Horst Steinmann’s Theory of Business Ethics and the PUMA Case : Focusing on Dialogue-oriented Corporate Communications

This study examines Horst Steinmann’s business ethics. One of Germany’s most representative researchers, his business ethics owes much to the philosophical works of the German school of “Methodological Constructivism”, which has developed further to what is now called “Methodological Culturalism”. In Steinmann’s view, corporations themselves must try to find some rules which are adequate to solve conflicts caused by their strategy. The PUMA case is a good example for this idea of business ethics. One outstanding feature of PUMA’s system of ethics management is a stakeholder dialogue.