Get a taste of our learning experience
ESMT Bites is a series of bite-sized online lectures designed to give you an authentic preview of the ESMT classroom experience. Each session features one of our distinguished faculty members introducing a core idea from their field, sharing practical insights, and engaging participants in the kind of discussion that defines our degree programs.
Whether you are exploring an MBA or a master's degree, ESMT Bites gives you a meaningful introduction to our faculty, our academic approach, and our community.
ESMT Bites: June edition
This month's edition features the lecture “When unethical behavior becomes a team sport in your organization” by Ulf Schäfer, a senior lecturer in strategy at ESMT Berlin. Major corporate scandals like Dieselgate or the Wells Fargo fake accounts do not happen in a vacuum. They require the active participation of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people. But how do well-educated, well-meaning employees and managers get swept into large-scale wrongdoing? This session explores unethical behavior as a social phenomenon. Discover how groups and networks subtly reconstruct morality and agency, enabling ordinary professionals to become part of corporate transgressions.
About Ulf Schäfer
Ulf Schaefer is senior lecturer in strategy at ESMT Berlin. From 2019 to 2025, he served as associate professor of practice in leadership, organization, and HR management at SDA Bocconi School of Management. Previously, he was with ESMT Berlin from 2005 to 2019 as program director for executive education, following professional roles at DaimlerChrysler, Sapient Corporation, The Launch Group, and A.T. Kearney. Ulf Schaefer holds an MA in philosophy, mathematics, and logic from the University of Bonn, an MBA from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, and a PhD from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
