Our group is concerned with topics of strategic corporate development. In particular we are interested in analyzing human behavior observed in ethically relevant dilemma situations as they occur in business.

Starting point of our analysis is the observation that the inclination of decision makers within organizations to act unethically largely depends on the situation and the environment in which decisions are taken. It is largely determined by intuitive and moral heuristics as well as psychological biases. This is true even if, in principle, actors are committed to moral objectives. Human behavior can only be understood as a boundedly ethical one.

The central aim of our research is to analyze the mediating factors that have an impact on boundedly ethical behavior and to develop strategies that facilitate ethical decisions in firms.

Our research results are directly infused into teaching. The foundation of the courses we offer lies in a behavioral, boundedly rational understanding of decision processes in firms. We discuss incentives in organizations and approaches for successful corporate development, with a view to ethical dimensions. To do so, game-theoretic concepts are applied and recent economic and psychological findings from empirical, especially experimental research are employed.