

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[item title="Short Abstract"]

Under the topic ‘Multi-Rational Competence & Shared Ethical Leadership’, the goal of my dissertation is to search for viable, efficient and ethical organizational decision-making processes to cope with the diverse rationalities and interests of various internal and external stakeholders. Thereby, I investigate elements which enable inclusive collective action able to solve complex challenges. My research is based on a mixed-methods approach with literature-based, qualitative and quantitative elements. The leading questions of this business ethical research are: How can a collective, multi-stakeholder decision-making process succeed? What are the factors determining successful multi-rational cooperation?

Thus, my academic work contributes to the research question on how constructive cooperation between multiple stakeholders is possible through three elements:

1.        competencies enabling multi-stakeholder collaboration, e.g. multi-rational competence;

2.        cooperative and collective leadership styles, e.g. shared ethical leadership;

3.        and new, stakeholder-inclusive forms and processes of organizing and decision-making to tackle grand challenges, e.g. Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives and Stakeholder Democracy.

Thereby, my research follows a four-step procedure: I started my PhD journey by engaging in literature-based conceptual research with the goal to identify research gaps, develop and write a Literature Review and Research Agenda (1). In addition, I designed a qualitative (2) as well as an experimental study (3). The continuous goal of my journey was and is to reflect on the business ethical implications and develop a concept of Shared Ethical Leadership (4).

The current stage of my research is that one conceptual paper is completed and in the second reviewing stage. In this first paper (in collaboration with my supervisor Prof. Dr. Laura Marie Edinger-Schons) I reviewed and reflected the research area of ‘Corporate Power and Stakeholder Democracy’ and developed a research agenda to guide future research. A second conceptual paper (single author) is curently in the working paper stage. It conceptualizes ‘Shared Ethical Leadership’ with a special emphasis on multi-rational competence as a central element for collective action to succeed.

I am now at the beginning of a new phase of my PhD, focussing on qualitative research. Currently I am working on two separate qualitative projects intending to explore ‘Multi-Rational Competence & Shared Ethical Leadership’ with a qualitative methodology. The first one looks at corporations with a democratic corporate structure (to various degrees). Here, I mainly work with interview data (Semi-Structured Single One-on-One Interviews; Grounded Theory; Gioia-Method). For this paper 25 semi-structured single one-on-one interviews were already conducted in three separate corporations by a co-author. Interviewing further representatives together is already planned. For coding and analysis the Gioia Method was chosen. The second paper is still in the developmental research design stage. I am currently in conversation with a potential practice partner. More specifically, I am in contact with an institute to discuss access to a Multi-Stakeholder Initiative, where I would be able to learn about the dynamics of the particular stakeholder interactions, to potentially include participatory observation and document analysis next to interviews. A start date in October for the data collection is envisioned.

My planned quantitative study (design state) has the working title ‘Signalling Shared Ethical Leadership. The Effects of Self-Organisation, Democratic Governance & Stakeholder Inclusion on Corporate Attractiveness’. This study has a controlled experimental vignette design with manipulated signals on participation level and ethics.

In the following, I will provide an overview of two of my projects:

Project 1: Corporate Power and Stakeholder Democracy.

A Business Ethical Reflection and Research Agenda.

Corporations significantly influence the public and political spheres, e.g., through corporate socio-political activism, philanthropic donations, lobbying, or through their practices with regard to big data analytics and artificial intelligence. In light of the increasing corporate power, academics have criticized a lack of democratic legitimization for such activities (i.e., the legitimacy gap) and have pointed out a potential divergence between the allocation of corporate resources and the needs and preferences of the public (i.e., the social issues gap). To overcome these problems, stakeholder democracy, i.e., stakeholders’ active participation in corporate decision-making and governance, has been proposed as one potential solution. In line with this, the authors argue that an increase in corporate power outside the economic realm should be counterbalanced by more democratic corporate governance (i.e., an internalization of democracy). The authors present an overview of the literature on the link between corporate power and stakeholder democracy, argue for the necessity of legitimization, identify research gaps, and develop a research agenda to inspire and guide future research efforts. They find that, while important groundwork exists, research attention to these topics by the academic community is still limited. Conceptual and empirical research on the micro-, meso-, and macro-level as well as on cross-level effects is needed to advance this incipient area of research. Specifically, future research needs to (1) clearly define corporate power and discuss how stakeholder democracy could contribute to more legitimate corporate decisions, (2) unveil new ways of more democratic corporate governance, and (3) understand the organizational and individual-level factors that are necessary to realize the transition to stakeholder democracy.

