Today was the last session (yes, 2 semesters done) of our Strategy class and we talked about Corporate Governance and Ethics. It's always an interesting topic of discussion in the class with strong opinions and arguments flowing across the room. We also touched upon the idea of teaching ethics in a business school. Again, some were in favor and some were not. Personally, I don't think ethics can be taught to a graduate student in a classroom. My belief is that ethics are the underlying values of a person's character and cannot be taught at this point in someone's life. The value system under which someone is brought up in childhood is a key influencing factor in shaping up someone's beliefs and conception of ethics and is really hard to change. So, if you want to teach ethics to someone, start in school.
I was also reminded of the famous MBA Oath that was proposed by some HBS graduates last year.To me, it was a very naive idea and a stupid solution to a very important global societal problem. There was a big push from a section of faculty and students to sign the oath. Well, I never liked the idea.
First of all, I felt that by signing the MBA oath, I would admit that all the economic mess was caused by the MBAs. It was like saying "I am sorry for what I did and now I promise that I will behave myself".
Second, I don't believe that signing an oath can change someone's value system and view of ethics. If you believe in doing the right thing, you will do it no matter what and if you don't, an oath that you signed 10 years ago in school will not come to stop you when you are in a situation. People all over the world take oaths and then forget about those (policemen in India wouldn't be a bad example!). I am not saying that just because people don't stick to their oaths, so it is a bad idea. I believe that there should be proper measures to catch and punish the unethical behaviors - to set examples so that others don't think of repeating the same mistakes. I don't think that if people who are responsible for financial crisis or any other corporate scam in the world (MBAs or not!) had taken the oath, it would not have happened. And if people responsible for the current crisis go unpunished, I'm sure there is a big chance that some of them would already be thinking of the next and bigger scam.
Now, it would be interesting to see if people who signed this oath will, in future, be accused of a behavior opposite to what they signed up for !
6 comments:
I really like the points you made about the oath. Keep those posts coming...I would like to read more about them...
Thanks Arvind
Hi Vishal, Peter here with the MBA Oath. First, thanks for adding to the conversation. I don't think the MBA Oath is a panacea, but I think it is a good first step. I think your objections raise valid points that we must contend with. Ultimately though, I like that the Oath creates a platform for discourse on the purpose of business and how to balance profits with other stakeholders (employees, customers, bondholders, society at large).
Hi Peter, Thanks for expressing your views. I agree with you on the point that the oath provides a platform for a good discussion. But here's my concern. The business community in the field and in academmia thinks about these issues every time a scam/fraud or an unethical behavior comes to light. The same discussion happens every time in all the forms of media. Not only that, a lot of schools do cover business ethics as part of their curricula. Companies have their own codes of conduct, which they make their employees sign, post on the walls and what not. But how many actually really walk the talk, when the time comes.
That's why I think that signing a code of conduct or an oath is a mere formality for people to feel and look good. Ethical behaviors have to be more deep rooted in the culture of a society rather than being a one time event of oath signing.
Nice blog ...
Thanks Akshay.
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