Germany, Austria, and Switzerland

Being part of the most recent Global Survey of Business Ethics, this article provides some key insights on business ethics teaching, research and training in the three countries of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Multiple data collection approaches are combined to take comprehensively stock of the state-of-the art of business ethics in the sectors of higher education, research and business, covering archival data, bibliometric data, interview data as well as survey data. Our results indicate the generally accepted relevance of the field as well as some level of common understandings and shared views of challenges lying ahead. While practical issues and instruments of corporate social responsibility and sustainability are emphasized, the need of ethical reflection and corresponding skills is also widely acknowledged. The subjects of artificial intelligence and cyber ethics are viewed to be among the most pressing future challenges.