Project 2: Shared Ethical Leadership in a Complex, Polyphonic Environment.

Enabling Collective Action via Multi-Rational Cooperation & Competence.

The global organisational environment is marked by diversity, complexity and uncertainty. The COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, the digital revolution, and populism are just a few of many crises and challenges of the 21st century revealing that it is an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA-)world we are living in. Consequently, organisational and societal challenges become increasingly multi-dimensional and polyvalent. More stakeholder-inclusive and participatory decision-making is discussed as one potential strategy to adapt and to solve grand challenges. However, a research gap exists concerning the elements that enable collective decision-making processes to succeed. The goal of this qualitative research, based on the grounded theory and the Gioia method, is to investigate and determine essential competences for such a process to succeed. The underlying hypothesis is that multi-rational competence (i.e. the conglomerate of abilities that enables entities to cope with the challenges of a pluralistic and polyphonic multi-stakeholder organisational environment by using their capabilities constructively in interaction with other ‘communities of meaning’) of all participating stakeholders is a central element as well as a necessary condition for constructive collaboration. Thus, the paper defines multi-rational competence and proposes that it enables collective decision-making and constitutes a pathway to shared ethical leadership. Ultimately, it will argue that shared ethical leadership is able to navigate collective action in a complex environment and to tackle grand challenges.

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[item title="PhD Related Publications"]

• Kroll, Christian (2022): Mehr Ethik durch Multirationales Management. Sozial- und unternehmensethische Potenziale einer neuen ökonomischen Denkschule. Freiburg: Lambertus-Verlag. ISBN: 978-3-7841-3324-9

• Kroll, Christian (2020) “Sozialökonomische Rationalität in Unternehmensberatungen? Eine qualitativ-empirische Spurensuche.” In: Bachmann et al. (Eds.): Wirtschaftsethik. Sozialethische Beiträge. Forum Sozialethik Band 21. Münster: Aschendorff, p. 223-247.
• Heuritsch, Julia; Kroll, Christian & Zeuch, Andreas (2020): Unternehmensdemokratie zwischen Utopie und Wirklichkeit. Zum Stand der Selbstorganisation in deutschsprachigen Organisationen. Berlin: unternehmensdemokraten.

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Title of Dissertation:
CEOs as Agents of Organizational and Societal Change

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Laura Marie Edinger-Schons
University: University of Mannheim
Scholarship: SDW Scholarship
Cohort: 6th Cohort, 2019-2022

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[item title="Short Abstract"]
Companies have traditionally chosen to remain silent on debated socio-political issues such as LGBT rights or gun regulation for fear of alienating stakeholders. However, in recent years, respective corporate activism has become more frequent with the outspoken goal of influencing the political process towards a political outcome which the firm deems desirable.

This cumulative dissertation is aimed at investigating antecedents, outcomes, and boundary conditions surrounding this nascent phenomenon. Specifically, stakeholder psychological processes relating to both political and consumer behavior are investigated in experimental settings. Further, an upper echelons perspective is as-sumed investigating the interplay CEO characteristics and governance mechanisms as determinants of the decision to become socio-politically involved.
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[item title="PhD related Publications"]

• Kowalzick M, Appels M. (2022). To Change or Not to Change? Evidence on the Steadiness of More Hubristic CEOs. Journal of Management. 1-40,  https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/01492063221110207.
• Appels M. (2022). CEO Sociopolitical Activism as a Signal of Authentic Leadership to Prospective Employees. Journal of Management, 1-39.https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/01492063221110207.

• Appels, M., Edinger-Schons, L. M., Korschun, D., & Balk, L. (2020). Don’t Mix Business with Politics? Understanding Stakeholder Reactions to Corporate Political Activism. Marketing Review St. Gallen, 4, 24-30. https://ifmhsg.ch/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/MRSG_03_SPT_Appels_200622_mb.pdf

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Title of Dissertation:
Forms and Interactions of AI Governance

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Josef Wieland
University: Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen
Scholarship: KSG Scholarship
Cohort: 3. Cohort, 2016-2020
Email: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein.

