Undergraduate specialization (SBWL) hosted by the Institute for Ethics in Management in collaboration with the Institute for Organization Studies and Institute for Business Education

The purpose of this specializationis to offer an interdisciplinary educational experience that focuses on questions of ethics in management, business and society. These include: What is the responsibility of business facing crises and systemic risks? What is good governance and transparent decision-making? What is the role of leadership? Are AI-powered platforms new economic opportunities or do they discriminate and put users under surveillance? These themes are at the core of this specialization; answering them will be crucial for future economic and societal well-being. The aim of the specialization is not to provide guidelines for “ethical” conduct, but to encourage critical thinking and to provide different approaches to evaluating ethical challenges.

As future decision-makers, the students that choose this specialization will broaden their intellectual capacity to deal with fundamental problems and develop a repertoire to solve them. Students will be prepared to either continue on with master studies in governance, leadership, sustainability, or more general management; alternatively they are well-equipped to work in C-level support functions, consulting firms, or departments such as HR, ESG, sustainability, CSR, risk and compliance.   

To participate in the selection process, please register via the new registration tool @myWU – Access to Specializations! between January 29, 2026, 2pm and February 1, 2026, 11:59pm for course 5532 – Access to Specialization: Ethics for Management, Organizations, and Society.

On the CANVAS page of the course, you can then upload a one page motivational letter in PDF format until February 3, 2026, 23:59pm, that should answer the following three questions:

• Why do I want to take this specialization?

• Which experiences and expertise do I bring to the specialization?

• Please identify and describe a contemporary case where an organization is faced with an interesting ethical challenge.

Admission is primarily based on motivational letters, alongside grade point average.

All admitted students will be contacted via e-mail, and in this case we would ask you to confirm immediately via e-mail whether you will accept the offered place. This confirmation will then be decisive for the final acceptance.

Note that our SBWL cannot be completed within one semester.

Course IV is also intended for credit transfer. Contact Anna Maria Rath (annamaria.rath@wu.ac.at) in advance to find out if credit transfer is possible.

Architecture of the specialization