Volkswagen, Boeing, Theranos, Uber, FTX: major corporate scandals appear in the news with alarming frequency, and many have involved engineers at critical points. In the companies at the center of these crises, few believed such events could ever occur – until they did.

The common narrative frames misconduct as the work of a few bad actors. Yet a deeper analysis shows that most scandals are driven by well-intentioned, competent professionals who, under certain conditions, become ethically blind.

The Dark Pattern challenges the conventional view of corporate wrongdoing. It reveals how entire organizations – staffed by capable individuals committed to their values – can slide over the moral and legal edge. Beneath the surface differences of each case lies a recurring pattern, one that slowly over time shapes the path to organizational failure.

Guido Palazzo is Professor of Business Ethics at HEC, University of Lausanne. He studied business administration and philosophy at the University of Bamberg (Germany) and wrote his PhD in political philosophy at the University of Marburg (Germany). In the past, he worked on corporate responsibility in global supply chains and organized crime. His current research focuses on the mechanisms of (un)ethical decision-making organizations and the impact of storytelling on societal transformation processes.

11:45 am  Doors open

12:15 pm  Welcome words

• Anna Fontcuberta i Morral, President of EPFL
• Frédéric Herman, Rector of the University of Lausanne

12:25 pm  Campus Lecture

• Guido Palazzo

12:55 pm  Round table with the participation of:

• Guido Palazzo
• Ulrich Hoffrage, Full Professor at the Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Lausanne and Lecturer at EPFL. He is the co-author of the book “The Dark Pattern: The Hidden Dynamics of Corporate Scandals”
• Christiane Kuehne, Member of the Supervisory Board of Stora Enso and Former Senior Vice President Strategic Business Unit Food at Nestlé
• Christine Martel, CEO of the Fresh Food & Beverage Group (FFB-Group) within Migros Industrie

13:20 pm  Q&A

13:40 pm  Book signing

14:00 pm  End of the event