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[item title="Short Abstract"]

The development and implementation of Artificial Intelligence is one of the main drivers of economic progress. However, through the rise in levels of connectedness around the world, competition rises, too. Caused by the rapid pace of AI development that is driven by global competition, companies find themselves under high pressure to come forward with new innovations - beating their competitors around the globe. Therefore, the thesis aims to reply to the rising demand for stronger regulation asked for by society (Brundage et al, 2018; Bryson, 2018; Cihon et al, 2019). Further, it addresses the already identified gap in academia and practice, requiring the operationalisation and implementation of AI governance, instead of the mere creation of additional ethical guidelines for AI development and implementation (Hagendorff, 2020). Thus, the author aims to provide a structural approach to enable the positive outcomes of AI development and research, while at the same time identifying the negative externalities of this progress to manage them accordingly, by applying AI governance to firms.

Thus, the fierce competition in the private sector, on the one hand, and the demand for AI governance on the other hand, seemingly oppose one another. Additionally, the negative externalities perceivable in practice, which affect society in an unchecked manner, seem to demand a collaborative approach to prevent these effects from happening. Hence, the thesis aims to move from a problem-oriented perspective of classic AI ethics research to a rather solution-oriented approach in AI governance.

In this context, the thesis focuses on the governance of AI and the demand on the private sector to take regulatory and governance measures. The firm as perspective and governance structure is chosen for two main reasons: First, corporations are understood to be the main driver for the AI revolution, and second, public sector regulation currently fails to address issues of AI governance. Based on a stakeholder approach, this thesis takes the view that corporations do need to internalize the negative externalities coming with corporate decision-making. Thus, applied to the AI context, firms need to acknowledge and address the risks coming with research on AI and the implementation of AI-based products and processes. While Wieland (2018, 2020) applies this view to the phenomenon of globalisation, from the author’s point of view, this concept is equally applicable to AI governance. ‘Contract/private ordering/governance leads naturally into the reconceptualization of the firm not as a production function in the science of choice tradition, but instead as a governance structure’ (Williamson, 2002, p. 191). Therefore, by focusing on private sector ordering and allowing corporations to integrate other system logics than the one of the economic system, they can engage, e.g., as actors of civil society, and thus, realize private sector governance.

After having established AI research and the implementation of these technologies as a phenomenon of trans-sectoral, global and cross-industry relevance, the thesis proceeds to present a first theoretical conceptualisation of AI governance. Again, to address the correlating ethical risks and the rising number of societal concerns about societal shifts and consequential inequalities, the author focuses on developing a structural model for AI governance. The model procedurally integrates an ethical dimension, without, however, imposing one singular normative position. To achieve a first conceptualisation of AI governance, the approach is presented in form of a self-developed function and framework for relational AI governance framework. Both self-developed instruments are based on the aforementioned Relational Governance approach (Wieland, 2018, 2020). They aim at summarising existing streams of literature, which are understood to be integral parts to AI governance. Methodologically, the themes within the AI governance framework are derived inductively from existing literature, by a semi-structured review of existing literature that identifies prevalent themes and streams in research. Following the research’s methodology, the thesis proceeds to depict the categories and mechanisms integrated in and inherent to the relational AI governance framework. The function represents all elements inherent to Relational AI Governance and includes the necessary dimensions an organisation, which applies the framework, needs to consider. The framework itself serves to systematically elaborate on the scope of and relevant disciplines for AI governance, and to analyse as well as abstractly present the complex nature of the phenomenon. The summarising function represents the three main disciplines as identified, namely research in AI, AI ethics, and governance measures. The overall content of the framework is depicted by dedicating one dimension to each aforementioned discipline, inherent to the phenomenon of AI. Thereby, the framework can serve other scholars as the necessary base to position their work – as it did for the work at hand – and help to systematically identify apparent streams and gaps in research. Apart from providing patterns to derive theoretical insight, function and framework shall serve to enable a better understanding of the themes and questions practical AI governance needs to address.

By offering the first conceptualisation of AI governance, the framework contributes to further structuring this comparatively young field of research. For instance, within the economic dimension, looking into the global race dynamics and fierce competition in AI research will help contextualise possible approaches and give a more in-depth understanding of the motivation of and restrictions for companies when planning to engage in AI governance measures. The practical economic and societal value of this thesis is constituted by the fact that solving this challenge seems to be crucial when developing AI governance measures, which companies shall be able to apply and implement effective AI governance without fearing immediate competitive disadvantages.

