PRME Working Group on Anti-Corruption

History

In 2008, a group of universities and business schools formed a dedicated Working Group to address the integration of the UN Global Compact’s anti-corruption principle into academic and business discourse. Following the publication of an initial guidance report, the group has expanded to include additional member institutions and has become a dynamic community working together to promote integrity and combat corruption in the public, private, academic and third sectors.

Purpose

The Working Group focuses on key challenges of corruption, defined by Transparency International as “the misuse of entrusted power for private gain.” Corruption is recognized as one of the world’s greatest challenges. It is a major obstacle to sustainable development because it diverts resources from their proper use. It has a significant impact on the private sector, preventing the promotion of necessary competition between large and small brands, leading to the creation of monopolies that not only harm consumers, but also pose serious legal and reputational risks. This undermines the integrity of everyone involved and damages the fabric of organizations and society.

Goals

The main goals of the PRME Working Group on Anti-Corruption are to:

• Address the needs of the business community in implementing the 10th principle of the UN Global Compact.

• Develop curriculum and teaching methods for including anti-corruption subject matter in business and liberal arts curricula at business schools and universities

The Working Group has the goals to collaborate in the following ways:

• Corporate Collective Action- Promote integrity pacts and collective action among leading companies in different sectors. These initiatives follow recognized best practice and are implemented through individual and sector-wide projects in collaboration with local and international business chambers.

• Joint Conferences and Initiatives- In collaboration with global business ethics organizations and networks – including platforms such as the World Economic Forum’s Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI), promote joint conferences and initiatives that foster the exchange of experiences and increase the collective impact of anti-corruption efforts.

• Network Opportunities- Support local and regional networks to bring together academics, professionals and institutions committed to ethics, compliance and integrity. These networks also provide peer exchange opportunities for senior executives (CEOs, CFOs, COs) through workshops, webinars and face-to-face meetings, fostering practical dialogue and shared learning.

Research

The Working Group promotes research and knowledge dissemination with a practical focus on business ethics, integrity and transparency, with the goal of contextualizing the discussion of these issues in each specific geographic region and providing practitioners with concrete tools to help them establish, enhance, and monitor effective ethics and compliance programs.

Working Group members actively contribute to the academic conversation through the publication of journal articles, books, educational materials, and case studies. The Working Group’s publications are part of the broader PRME book series, helping to shape thought leadership in responsible management education.

Engagement Opportunities

Global Dialogues and Conferences:

The Working Group organizes global dialogues and conferences to bring together stakeholders to explore critical issues in responsible management education. Conferences, webinars and academic events serve as platforms for dialogue, knowledge sharing and showcasing progress in integrating anti-corruption into university and business school curricula.

Collaborative Online Events:

The Working Group also focuses on collaboration and partnership with stakeholders across the UN system and other international organizations, the private, academic and third sectors to expand its reach and impact. For example, since 2021, the Integrity Talk Series – a quarterly webinar format – has sought to bring together engaged scholars and practitioners from around the world to share and discuss current trends and challenges in combating corruption and promoting integrity. To learn more about past and future Integrity Talks, please visit the following website.

Resource Development

Collaborative Curriculum Development:

The Working Group focuses on developing best practice guidelines and promoting curriculum change that integrates a business ethics approach with compliance as a fundamental component. The goal is to drive curriculum change through a two-pronged strategy. The vertical strategy focuses on stand-alone business ethics modules in open programs. These include lectures (with case studies, technical notes, etc.), presentations by experienced practitioners, discussions of ethical dilemmas with compliance officers, and short programs on evolving best practices in ethics and compliance. The horizontal strategy integrates business ethics into existing courses, such as governance and strategy topics (including stakeholder and trust theories) in business policy courses, and ethics and compliance risk as part of enterprise risk management (ERM) in finance courses.

The Working Group develops a comprehensive anti-corruption toolkit, piloted in several institutions, assists educators in integrating anti-corruption issues into their teaching. The toolkit is continuously refined based on user feedback and new pedagogical insights.

Stay tuned for additional resources to be uploaded in the resources tab!

Examples of previous resources developed by the working group and its members:

Watch the Anti-Corruption in Management Curriculum Speed Draw Video

Anti-corruption guidelines ('Toolkit') for MBA curriculum change

Stachowicz-Stanusch, A., Amann, W., Hauser, C., Kleinhempel, M., & Tripathi, S. (Eds.). (2025). Organizational Corruption, Crime and Covid-19: Upholding Integrity and Transparency in Times of Crisis. Oxford: Taylor & Francis Group/Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003427933

Hauser, C., & Amann, W. (Eds.). (2023). The Future of Responsible Management Education: University Leadership and the Digital Transformation Challenge. Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-.. .

Hauser, C., & Ryan, A. (2021). Higher education institutions, PRME and partnerships for the goals: retrofit labeling or driving force for change? Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 12, 1268–1288. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAMPJ-.. .

Hauser, C. (2020). From Preaching to Behavioral Change: Fostering Ethics and Compliance Learning in the Workplace. Journal of Business Ethics, 162, 835–855. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551.. .

Hauser, C. (2019). Reflecting on the role of universities in the fight against corruption. RAUSP Management Journal, 54, 4–13. https://doi.org/10.1108/RAUSP-.. .

Stachowicz-Stanusch, A., & Amann, W. (Eds.). (2019). Anti-corruption in management research and business school classrooms. Information Age Publishing.

Stachowicz-Stanusch, A., & Amann, W. (Eds.). (2019). Mastering anti-corruption: The practitioners' view. Information Age Publishing.

Amann, W., & Stachowicz-Stanusch, A. (2018). Viral nature of corruption in a world of business and academia. Organization & Management Scientific Quarterly, 4(44), 43–57.

Amann, W., Berenbeim, R., Tan, T. K., Kleinhempel, M., Lewis, A., Nieffer, R., Stachowicz-Stanusch, A., & Tripathi, S. (2017). Anti-corruption: implementing curriculum change in management education. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351284400

Amann, W., & Stachowicz-Stanusch, A. (Eds.). (2013). Integrity in organizations: Building the foundations for humanistic management. Palgrave Macmillan.

Stachowicz-Stanusch, A., & Amann, W. (Eds.). (2012). Business integrity in practice: Insights from international case studies. Business Expert Press.

Chair

Professor Dr Christian Hauser, PRME Business Integrity Action Center, University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons; Switzerland.

Christian.Hauser@fhgr.ch

Steering Committee

Chair/Integrity Talk Series: Christian Hauser

Anti-Corruption Policy Lead: Agata Stachowicz-Stanusch

Research Communication (Website): Ajai Prakash

Webinars/Events Lead: Eduard Ivanov

Research Communication (Newsletter): Jose Godinez

Mentoring Lead: Matthias Kleinhempel

Partnership Lead: Rasha Kassem

Fundraising Lead: Shiv Tripathi

Research Lead: Wolfgang Amann

Please fill out the form here to join the Working Group.