Edu-leaders

As the excesses of the past and the downfall of major financial institutions recede from memory, we should not lose sight of an important question that these events raised — what is the role of professional education programmes in promoting ethical behaviour? Though the financial crisis put the spotlight on management education, reports of doctors being involved in organ transplant rackets, accountants being party to major corporate frauds, or careless engineers being responsible for accidents at construction sites suggest that this question is equally relevant to other professional disciplines.

Education, particularly at elite schools, gives graduates considerable power and influence at an early age. These graduates ascend to senior management and even CEO positions by the age of 40, and influence major decisions taken by corporations. These developments imply that the importance of a strong moral compass cannot be over-emphasised.

Thoughtful industry leaders concur with this view. In his recent book The Professional (Penguin Books, 2009), Subroto Bagchi, vice chairman of Mind-Tree, argues that the primary pre-requisite of a professional is integrity, and that professionally qualified individuals who lack integrity constitute a danger to society.

Enhancing Moral Development
Is professional education at college too late? In a landmark research, Kohlberg showed that children go through six stages of moral development between the ages of ten and sixteen. Therefore, the moral values of our students are shaped to a large extent before they enter undergraduate education at the age of seventeen, and certainly before they enter business school in their twenties.

But Kohlberg also believed that explicit consideration and discussion of moral dilemmas could help individuals enhance their individual moral development. Of course, the identification and discussion of moral dilemmas in the classroom is not enough. As Kidder pointed out, education constitutes a broader experience. Thus, the discussion of moral dilemmas in the classroom should ideally be supplemented by a learning environment where students take responsibility for their own learning, standards are clearly defined, teachers and students enjoy mutual respect, and governance is shared by students, teachers and the institution.

Young adults pick up their cues from others. Faculty members have a role to play in influencing professional and ethical behaviour of their students. Supportive faculty behaviours would include giving feedback in time, taking classes regularly, and meeting the needs of students even if it causes individual hardship. The institution itself needs to walk the talk. An environment in which young students enter a professional course thanks to a “donation” to a college functionary or the “influence” of an intermediary cannot but breed cynicism, and make any form of ethics education an uphill task. The problem is compounded by the rhetoric and language of academic discourse.

The pressure to meet the earnings expectations of Wall Street or Dalal Street has led to a short-term orientation that gives primacy to transactions over relationships.

Challenges and Solutions
In a survey we conducted of our MBA students at IIM Bangalore some years ago, we found that about 20 percent students are aggressive moralists, that is they would stand by their conscience and personal values under any circumstances. In contrast, about half of our students would be ethical but practical, they would allow their personal behaviour to be shaped by the prevailing norms and expectations of the organisation where they work. Ultimately, of course, whether our graduates will behave ethically will be influenced by the organisational climate of the companies they are employed in.

Notwithstanding these challenges, there are certain things that professional degree courses can and should attempt to do. First, it is clear that they need to devote time and space in their curricula to the discussion of ethical issues. The absence of such a discussion gives a clear (if unintended) message that “anything goes,” and that ethical issues are unimportant. Such discussions on ethics should be ideally intertwined with regular coverage of the curriculum. But ethics can be emphasised in other ways. A focus on ethical issues in the orientation programme for entering students is a good start since it emphasises the importance of maintaining high ethical standards right from Day 1. This should be reinforced by a module on ethics and social responsibility when MBA students return to campus after their summer internships to begin their second year of courses.

Films are a powerful medium to raise ethical debate and there are several outstanding films (The Insider and Rashomon) and documentaries (like Joel Bakan’s The Corporation) that can be used. One useful video that provides lessons in “Ethics 101” in an organisational setting is Ethics for Everyone (available from Multimedia HRD, Mumbai). A useful supplement to planned classes on ethics is an impromptu discussion of events as they unfold in the world outside.

Secondly, it is useful to encourage students to develop their own code of conduct, both for their stay in the institution, as well as for their professional life ahead. The MBA graduating classes of 2009 at leading US business schools including Columbia and Harvard took voluntary oaths committing themselves to upholding high ethical standards. Apart from reiterating their commitment to basic values like truth, integrity and respect, these oaths explicitly took a stakeholder perspective by recognising that businesses operate within society and that business decisions have a larger community and societal impact. Students undertook not only to uphold the laws of the land and limit environmental externalities, but also guard against decisions that advanced their own ambitions at the cost of the enterprise or society. While the oath-taking is a welcome sign of social responsibility, the process of debating and finalising the text of the oath must have been highly educative and thought-provoking for the participants.

Finally, in India, we live in a world of tremendous inequality. Our students shelter themselves from this reality. Exposure to societal challenges and the struggle of others is important to sensitise them to the problems around us and the privileged positions they enjoy. Encouraging internships and projects with NGOs, and courses on Social Entrepreneurship could broaden our students’ horizons and make them less self-centered.

If you would like to to write to Professor Krishnan, he can be contacted at rishikesha.krishnan@edu-leaders.com.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Nine Dot Nine Mediaworx Pvt. Ltd.