The Gentz Lecture 2025 – Investing in Integrity

Setting the Stage

Matthias Koch, COO/CFO at ESMT Berlin, welcomed students and guests, framing the lecture as a moment to connect scholarship with the practice of responsible leadership. Dr. Manfred Gentz followed with reflections on freedom, responsibility, and trust as essential conditions for both democratic societies and sustainable business.

Keynote by Professor Andreas Suchanek

The inaugural lecture was delivered by Professor Andreas Suchanek, Dr. Werner Jackstädt Chair of Economic and Business Ethics at HHL Leipzig. He challenged students to view integrity not as a slogan, but as a strategic and moral foundation for leadership.

Suchanek’s main insights included:

• Integrity as attitude and culture: Integrity is not a fixed state but a way of approaching challenges. For individuals, it is an attitude; for firms, a culture. It shapes how we act when faced with dilemmas—especially when short-term gains are at odds with long-term values.
• Integrity vs. opportunism: He contrasted two mindsets. Opportunists pursue self-interest and ignore ethical constraints when convenient. People of integrity, by contrast, respect legitimate expectations even when it costs them. This distinction is decisive in building trust.
• The trust game: Using a simple economic model, Suchanek illustrated how integrity creates the conditions for cooperation. Without trust, collaboration breaks down. With integrity, both sides can win—demonstrating that ethics and success are not mutually exclusive.
• The cost of integrity: Ethical behavior often means forgoing easy profits. Suchanek reframed this “cost” as an investment—not in immediate returns, but in reputation, trust, and sustainable success. Leaders who adopt this perspective can better withstand crises.
• Why integrity matters: Professor Suchanek offered three reasons to commit to integrity:

1. Societal impact – fair and sustainable societies depend on enough “players of integrity.”
2. Trustful cooperation – reliable relationships within teams, organizations, and markets are only possible when integrity is present.
3. Inner peace – integrity allows leaders to live with themselves and their decisions over the long term.

Suchanek urged students to see integrity as both a professional asset and a personal compass: “Maintain your integrity because you are the person with whom you have to live for the rest of your life.”

Following the keynote, Suchanek joined Gianluca Carnabuci, professor of organizational behavior and Julia Langdon, assistant professor of organizational behavior, both ESMT Berlin, for a discussion on applying integrity in practice. The panel touched on cultural differences in ethical norms, the risks of treating integrity as an ideal too lofty to reach, and the responsibility of leaders as role models.

The event closed with an interactive Q&A and a reception. Students had the chance to engage directly with faculty and peers, embodying the lecture’s goal: to launch a purpose-driven journey at ESMT rooted in ethics, trust, and responsible leadership.