Contributions published at Foundations of Business Administration and Theories of the Firm (Andreas Scherer)

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The wicked problems of our time, e.g. environmental destruction or human rights violations, can endanger the legitimacy of firms, given that their global supply chain activities often cause these problems. While wicked problems transcend national borders and thus limit the capacity of legislative powers to enact change, corporate sustainability practices on an individual level often fail as well. Hence, the role of private governance on a collective level has become key as a response. This work discusses how private governance emerges and why firms are willing to engage in it by drawing on the case of the German Partnership for Sustainable Textiles. The findings of this work generate in-depth insights into the formation and functionality of private governance institutions.

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The chapter examines to what extent research from social cognitive neuroscience can inform ethical leadership. We evaluate the contribution of brain research to the understanding of ethical leaders as moral persons, as well the understanding of their role as moral managers. The areas of social cognitive neuroscience that mirror these two aspects of ethical leadership comprise research relating to understanding oneself, understanding others, and the relationship between the self and others. Within these, we deem it relevant for ethical leadership to incorporate research findings about self-reflection, self-regulation, theory of mind, empathy, trust and fairness. The chapter highlights social cognitive neuroscience research in these areas and discusses its actual and potential contributions to ethical leadership. The chapter thereby engages also with the broader discussion on the neuroscience of leadership. We suggest new avenues for future research in the field of leadership ethics and responsibility.

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In this article, we argue that in the contemporary globalized economy business firms face two interrelated challenges that result from the growing complexity and dynamics of corporate environments increasing threats to corporate legitimacy and growing efficiency problems. As a result, corporate legitimacy and efficiency are potentially weakened. We specifically explore the communicative requirements for tackling both the problems of organizational legitimacy and of efficiency. On this basis, we suggest to make business firms subject to democratic processes based on stakeholder participation and open communication. The partial democratization of business firms can serve as a corrective to the dominant economic logic underlying corporate structures and processes by simultaneously addressing economic and moral considerations and by enhancing both efficiency and legitimacy.

Das gestiegene Bewusstsein der Allgemeinheit über die Schädlichkeit der Korruption hat zu zahlreichen nationalen, regionalen wie auch internationalen Massnahmen zur Eindämmung korrupter Praktiken geführt. Die Verschärfung der Gesetzgebungen und die grössere Intoleranz der Gesellschaft gegenüber korrupten Praktiken zwingen sowohl grosse Firmen als auch kleine und mittlere Unternehmen (KMUs) zur aktiven Auseinandersetzung mit Korruption und der Einführung von Präventionsmassnahmen. Aufgrund ihrer teilweise globalen Vernetzung und der damit einhergehenden Möglichkeit, Gesellschaften, Organisationen und vielleicht sogar Regierungen aus verschiedenen Regionen zu mobilisieren, stellen internationale Organisationen und NGOs (Drittparteien) wichtige Akteure im globalen Kampf gegen Korruption dar. Diese Arbeit bietet erste Einblicke über die Rolle der Drittparteien in Bezug auf die Antikorruption in KMUs. Diesbezüglich werden die Bemühungen und die eingenommene Rolle von unterschiedlichen Drittparteien, sowie ihre Wahrnehmungen und Sichtweisen hinsichtlich Antikorruption in KMUs untersucht. Mittels qualitativer Inhaltsanalyse von Interviewdaten und der Erstellung einer dreistufigen Datenstruktur konnten drei verschiedene Rollen identifiziert werden: aktiv, passiv und indirekt.

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