Management as a profession

So I think the trick to blogging is that you just have to write what you feel and not do too much thinking or try to word it perfectly or spend months doing research before you release the post. Management can share a similar ideology. Every manager is faced with a balance of action, risk assessment, and moral judgment among every problem they face.

I just read an interesting article from the Economist about how some Harvard MBA students set up an oath for this year's graduating class. The oath, as you might guess, calls for moral integrity and avoiding selfish greed. Almost half of the 400 students signed up during an unofficial ceremony. The oath was supported by some HBS professors who observe, "They [the students] want to get away from the cartoon image of business that they are taught in the classroom, to get useful practical advice on how to lead a firm in the 21st century."

I recall during the first month of my undergraduate career, creating a project on corporate virtues. In my case, Newman's Own donates all proceeds to charity. Quickly after that project, those ideas of moral integrity began to fade into the widespread, Milton Friedman belief that the sole mission of business is to maximize shareholder value. So, quite quickly, we see two bubbles that focus on the return to the investor and the return to "the enterprise and the society it serves."

Can business professors provide the guidance needed to obtain the gray in the middle? Focusing on shareholder value puts emphasis on short term profitability, market gains. Shareholders "who feel that managers have not acted in their best interest can sue them." Yet business schools are meant to produce leaders, not the ticket towards profit-or-die wave pool. Global cooperation is somewhere lost in the spectrum. It seems that the only way to provide substantial philanthropy is to become Microsoft (monopoloy, Bill Gates never attended business school), or Wal-Mart (low wages, child-labor). While it costs money to make money, does it also cost morals to enhance social welfare?

The other question relates to what value managers actually bring to an organization. My friend Joe Pelletier believes that, while leadership skills can be transferable across industries and organizations, experiential learning is what will produce exceptional leaders. "It is easy to perceive managers as having no technical skills, relative to professions like IT, doctors, lawyers, etc. It's a general problem for business schools."

The need to reform the MBA is prevalent among our generation. The need for social enhancement is seen as a primary concern among my peers. The ability to socially connect has led us to permit transparency and "enhance our brand" as Dan Schwabel would say. The MBA has not stood up to its requirement for trust. While almost no entrepreneurs pursue an MBA, legislation calling for greater transparency along with management certifications in business ethics may ameliorate the integrity of the degree. While some countries host unethical businesses, the U.S. may hold the political and social will capable of rebuilding the strength needed to lead us into the next era of globalization.

On my plane ride down to Colombia, I sat next to a bright young Colombian-American who manages his own polymer glass company. He has a PHD in polymer science and has taken some management courses to help fill his shoes. I compare my admiration for his successful career to the future that lies in front of me. I hope that when I pursue an MBA, I can meet that level of commitment and value myself as a real asset to any organization.