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[item title="PhD Related Publications"]

• Sabine Wiesmüller. The Relational Governance of Artificial Intelligence: Forms and Interactions. Springer, 2023. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-25023-1

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Title of Dissertation:
Self-Reliant Indigenous Entrepreneurship: Towards Inclusive Sustainable Development

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Philipp Schreck
University: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
Scholarship: KSG Scholarship
Cohort: 3. Cohort, since 2016

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[item title="Short Abstract"]

In The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, David Landes (1998, pp. 523) states that:

“History tells us that the most successful cures for poverty come from within. … To people haunted by misery and hunger, that may add up to selfish in-difference. But at bottom, no empowerment is so effective as self-empowerment.”

What Landes (1998) is highlighting here, is that if we truly wish for people in developing economies to eradicate poverty and improve their well-being, it is essential that there be economic self-reliance. South Africa has 11 official cultures each with their own language (dialect). This PhD is about one of them –the Tswana people who speak the Setswana language. The specific traditional subgroup of the Tswana who are the focus of this research are the Bakwena ba Mogopa. The Bakwena ba Mogopa started a private company called the Boswa ba Rona Development Corporation to help their people in poor rural villages to eradicate poverty. Their company aims to exploit the resources they have as a collective in order to bring about socio-economic development and improved livelihoods for their community through commercial agriculture.

When the 2030 agenda for global sustainable development was set by the United Nations, one critical component of this vision for ‘transforming our world’ was that ‘no one should be left behind’. This phrase ‘leave no one behind’, is meant to convey that sustainable development must be experienced and shared by all, equitably in accordance with the principle of universal human dignity. Markets cannot contribute to sustainable development if they do not include the broad base of people around the world. Thus, inclusive sustainable development incorporates children, women, the marginalized, the poor and Indigenous people in both rural and urban settings. One of the ways in which inclusive sustainable development can be accomplished at the national and local level is through Indigenous Entrepreneurship.

Therefore, this research has set out to study the Boswa ba Rona Development Corporation (Boswa) as a revelatory case study of an Indigenous entrepreneurial initiative which is fostering inclusive sustainable development in South Africa. Founded in a rural South African village community called Mogopa, Boswa represents a revelatory case because the community members creatively came up with the means to raise their own start-up capital endogenously through a unique self-funding model. Using qualitative case-study research, this PhD intends to describe this new ventures emergence, its funding model and to determine its underlying rationale using ante narrative and agential storytelling theory. In this dissertation, Indigenous entrepreneurship is defined and conceptualized as:

“The creation, management and development of new ventures by Indigenous people for the benefit of Indigenous people. The organizations thus created can pertain to either the private, public or non-profit sectors. The desired and achieved benefits of venturing can range from the narrow view of economic profit for a single individual to the broad view of multiple, social and economic advantages for entire communities. Outcomes and entitlements derived from Indigenous entrepreneurship may extend to enter-prise partners and stakeholders who may be non-Indigenous”.

In summary, the focus of this PhD is on market-based Indigenous entrepreneurship through for-profit business. This dissertation aims to report the findings of a unique qualitative case study of an Indigenous new venture in South Africa which is challenging persistent poverty in the service of inclusive sustainable development.
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[item title="PhD Related Publications"]

• Thakhathi, A. & Netshitangani, T.G. “Ubuntu-as-Unity in indigenous African proverbs: a Pan-African perspective.” In Indigenous proverbs, idioms, folkstales, riddles, poems, songs, stories and metaphors: the bedrock of the ubuntu philosophy, Mosala Lesedi Publishers, 2018.
• Thakhathi, A. “Champions of change and organizational development: a return to Schön and typology for future research and practice.” In Research in organizational change and development (Volume 26). Emerald Group Publishing, 2018.
• Thakhathi, A. “Bringing International Sustainability Guidelines Home: A Case Study of a Mega South African State-Owned Enterprise.” In Research on Ethical Issues in Organizations: Ethics in the Global South (Volume 18). Emerald Publishing, 2017.

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Title of Dissertation:
Nudging in Business Ethics

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Philipp Schreck
University: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
Scholarship: KSG Scholarship
Cohort: 3. Cohort, 2016-2019

For updated information, please have a look at Rebecca’s profile here:
https://research.vu.nl/en/persons/dr-rebecca-c-ruehle

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[item title="Short Abstract"]
My PhD investigates whether the instrument of nudging can and should be applied in business ethics in order to increase moral decision making of employees within the firm.

