Just read an interesting item in The Economist called “Forswearing Greed”, in which 400 Harvard MBAs – half the 2009 graduating class! - signed a “Hippocratic oath for managers”, promising to “serve the greater good”, “act with the utmost integrity” and guard against “decisions and behavior that advance my own narrow ambitions, but harm the enterprise and the societies it serves.”

Could just be empty rhetoric, but I think – and The Economist seems to agree – it could signal something deeper. With our economy in its darkest doldrums since the Depression, maybe it’s time for business managers to embrace a set of professional standards similar to those upheld by lawyers and physicians.

As I’ve blogged about before, TradeKing’s motto, “Be Good”, is our attempt to prove that profit-seeking and a fair, decent way of doing business can go hand-in-hand. In fact, I’d go a step further and say they HAVE to go hand-in-hand; if they don’t, you sure won’t keep your customers long. People aren’t stupid; they can readily tell the difference between a fair deal and a raw one. And in scenarios where consumers can’t see the full picture all at once – for instance, in the chain of implosions resulting in the sub-prime mortgage crisis – we’re all wiser, and poorer, for the lack of scruples those mortgage brokers and rating agencies and other managers displayed, contributing their own little piece to the big mess. Surely capitalism can march successfully forward without rapaciousness as a byproduct.

What’s your take? Do you see these Harvard MBAs as a new movement in business, or is this just idealistic “values-washing” that will fade when students hit the real business world? What’s the best way for business managers to rebuild trust and confidence among consumers?

[image: from The Economist website]
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Well the proof will be in the pudding so to speak. Taking an oath and living/working by it are two different things. Doctors and lots of other professions take oaths and from my earlier years in insurance, there are all kinds of rules you agree to with your signature, that as I recall also exist in the financial world and yet what shouldn't have happened still did.

The trouble is you'll never know if they are living up to it, but you sure will if they aren't. (eventually anyway)

 "Surely capitalism can march successfully forward without rapaciousness as a byproduct."

   I would have added in the discussion that I am a Union Official. In our oaths of office we say that failure to adhere to these (not necessarily the same ones) principles marks us "as people of low character and no honor". This should be included as a part a part of this oath. Would any of you like to be characterized as such? I don't. Nor do I think that many of you would like to self admit this. This inclusion would add weight to that oath. Lacking this gives it no teeth whatsoever /dismiss.

~~Weird Uncle Jesse~~

PS I do like the symbolic gesture though.

"Can Harvard MBAs say no to greed?"
Sure they can. Soon as they make their own personal fortune, they can be quite altruistic.

Great points, folks. I agree with incubus that, without regulation, all the voluntary oaths in the world are probably insufficient without more good old-fashioned regulation, both in terms of better enforcement of existing laws plus new ones to address specific abuses that have recently come to light.

That said, I do think a voluntary business oath is an important step, especially when introduced by the country's (if not the world's) #1 business school. Such an oath has the potential to become standard-practice among B-school graduates and perhaps even the nucleus of a professional license like the bar for lawyers. What if breaking the oath not only marred your reputation but also disbarred you from professional practice? That's a promise of quality with real teeth.

Dick Fuld has been "disbarred" in that sense.

I think early education and leading by example is the answer to restoring trust. And it will take time to restore trust.

1. Teach our kids (our next generation) about the importance of ethics and that integrity should be priceless (and not something that should be able to be bought, or depending on risk vs return). And teach them to be able to have an independent mind and able to stay true themselves (have common sense, be accountable, and hold to a high standard in terms of honesty and integrity)

2. It will take a grassroots movement (start from our self and lead by example) as people will respond to those who talk the talk and walk the walk.

Human nature is interesting to say the least (in terms of greed and always wanting more, or to keep up with the joneses).  For example,  many people will be happy to make $50,000, only until they find out that their colleagues are making $60,000, and they will be sad.

Another example which I think is even more absurd is (and this study is really proven). People were asked to pick one of the scenario for the same job (same everything basically) except the pay.
1. You got paid $40,000 while everyone else in your group is paid $45,000
2. You got paid $50,000 while everyone else in your group is paid $60,000
And you guessed it right, most people pick the scenario 2.

My point is as long as people refuse to have an independent thinking, ability to assess situation independently (to distinguish right from wrong), and a commitment to stay honest no matter what, it will be hard to suppress these trust problems. Law enforcement and SEC can only do so much (and they get their hand full already).

Having said all that, I just want to say that, there are still many good people (with great integrity) out there, which gives us hope for a better future. Yes, these people might be hard to find but it will be worth it (to build a team or to surround yourself with people that have unquestionable integrity)

Just my 2 cents,

Sidarta Tanu

I meant to say: ================================ People were asked to pick one of the scenario for the same job (same everything basically) except the pay: 1. You got paid $45,000 while everyone else in your group is paid $40,000 2. You got paid $50,000 while everyone else in your group is paid $60,000 And you guessed it right, most people pick the scenario 1 (less absolute pay but higher pay than others). ================================

Education and your MBA do nothing for you if you haven't learned principles of integrity, honesty, and compassion. Where are these principles taught? At home.. and the teachers are mom and dad. So in conclusion, I think it's a good show for Harvard and a politically correct one at that. Ultimately, if you're a POS person without the MBA.. guess what? You're probably a POS with an MBA. (I'll refrain from explaining what POS means, but it is a very derogatory term) 

You guys hit the nail on the head - the magic word, the truly scarce value, going forward in the business world is going to be "trust". Sure, we've all learned to be skeptical of advertising claims in the past, but in today's economic climate trust in business, and particularly in Wall Street, has been more fundamentally shaken than it has in a good long time.

I agree with Sidarta: it's going to take a long, long time to build that trust back, and it's not just the business community facing that task. Much of the U.S. economy may be put on the defensive in the coming years, and we'll have to work extremely hard to battle our way back to credibility again.

I don't know if a simple oath will cut it, but I do feel sure that trust-building will be the watchword for business in the coming decade. However we manage it (or don't), trust will have the power to make or break businesses. The good news is that newly skeptical - even cynical - consumers will make us all work that much harder to regain trust, to build credibility, and ultimately to build better, more transparent, responsible organizations that can seek a profit in the sunshine and still behave decently. I like to think we're building such an organization at TradeKing; I know it's critical to strive for these values to succeed, not to mention to sleep well at night.