The article in the url below reports that 20% of the 2009 Harvard MBA graduating class signed an ethics oath:
“The M.B.A. Oath, a voluntary student-led pledge that the goal of a business manager is to ''serve the greater good.'' It promises that Harvard M.B.A.'s will act responsibly, ethically and refrain from advancing their ''own narrow ambitions'' at the expense of others.”
The article argues that the effect of Enron and the more recent financial crisis has been to heighten student interest in ethics and social responsibility, and that this project is moving beyond words into action:
“While this might easily be dismissed as a passing fancy -- or simply a defensive reaction to the current business environment -- business school professors say that is not the case. Rather, they say, they are seeing a generational shift away from viewing an M.B.A. as simply an on-ramp to the road to riches.”
The article also provides evidence that the student-led interest at top MBA schools is spreading beyond Harvard:
“A decade ago, Wharton had one or two professors who taught a required ethics class. Today there are seven teaching an array of ethics classes that [Diana C. Robertson, a professor of business ethics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania] said were among the most popular at the school.”
Have a good weekend.
David
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
http://www.sagepub.com/Werther/
A Promise to Be Ethical In an Era of Temptation
By LESLIE WAYNE
1048 words
30 May 2009
The New York Times
Late Edition - Final
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/business/30oath.html