Introduction to nudging: In 2008 Thaler and Sunstein introduced nudging as a “liberal” instrument for governments to positively alter the behaviour of citizens without limiting their actual choices. Since then, nudging has been widely discussed and it remains a topic of intense discourse in political theory. Ideally, nudges do not affect the amount of available options, nor set strong (monetary) incentives or impose high costs on the nudgee; alias the person who has been nudged. With the help of psychological knowledge (cf. the persistence of default options, framing effects, the sunk cost fallacy, etc.) the decision-making architecture is designed in a way which makes it highly probable that the “preferred” outcome is chosen by the nudgee.

Ethical inquiry: The philosophical discussion on the ethics of nudging has so far mainly focused on political institutions. Corporations have been neglected in terms of proving a justification for their engagement in nudging. The relationship between a state and its citizens is structurally different from the relationship between an employer and its employees. Although both stand in a similar power relation with the nudgee, their mandate and their discretionary power differ. Therefore, governmental nudges and corporate nudges need different underlying justifications. Within my research I investigate various arguments in favour and against corporations nudging their employees and customers towards morally responsible decisions. Furthermore, I have developed a framework which cansupport decision-makers in deciding whether employing a certain nudge is morally justified or not.

Conceptual framework: Although many nudges have been introduced and empirically tested in the corporate sphere (such as printing defaults, corporate pension plans, and cafeteria food choices) there is no conceptual framework, which helps us to structure those nudges and find gaps for future research. Within my empirical literature review I aim to provide a basis for such endeavours and want to raise awareness for the topic in general.

Behavioural studies: According to my framework nudges have mainly been employed in the area of environmental and social engagement of the firm. Although there are still plenty of opportunities to work in this field, I aim to conduct empirical research in the neglected but highly important field of governance: Can nudging help us to increase compliance of employees with rules of good conduct? For example, can nudges decrease the likelihood of employees accepting a bribe? In order to answer this question laboratory experiments will be conducted.
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[item title="PhD Related Publications"]

• Ruehle, Rebecca C.; Wachsmuth, Loreen; Geisbüsch, Anne-Kristin; Wagner, Josephin; Heldt, Lisa (2018): Zukunftsfähige Lehre gestalten – Studentinnen und Studenten treten für Ethik und Nachhaltigkeit an Hochschulen ein, edited by Raueiser, M.; Kolb, M. (editors): CSR und Hochschulmanagement – Sustainable Education als neues Paradigma in Forschung und Lehre, Springer, pp.69-89.
• Ruehle, Rebecca C.; Grimm, Julia; Thakhathi, Andani; Schreck, Philipp (2018): Bitter Sweet: Child labor in the cocoa industry – a clear case of double standards? (Published at the Case Centre, Reference no. 718-0008-1. including a teaching note and two teaching supplements).
• Forthcoming: Ruehle, Rebecca C. (2018): Die Bedeutung des Entscheidungsarchitekten für die moralische Zulässigkeit von Nudging. Eine Gegenüberstellung von Staat und Unternehmen, in: Vierteljahreshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung 2018.
• Gombert, Adrian & Ruehle, Rebecca C. (2024): Beyond Black and White: Assessing the Legitimacy of Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives between the Descriptive and the Normative Perspective. In: Business Ethics Quarterly (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/business-ethics-quarterly/article/beyond-black-and-white-assessing-the-legitimacy-of-multistakeholder-initiatives-between-the-descriptive-and-the-normative-perspective/44F6FC492318EF9E5F36AA39AB2813F6)

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[item title="Awards"]

• 2021, Academy of Management (AOM): Finalist of the "SIM Best Student Paper Award" for "Three Dimensions of Legitimacy and their Meaning in the Context of Multi-stakeholder Initiatives" (with Adrian Gombert)

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Title of Dissertation:
(Relational) Leadership of Multi-Stakeholder-Partnerships for Sustainable Development

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Josef Wieland
University: Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen
Scholarship: KSG Scholarship
Cohort: 3. Cohort, 2016-2019

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[item title="Short Abstract"]

The UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development defines Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships (MSPs) as an instrument to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Nothing less than a revitalized Global Partnership (Goal 17) is supposed to be the remedy for tackling the challenges of the 21^st century which are captured by the SDGs. Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals is a call out to all sectors – the state, the market, civil society and science – to collaborate in MSPs across sectoral silos in order to deliver the SDGs and transform our world by 2030.

