In the article titled, " The
Buck Stops (and Starts) at Business School", author Joel Podolny's article
discusses his theory on how management education has contributed to the general
failure of today's leaders. So to me the
question to his theory is “do businesses schools need to change curriculum when
it comes to ethics or is the business community making them the scapegoats of
their failures when it comes to developing leaders? Podolny’s view takes a
direct shot at business schools by stating how he believes business schools
have largely ignored the teaching of values and ethics when it comes to
leadership. Some would agree notion by
looking at it from historical perspective; emphasizing that values and ethics
were not highly recognized subjects of traditional business school academic
disciplines.
Author Podolny lists five his
(not mine) actions he believes that business schools can take to best prepare
future leaders to assume a holistic approach to business problems and ethical
dilemmas. These actions include: fostering
greater integration, appointing teaching teams, encouraging qualitative
research, stopping the practice of competing on rankings, withdrawing degrees
for violating ethical codes of conduct.
I do agree with the author and
have seen changes in recent academic curriculum that tailor business programs
to not only incorporate business ethics education; but to also educate students
on how to making effective decisions that benefits the organizations they
represent. My personal perspective is I
do not think that we can blame business schools for the wrongs of our
leadership. I think the American
business community has moved away from why it is important to make good ethical
decisions. Ethical decision making does
not get you rewarded with bonuses or promotions. Business is about profit, and I feel it is
hard for the average American manager or leader to compete in a global market
when nobody plays by the same rules.
Employees on all levels have become concerned with the situation of ensuring
that they get the farthest in their career or make the most money in life. I don’t think this mindset is
counterproductive to society, or business; it is just a very competitive world
we live in.
Author John C. Maxwell made a
very profound statement in his book Organizational Excellence; "There’s No
Such Thing as "Business" Ethics". Although controversial, I find this powerful statement
very true to an extent. However, I think
we need to change how we see unethical behavior to fit modern day society, not
living by the words of John Maxwell, “the Golden Rule.” Maxwell, in Ethics 101: What Every Leader
Needs to Know, explains that the Golden Rule boils down to treating others the
way you want to be treated. Maxwell
emphasizes that ethics breaks down into unethical choices for three
reasons: People do what most convenient,
they do what they must to win, and finally they rationalize their choices with relativism
(Maxwell, 2003). I am not saying Maxwell
is wrong, but maybe we need to educate students about the consequences of their
actions which may be viewed as unethical by society.
I feel the drawback to implementing
Podolny's recommendations at business schools around the country is
consensus. Most major universities (here
and abroad) specialize their leadership programs to what they feel serves their
students the best. This is not like high
schools where in a certain state where everyone must teach the same material in
the same way. Such a change movement will
take an enormous effort, require an enormous financial assets, buy-in from the
academic community, and various other resources. No matter how much education you provide to
students, human nature will always play a role in their actions. Ask yourself the question, “If we had more
value and ethics training in the past, would it have changed the historical
events such as the housing market national financial crisis, Bernie Madoff
Ponzi scheme or even the Enron scandal”.
Maybe instead of reinventing the wheel, when the value and ethics are
incorporated in leadership courses, there should be a section on what really
happens when you ignore values and ethics and decide to roll the dice on you
going to jail.
References:
Harvard
Business Review. Jun2009, Vol. 87 Issue 6, p62-67. 6p. 1 Illustration, 1
Diagram
Maxwell,
J. C. (2003). Ethics 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know. New York, NY: Center
Street.
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