Field Projects with the VW AG and Leipziger Gruppe

New field projects of the ERL doctoral program start in March and April, 2018, with the topical focus areas Code of Responsible Conduct for Business and sustainability

The public expectations and perceptions of the Volkswagen Code of Conduct and the Code of Responsible Conduct for Business can differ from country to country. Differences between the external and internal perspective pose reputational risks for VW. In order to minimize these risks, the field project with the VW AG analyses selected ethical issues in Mexico and South Africa, which are relevant for VW. Under the lead of Professor Andreas Suchanek, a team of four doctoral students, Andani Thakhathi, Benedikt Kirner, Nils Kruse and Raphael Ng, work on the field project until the end of June 2018.

Sustainability is one of the big topics of the present and the future. The aim of the field project with the Leipziger Gruppe is to elaborate a systematic overview of the topic of sustainability reporting, in order to derive practical guidance for the Leipziger Gruppe. It will compare what competitors, the communal environment, and best practice examples of sustainability rankings (from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, “future,” and the Institute for Ecological Economy Research) do. Under the lead of Professor Andreas Suchanek, Adrian Gombert and Magdalena Wallkamm, doctoral students of the fourth cohort will carry out this field project until the beginning of July 2018.

The field projects are an integral part and unique feature of the doctoral program “Ethics and responsible leadership”. In these projects, the doctoral students apply up-to-date research in ethics and responsible leadership to develop applicable solutions to specific challenges in business practice.
An overview of the previous field projects can be found here: