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Every MBA program has a required ethics course, which would go into depth about social responsibility and balancing short and long term gains. If anything we ne

by mcrad 7y ago

Every MBA program has a required ethics course, which would go into depth about social responsibility and balancing short and long term gains. If anything we need more of our "leaders" to have truly studied these areas instead of just sweeping under the rug as some lawyer/politician's job for another time.

jjoonathan 7y ago
Studying ethics doesn't make you ethical, and the very idea that it might is pretty clearly something invented and peddled by people with very poor ethics.
- mcrad 7y ago
  I personally don't think you are born with a great understanding of business ethics. Is CEO pay too high? Are drug prices fair? You think gut feeling is enough to answer but my suggestion is to do a little homework first.
  - jjoonathan 7y ago
    Not everyone who understands the rationalizations buys them -- I'd argue quite the opposite. I also understand that if your goal is to go far in the business world, it is very important for your sense of ethics to align in a manner that will encourage rather than inhibit your success. The rationalizations are both generally useful and effective for this purpose. Not very ethical, though.
    - mcrad 7y ago
      Are you really advocating that managers should 'not' study ethics as a university course? I just can't comprehend this position, given the history of management blunders and scandals I've seen or read about, all with varying degrees of social impact. I'm floored but also impressed by your rugged individualism :)
- smt88 7y ago
  > Studying ethics doesn't make you ethical You're correct, but you misinterpret the motivation of these schools offering ethics classes in the first place. For students who are already "ethical" (which we can assume is shorthand for pro-social in this context), the class helps them consider the consequences of their decisions. This makes their behavior more ethical, not their intentions. For students who are not ethical, many of these classes also teach "enlightened self-interest": the idea that doing something that appears altruistic is often selfish. A good example would be creating a "sustainable, organic" product that is profitable, but only creating it for the profit. There's also some evidence that seeing the consequences of unethical behavior can make someone's intentions more ethical.

by mcrad 7y ago

jjoonathan 7y ago

Studying ethics doesn't make you ethical, and the very idea that it might is pretty clearly something invented and peddled by people with very poor ethics.

mcrad 7y ago
I personally don't think you are born with a great understanding of business ethics. Is CEO pay too high? Are drug prices fair? You think gut feeling is enough to answer but my suggestion is to do a little homework first.
- jjoonathan 7y ago
  Not everyone who understands the rationalizations buys them -- I'd argue quite the opposite. I also understand that if your goal is to go far in the business world, it is very important for your sense of ethics to align in a manner that will encourage rather than inhibit your success. The rationalizations are both generally useful and effective for this purpose. Not very ethical, though.
  - mcrad 7y ago
    Are you really advocating that managers should 'not' study ethics as a university course? I just can't comprehend this position, given the history of management blunders and scandals I've seen or read about, all with varying degrees of social impact. I'm floored but also impressed by your rugged individualism :)
smt88 7y ago
> Studying ethics doesn't make you ethical You're correct, but you misinterpret the motivation of these schools offering ethics classes in the first place. For students who are already "ethical" (which we can assume is shorthand for pro-social in this context), the class helps them consider the consequences of their decisions. This makes their behavior more ethical, not their intentions. For students who are not ethical, many of these classes also teach "enlightened self-interest": the idea that doing something that appears altruistic is often selfish. A good example would be creating a "sustainable, organic" product that is profitable, but only creating it for the profit. There's also some evidence that seeing the consequences of unethical behavior can make someone's intentions more ethical.