Bringing Back the Moral and Ethical Considerations into Business Leadership

There never was a time when integrity was more important than today. With a young trader being charged with unauthorised trading at UBS, costing the bank a reported $2 billion the importance of having high standards of moral and ethical principles is highlighted once again.

Before he died, the influential London Business School academic Professor Sumantra Ghoshal wrote a powerful critique of what he saw as the lack of a moral and ethical dimension in the courses being taught at business schools . Two forces had come together to make this happen, he argued: a pessimistic view of human beings and their propensity to do good and a desire to turn business studies into a science. A precondition of making it a science, he argued, was to take out moral and ethical considerations.

Professor Ghoshal was writing in the wake of the Enron scandal. Today, we are still being affected by the far more serious lapses that led to the banking and financial crises of 2008. Repairing the global economy and moving forward will take hard work and will be driven by business leaders who have integrity at their core.

Integrity has always been a core value at MBA-Exchange.com since it was founded in 1998. But recently, I was asked to articulate our core values as part of a learning process organised by the Entrepreneurs' Organization, of which I am an active member. The EO has 8,000 members across the world, all keen to shape new, innovative and sustainable enterprises. It is considered vital to establish the values that sit at the heart of the organisation.

The legendary management thinker Peter Drucker once said, “It’s more important to do the right thing than to do things right”. While we would all hope to do both, the importance of honesty and a strong moral compass must be the most critical factor in the long-term.

At MBA-Exchange.com, we have articulated our five core values (set out below). This is what we stand for and what we want to be measured against.

Innovation . . . We strive to innovate in everything we do, from products and tools to processes and communication channels. We challenge the status quo and constantly seek ways to improve

Efficiency and effectiveness. . . Our compass is getting things done. To maximize the quality and volume of results and to minimize complexity, required time, and resources.

Integrity. . . We act with honesty and integrity. Our reputation is key so we will not compromise on doing the right thing and preserving confidential information

Teamwork and open communication. . . We work as a team internally but also externally with our clients and partners, fostering an open, respectful and yet challenging dialogue

Quality and relevance. . . We strive to provide the highest quality and most relevant service to our clients and candidates

In the ever more complex and volatile economic scene, these are the values that guide our thinking and our strategies. They determine what we are, no matter which market we are working in and for which client.

Thomas Jefferson once said, “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock”.

These principles are our rock.

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