Should #Ethics Be Taught in #B-School?

Maybe I’m just anxious because it’s Monday, but a blog post from Dr. David Rock in the Harvard Business Review has me a bit concerned.

“The Business of Values” recounts the discussions from a recent symposium hosted by the Harvard Business School on the “sticky subject of ethics.”

“With the poor standing that business leaders have in society today, there was wide agreement that the grand experiment to leave values out of business education has probably not gone so well, to put it politely,” said Rock, executive director of the NeuroLeadership Institute. Ya think?

Personally, I think teaching ethics at B-school is like teaching celibacy at the Bunny Ranch. If you haven’t bought in by the time you get there, four credit hours (or even two full years) of ethics teaching probably aren’t going to change your ways.

I think many in the business world come from the “Miller’s Crossing” school of ethics.

Regardless, Rock observed three current schools of thought on teaching ethics and values in business schools:

1. Ethics = values. “These schools were teaching students how to recognize their wider responsibilities — like their deeper legal and fiduciary responsibilities, as well as less obvious responsibilities to their employees, stakeholders and the wider community.”
2. Universal ethics. There is a universal set of values, which should be taught to all business students, although this approach begs the question of which values should be taught and how.
3. “Ethics from the inside out.” Helping students to understand their individual values and how to exercise those values when facing ethical dilemmas.

The one phrase in the article that most deeply disturbs me is a quote from one unnamed participant, “[I]t is easier to make headway teaching values if we take the stance that we are all deeply flawed, in deeply complex, chaotic systems.”

I find this sort of thinking defeatist, but I can understand why someone would feel this way. After all, you don’t have to look too far to find stories about leaders from business, government or The Church behaving badly.

I used to promote the Kansas City Business Ethics Awards, which are held annually to celebrate business owners who “did the right thing,” even when it cost their business money or even an important client relationship.

We had a heck of a time getting any attention from the news media (even back in the days when newspapers employed reporters). After all, the media don’t report on airplanes that land safely or on people who obey the laws.

But I disagree with the notion that we’re all deeply flawed. Or that life is terribly chaotic or complex.

We are all imperfect. We all make mistakes. I would argue that most people make the right choices most of the time and that most people genuinely care about their families, their neighbors, their communities and the world.

Further, in the age of social media, it’s tougher for an individual or a company to hide bad behavior or unethical business practices from the public. The truth always gets out, and even a seemingly small decision, such as where you’re sourcing raw materials, can (and will) come back to bite you.

I am optimistic about the future, as I hear more people choosing to take responsibility for their actions and to think twice about the pursuit of material possessions vs. doing what’s right.

I applaud business school educators for making the effort to make ethics an integral part of business. I hope they also will hold the line when it comes to pursuing justice and celebrating fair play.