Springer Conscious Business in Germany: Assessing the Current Situation and Creating an Outlook for a New Paradigm (CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance)

This book presents conscious business as a constantly expanding and powerful approach to reinvent and shape organizations in a human and beneficial manner. In particular it examines the core characteristics, main drivers and challenges of conscious businesses in Germany. The book offers a structured overview of the current situation of the concept and outlines important issues that need to be considered in order to make independent decisions. Four case studies of successful conscious companies – differing in terms of their size, industry, legal form and international orientation – reveal concrete best practices and provide evidence for the approach’s ability to deliver business paradigms that are simultaneously purposeful and profitable. From the Back Cover This book presents conscious business as a constantly expanding and powerful approach to reinvent and shape organizations in a human and beneficial manner. In particular it examines the core characteristics, main drivers and challenges of conscious businesses in Germany. The book offers a structured overview of the current situation of the concept and outlines important issues that need to be considered in order to make independent decisions. Four case studies of successful conscious companies – differing in terms of their size, industry, legal form and international orientation – reveal concrete best practices and provide evidence for the approach’s ability to deliver business paradigms that are simultaneously purposeful and profitable. About the Author Nicolas Stahlhofer holds a Master Degree in International Business and a Bachelor Degree in Business Psychology. During his academic career, he studied abroad at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) as well as at the City College of San Francisco (CCSF). Between his degrees, he worked for an international insurance in Singapore and a Recruitment Consultancy in Munich. His passion for entrepreneurship, innovation and finance led him to his current position as Strategy Transformation Consultant at the Japanese firm NTT DATA. His conscious approach to business and society translates into his daily work by enabling clients to transform their business models and strategies in a purposeful manner. Prof. Dr. Schmidkonz holds a diploma in Economics from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. He studies Chinese for two years at the Fu Jen University in Taiwan and is an alumnus of the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD). From 1998-2001, Prof. Schmidkonz worked at the ifo Institute for Economic Research with a focus on research and consulting in China. Afterwards, he joined the international consultancy Capgemini as a Senior Consultant in the area of telecommunication and internet. In 2008, he won the start-up competition “Multimedia” which was set up by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Technology. Since 2009, he teaches as a professor and Academic Director for International Business at the Munich Business School. His research activities are focused on China-specific topics as well as “Success Factor Happiness” and “Conscious Business”. Prof. Dr. Patricia Kraft has studied Business Administration focusing on marketing, strategic management and statistics, and did her PhD in the domain of international marketing at Regensburg University and the University of Colorado, USA. During her doctoral studies, she made major contributions to the launch of three new study programs within the Bavarian elite network. After many years of professional practice and leadership in the fields of marketing and strategic management in the capital goods industry and in financial services, she now teaches the subject areas of strategics, marketing and communication at various universities of applied sciences. Since 2014, she has been a professor at Munich Business School and since 2016 Academic Director of the Bachelor International Business program. Her researc