MSPs are characterized by their cross-sectoral nature and their focus on Sustainable Development. Actors from state and non-state sectors aim at joining forces to collaborate for the achievement of the SDGs – despite their sector-specific logics and interests. Since the publication of the SDGs in 2015, roughly 4000 MSPs and similar initiatives have registered on the Partnerships for SDGs platform (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org). Even though MSPs increase in popularity, many of these partnerships lack effectiveness in terms of outcome and impact. Research suggests a lack of clarity regarding How to effectively join forces in such a cross-sectoral partnership from a leadership point of view. Therefore, the objective of my dissertation project is to explore MSPs for Sustainable Development with a focus on leadership as a core success factor.

Traditional leadership approaches often refer to single organisations and hierarchical settings. Usually, these theories do not reflect the cross-sectoral nature of an MSP and its focus on sustainability. Therefore, my objective is to elaborate on leadership theories that reflect partnership structures and dynamics, such as collective leadership, shared leadership and relational leadership. Relational leadership theory offers a promising approach for conceptualizing leadership in partnerships. Relational leadership theory understands leadership as a phenomenon which emerges in the interactions between individuals and organisations; this notion reflects the relational nature of sustainability challenges.

Since I am highly interested in Sustainable Urban Development, I will use Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals as a contextual starting point and zoom into SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) in order to explore the partnership and leadership dynamics that fuel sustainable urban development. I will do this by applying a multiple case study approach.

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[item title="PhD Related Publications"]

• N/A

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Title of Dissertation:
Shared Value Statement – New Perspectives on Measuring Business Value Creation

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Josef Wieland
University: Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen
Scholarship: KSG Scholarship
Cohort: 2. Cohort, 2015-2018

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[item title="Short Abstract"]

Value creation is the pivotal point in economic analysis and business management. But our current accounting systems only recognize a small part of the values companies actually create for their stakeholders. In my dissertation, I develop some ideas on how we can reimagine the total performance of a business and what this change in perspective means for the measurement of business value creation. I introduce the Shared Value Statement (SVS) as a reporting instrument that is supposed to give a broader view about the tangible and intangible values stakeholders can appropriate by participating in a company’s value creation network. Finally, I end with some conclusions for the development of a Relational Accounting of the firm.

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[item title="PhD Related Publications"]

Articles                                                      

• Törner, L.; Möhrer, M. (2021): CSR Reporting – Datenverfügbarkeit als Herausforderung. Downloadable: Zeppelin University (BIC)
• Stehle, A.; Möhrer, M.; Jordan, S. (2021): Impact Measurement – Was Controller zur Steuerung des Corporate (Social) Purpose brauchen! Published in: Zeitschrift für erfolgsorientierte Unternehmenssteuerung
• Stehle, A.; Möhrer, M.; Jordan, S. (2020): Impact Measurement – Ein Ansatz zur stakeholderorientierten Unternehmenssteuerung. Published in: Controller Magazin

 Book Contributions                               

• Möhrer, M. (2021): Shared Value Statement – New Perspectives on Measuring Business Value Creation. (in press)
• Möhrer, M. (2017): Shared Value: Industrieökonomische Ursprünge, Strategietheoretische Fundierung, Wertorientiertes Measurement. Published in: Metropolis-Verlag
• Wieland, J.; Baumann Montecinos, J.; Jandeisek, I.; Möhrer, M. (2017):Theoretische Reflexionen zu Creating Shared Value (CSV). Published in: Metropolis-Verlag
• Möhrer, M. (2016): Migration, Uncertainty and Transculturalism. Published in: Metropolis-Verlag

Monographs

• Möhrer, M. (2021): Shared Value-Rechnung. Konzeption und Messung betriebswirtschaftlicher Wertschöpfung. (in press)
• Wieland, J.; Baumann Montecinos, J.; Heck, A. E. H.; Jandeisek, I.; Möhrer, M. (2017): CSR Performance: managen und messen. Published in: Metropolis-Verlag

Discussion Papers                                

• ICV (2020): Rolle des Impact Measurement in der integrierten Unternehmenssteuerung. Leitplanken und Handlungsempfehlungen für die Implementierung eines neuen strategischen Steuerungsinstruments. Downloadable: Impact Measurement im Controlling
• Jandeisek, I.; Kannenberg, L.; Kusi Appiah, M.; Möhrer, M. (2016): The Sustainable Development Goals from a Firm’s Perspective. Downloadable: Managing the SDGs in the Business Sector
• Möhrer, M.; Pillath, M.; Simmank, F.; Suurendonk, M. (2016): Transculturalism and Leadership Excellence. Evaluation of the Transcultural Profiler. Downloadable: Transcultural Management in a Global Context

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