A634.1.6RB_SeabournBeau

            Like most things this week, I was unaware of the growing issues within the business school MBA programs. To be very honest, I didn’t know there were any issues. After the reading this week, that all changed for me. I am now well aware that there is a very real issue with the ethical decision making processes MBA graduates are leaving with and taking directly into the workplace. One thing that stood out for me in the article was “teaching one ethics course doesn't ensure that a marketing professor will, for instance, discuss privacy-related issues while describing the Net's use as a marketing medium” (Podolny, 2009). The reason that caught my attention is because of the outcomes and consequences of not linking real time information with ethical decision making. Any student can take an ethics course and talk about the “what-ifs” but until the actual business classrooms identify those ethical situations in practical application, I don’t think we will see any really change in the way things are being done.           

            Personally, I feel as though the monetary gains linked to an MBA far outweigh any actual ethical decision making. What I mean is, when a graduate leaves and starts looking for a job, I’m sure they’re not looking for the most ethical and responsible company out there. They are looking for someone who is going to pay the bills and put lots of money in their pocket. The ethical principles of the company are only secondary to the salary. If we want there to be more honesty, integrity and trust in the financial institutions, maybe we should start holding companies to a higher standard. If we don’t do that, why would institutions change their procedures for churning out graduates? It could work the other way also; companies could and should be looking for the most sounds decision makers they can find. I feel as though they are focusing their attention on performance and outcomes rather than the ethical principles an employee brings with them. They then wonder later why they have employee issues and HR problems. The article states “In order to reduce people's distrust, business schools need to show that they value what society values” (Podonly, 2009). I agree with that observation but society values the dollar now. So how can we expect that observation to help anything?

             I actually found some information in reference to a business school that is worried about this issue. One source states “Stern, which claims to have been one of the first business schools to require an ethics course more than 30 years ago, was ranked eighth on the Aspen Institute's 2009-2010 Global 100 List of business schools that prepare M.B.A.s for "social, ethical, and environmental stewardship” (Wecker, 2011). I think that it is imperative that institutions like this continue to be recognized and understood. One last observation mentioned “colleagues at his institution, which requires a course in business ethics and government, have noticed more professors integrating ethics into syllabi” (Wecker, 2011). If they are already trying to implement the ethics into practical use, we need to get the businesses to offer financial rewards for ethically sound MBA graduates. It won’t be until that happens that we see a major swing in more ethical behavior from our financial institutions.

Podolny, J. M. (2009). The Buck Stops (and Starts) at Business School (Links to an external site.). Harvard Business Review, 87(6), 62-67.

Wecker, M. (2011, September 20). Retrieved June 5, 2015, from http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/articles/2011/09/20/business-schools-increasingly-require-students-to-study-ethics