CEMS Projects

CEMS —Global Alliance for Management Education is a strategic alliance of leading business schools and multinational companies. Founded in 1988 in Europe, the network has grown steadily, largely due to the success and popularity of the CEMS Master’s in International Management program. Today, CEMS is the global league of leaders on the pre-experience Master’s market and it cannot be equaled in terms of reputation of its members: 28 world-class academic institutions collaborate together with 56 corporate partners to offer international, postgraduate students a unique blend of high quality education and professional experience. (www.cems.org)

Laszlo Zsolnai founded the CEMS Business Ethics Faculty Group in 1997. Since then he serves as Chairman of this Group. Members include Zsolt Boda (Corvinus University of Budapest), Tomasz Dolegowski (Warsaw School of Economics), Nel Hofstra (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Knut J. Ims (Norwegian School of Economics Bergen), Josep Losano (ESADE Business School Barcelona), Eleanor O’Higgins (University College Dublin and London School of Economics), Kristina Rolin (Helsinki School of Economics), Aloy Soppe (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Antonio Tencati (Bocconi University Milan) and Steen Valentin (Copenhagen Business School).

The CEMS Business Ethics Group teaches joint courses, executes research projects and publishes books and papers.

CEMS PhD Workshop

A CEMS PhD workshop entitled "Sustainability and Responsibility in Business" was organized in May 20-21, 2011 at the Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary. The workshop introduced cutting-edge results and approaches in corporate sustainability and business ethics. Insights from behavioral sciences, positive psychology and ecological economics were applied to arrive at more a robust model of ethical and sustainable business. Working examples of progressive businesses were presented including organic agriculture, eco-gastronomy, ethical fashion and sustainable banking. The workshop was supported by the TÁMOP research program of the Corvinus University of Budapest.

Blocked Seminar in Vienna

The CEMS Business Ethics Faculty Group taught a blocked seminar on The Future International Manager at Vienna University of Economics and Business on September 27 - October 1, 2010. The seminar was hosted by the Gender and Diversity Institute. The seminar was based on the the CEMS book “The Future International Manager” (Palgrave, 2009).

The Future International Manager: A Vision of the Roles and Duties of Management

Laszlo Zsolnai & Antonio Tencati (eds.) The Future International Manager: A Vision of the Roles and Duties of Management . Palgrave, 2009. (This book may be available at: Amazon)

In the light of the current financial crisis the task of reinventing the management profession seems to be more relevant than even before. The book is a collaborative efforts of 18 professors of different CEMS universities to create a new professional profile for management. We believe that business management should be renewed if business leaders are to uplift the financially collapsing, environmentally degrading and socially disintegrating world of our age.

PhD Workshop in Behavioral Business Ethics

The Business Ethics Center of Corvinus University of Budapest organized the "Behavioral Business Ethics" CEMS PhD Seminar in Budapest in March 20-22, 2009. There were 10 participants including PhD students from London School of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration - Bergen, and Corvinus University of Budapest. The seminar introduced cutting-edge results and approaches in business ethics. Behaviorial economics and moral psychology were applied to arrive at more robust models of business ethics.

Balaton Blocked Seminar

An innovative CEMS Block Seminar entitled “The Future International Manager” was conducted by the Business Ethics Center from August 31-September 6, 2008, in Balatonszemes at Lake Balaton in Hungary. The seminar presented a fresh look at the desired professional profile of future international managers in different aspects of business. It also provided the students with a new vision of the roles and duties of management in the context of globalization.

Laszlo Zsolnai, from the Business Ethics Center, served as course director. Faculty included Mary Ann Danowitz (Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration), Knut J. Ims (Norwegian School of Economics & Business Administration), Eleanor O’Higgins (University College Dublin and London School of Economics), Antonio Tencati (Bocconi University Milan), and Zsolt Boda and Andras Nemeslaki (Corvinus University of Budapest).

Copenhagen Blocked Seminar

A CEMS Block Seminar in business ethics focusing on Corporate Social Responsibility was held from August 18-23, 2008, at Copenhagen Business School. The host was Steen Vallentin (Copenhagen Business School). Faculty included Aloy Soppe and Nel Hofstra (Erasmus University of Rotterdam) and Laszlo Zsolnai from the Business Ethics Center. Laszlo Zsolnai lectured on the Costs and Benefits of Socially Responsible Business.

"Responsible Business" Blocked Seminar in Bergen

From August 25-31, 2007, the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (NHH) conducted the CEMS Block Seminar in business ethics in Bergenben. The title of the seminar was “Responsible Business.” Knut J. Ims (NHH) served as course director. Faculty included Ove D. Jakobsen (Bodø Graduate School of Business), Eleanor O’Higgins (University College Dublin), Lars Jacob Thynes Pedersen (NHH), Kristina Rolin (Helsinki School of Economics), Antonio Tencati (Bocconi University Milan), and Zsolt Boda and Laszlo Zsolnai from the Business Ethics Center. Zsolt Boda’s topic was “Global Responsibility of Multinationals,” while Laszlo Zsolnai lectured on “The Nature of Responsibility” and “Buddhist Economics.”

Business Ethics Blocked Seminar in Milan

A CEMS Blocked Seminar, entitled “Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability: New Perspectives on Business Management,” was held from September 5-10, 2005, at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. Faculty included Knut J. Ims (Norwegian School of Economics & Business Administration, Bergen), Eleanor O’Higgins (University College Dublin), Antonio Tencati (Bocconi University Milan), Steen Vallentin (Copenhagen Business School) and Laszlo Zsolnai (Corvinus University of Budapest). Zsolnai presented the video “The Paradox of Business Ethics,” produced by the Business Ethics Center, and lectured on ethical business models in which managers consider the interests of the natural environment, society at large and future generations.

Business Ethics Blocked Seminar in Helsinki

From August 29-September 2, 2005, the Business Ethics Blocked Seminar of the Community of European Management Schools (CEMS) was held at the Helsinki School of Economics in Helsinki, Finland. Faculty included Laszlo Zsolnai (chairman of the CEMS Business Ethics Interfaculty Group), Aloy Soppe (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Tomasz Dolegowski (Warsaw School of Economics), Marja-Liisa Kakkuri-Knuuttila and Kristina Rolin (Helsinki School of Economics) and Sirpa Juutinen (PricewaterhouseCoopers). Zsolnai lectured on “The Moral Economic Man” and “The Cost and Benefit of Socially Responsible Business.”

"Ecological and Human Values in Business" Blocked Seminar

Laszlo Zsolnai was Director of the “Ecological and Human Values in Business” CEMS Blocked Seminar from August 29 – September 4, 2004, in Monoszlo, near Lake Balaton, Hungary. Faculty included Knut J. Ims (Norwegian School of Economics & Business Administration, Bergen), Ove Jakobsen (Bodø University), Nel Hofstra and Aloy Soppe (Erasmus University Rotterdam), and Laszlo Zsolnai and Zsolt Boda (Corvinus University of Budapest).

The seminar explored the ecological and human values perspective for transforming business into a more ecological and human form. Business is considered an existential enterprise because its decisions and policies greatly influence the fate and survival of nature, society and future generations. Ecological and human values provide limits for business within which it is legitimate and productive. However, by transgressing ecological and human values, business activities become destructive and self-defeating.