Excellence and Responsibility

The members of the chair of foundations of business administration and theories of the firm foster a multi-paradigm view in research and teaching in management studies and their sub-disciplines. In particular, we concentrate on management sub-disciplines like organization studies, leadership, corporate communication, corporate social responsibility (CSR), business ethics, and the theory of the firm. By means of conceptual and empirical research we contribute to theory development in management studies, using different schools of thought from various disciplines such as philosophy, economics, political science, sociology, (social) psychology and communication studies. We systematically analyze their contribution to questions arising in business administration. We educate students and young academic talents in various theoretical perspectives and enable young academic talents to take part in international and interdisciplinary discourse.

• Research
  Our research focuses on organization theory, leadership theory, corporate communication, corporate social responsibility (CSR), business ethics, the theory of the firm, and philosophy of science. In particular, we investigate the role of corporations in a globalized world and study how corporate responsibility can be justified and realized under the conditions of limited national governance mechanism . Beside economic efficiency, it is more and more important to take into account the responsibility of corporations in a globalized world. Business firms have to comply with heterogeneous legitimacy requirements and take over societal tasks a nation state cannot provide. In academic discourse, our aim is to contribute substantially to the development of knowledge in management studies. Numerous publications in international top-tier journals document our purpose (e.g., Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Perspectives, Journal of Management Studies, Organization Studies, Organization, Business Ethics Quarterly, Journal of Business Ethics, Business & Society, Management Communication Quarterly).
• Teaching
  In all of our courses from the bachelor up to the PhD level we educate students and young academics in various theoretical perspectives for a deep understanding of the relation between economics and ethics as well as the responsibility of business in society. Our students are taught to understand the problems of globalization and to analyze its implications for corporations, business, and public policy. The implications of the responsible role of corporations for organizational structure and processes are special foci. Our graduates have competencies and knowledge beyond mainstream business curricula and emerge fully qualified for international careers as specialists  in the areas of research, economics, publi policy, and administration. Furthermore, they are able to play their role in the global economy in a responsible manner.
   
• Dialogue with researchers and practitioners in selected fields
  By presenting our research findings and by publishing research results in refereed journals, we actively participate in academic discourse. We extend the dialogue with practitioners by fostering research cooperation with firms and by inviting managers to participate as guest lecturers. We focus in particular on the following issues and problems: globalization, human rights, social and ecological standards, fighting corruption, moral dilemmas, ethics in organizations, responsible leadership, and sustainability.