Values for Value: narratives and strategies for turning Sustainable Management practices into Business success

Sustainability Management, Business Ethics and Ethical Marketing are critical research fields focused on aligning business practices with environmental and social responsibility. Sustainability management explores how companies can integrate sustainable practices into their operations, enhancing resource efficiency and reducing environmental impact while ensuring long-term profitability. Business ethics analyses the integration of values and principles into business behavior and how these can be aligned with the entrepreneurial goal of profit. Ethical marketing examines how businesses can promote their products transparently and responsibly, building consumer trust and loyalty.

These fields offer a framework for creating value through values—using sustainable practices and ethical narratives as drivers of competitive advantage and business success. Academic research provides key insights into effectively communicating and implementing these principles.

Isabel Blümel is a PhD candidate at the Ingolstadt School of Management. Her research focuses on sustainable management, business ethics and social innovation, with a particular emphasis on the impact of ethical entrepreneurial decision-making on innovation and economic outcome. She is a doctoral scholarship holder and a fellow in the current interdisciplinary doctoral program, a collaborative project of the Catholic universities. Also, she has international academic and professional experience in the USA and France. She holds two master's degrees in business and international management.

Lu Bostanli is a PhD candidate and lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, where she teaches Enterprise and Society, Social Innovation and Sustainability in China. Her research interests encompass the use of narratives for sustainability communication, leadership ethics as well as practical wisdom in business. She has published her work in Humanistic Management Journal and Psychology of Leaders and Leadership.

Publications of Lu Bostanli:

Bostanli, L. and Habisch, A. (2023), “Narratives as a Tool for Practically Wise Leadership: A Comprehensive Model”, Humanistic Management Journal, 8, pp.113-142. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41463-023-00148-6
Bostanli, L. (2023), “Narratives for wise thinking in leadership: An experiment on the influence of wise leader exemplars’ narratives on wise thinking in leadership”, Psychology of Leaders and Leadership, 26(2), pp. 115-126. https://doi.org/10.1037/mgr0000141

Dr. Julia Winterstein is a habilitation candidate at Ingolstadt School of Management, Germany. Her research focuses on sustainability management, especially ethical aspects of marketing. She has published her work in Journal of Cleaner Production, British Food Journal, International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, and ABAC Journal. Also, she has written book chapters. Aside from her academic background, she has practical experiences in project management, business development, and marketing.

Publications of Julia Winterstein:

Winterstein, J. and Habisch, A. (2021), "Is local the new organic? Empirical evidence from German regions", British Food Journal, 123(11), pp. 3486-3501. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-06-2020-0517
Winterstein, J., and Habisch, A. (2021). „Organic and local food consumption: A matter of age? Empirical evidence from the German market“, ABAC Journal, 41(1), pp. 26-42.http://www.assumptionjournal.au.edu/index.php/abacjournal/article/view/4393
Winterstein, J. (2022), "Nudging and Boosting towards Sustainable Food Choices – A Systematic Literature Review of Cognitively Oriented Measures", Ogunyemi, K. and Burgal, V. (Ed.) Products for Conscious Consumers, Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley, pp. 113- 132. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80262-837-120221007
Winterstein, J., Zhu, B., & Habisch, A. (2024). How personal and social-focused values shape the purchase intention for organic food: Cross-country comparison between Thailand and Germany. Journal of Cleaner Production, 434,140313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.140313
Frank, F., Winterstein, J., and and Habisch, A. (2024), “Desire for exploration beats price: Empirical study on customer motives for using digital monetary food sharing platforms”, commitment to publication at International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, https://doi.org/10.1504/IJISD.2024.139394