As someone who has hired literally dozens of MBAs from first tier schools over the years, I was puzzled by the buzz around the Harvard Business School MBA ethics oath.   It was always my impression that a moral compass came as a standard feature on a base model MBA.   Now, it seems, it’s being offered as an optional upgrade.

 But given its availability, going forward no one would hire an MBA who hadn’t taken the oath, right?   I don’t think so.  My last experience with MBAs under extreme temptation leads me to conclude that such an oath would actually do more harm than good because it trivializes the issue of business ethics.   Here’s why. Continue reading ‘The MBA oath trivializes business ethics’