When Bush became the President of the USA, his MBA from Harvard signified just another educational qualification. During his eight year long tenure as the President of the USA, it again remained just another educational qualification; though of course it did become a cause of shame to Harvard. However, the current economic scenario and the collapse of Wall Street have made the Harvard Business School a household name as the one entity responsible for it all. And it is not just Harvard. It is a common belief that business schools are indeed responsible for the financial mess that the world is in right now.The constant global badgering has made the MBAs believe that they just might have done something wrong; hence the MBA oath by Harvard students and a horde of other ethical endeavors which mushroomed in the rainy season of curses. All MBA graduates want to be seen as principled individuals who only want to serve people.
The run to join oaths and declarations has been a fierce one in the west. Contrary to expectations, Harvard’s MBA oath had people joining it from all over. Everyone wanted to be part of it, as if the act in itself will cleanse them of their past and future follies. It has created quite a buzz and continues to do so as loads of new people continue to join it to promise a greed free future for the people. However, there has been no such initiative from the Indian side although some Indian students from FMS Delhi have signed it.
Why would there be no response to a seemingly high energy phenomenon that has caught the fancy of the rest of the world? Indians generally do not fail to follow the west at any opportunity. Is it because the scale of the damage due to recession has been considerably low in India? Or because Indian students believe that there is no problem with their principles (they may be right too). Or perhaps they have had the (happy) realization that lack of principles is a part of the structure and there is no point trying to change it.
Let’s analyze all the reasons one by one. Firstly yes, the scale of damage due to recession has been considerably low in India; growth has slowed down but has not been totally stalled. Consequently, the MBAs who graduated in 2008 did not obtain high paying investment banking jobs but they did not go jobless either. Most of the top business schools in India could place their students at respectable positions in respectable companies with similar respectable salaries. With a job in their kitty, why would they bother to make an ethical connection with their predecessors and the economic crisis?
Secondly, Indian students believe that there is no problem with their principles and claim that whatever (wrong) decisions they make or have made are or have been forced on them by the system. The system is corrupt and unethical and one has to survive in that. Is there a choice left for a business graduate?
And lastly, the happy realization. What have we been able to change in the past sixty odd years? Yes, just take the hint.
The effectiveness of the MBA oath has not been proven yet. Considering that it is still in its nascent stage, it deserves some time to produce results. It is a small initiative and one that, if successful, might change the corporate world into a better place. It might fail completely too; in which case there wouldn’t be much of a difference between now and later. There is no harm in introducing something that might not work. However, it is the lack of an initiative which is dangerous and business students in India should realize that.
update:
Lauren Bloom thinks it might actually work!: MBA oath could make a difference
Give it a chance people.