accountability

“I choose Business Ethics” – Billy Madison

In the movie Billy Madison, young Madison (played by Adam Sandler) must out wit his rival to take control of his father’s company. Billy Madison picks the category of ethics in a winner-take-all contest because he knows his opponent lacks any sense of fairness when it came to business. The immature Billy wins the day because his opponent breaks down under the pressure of a sense of right and wrong.

If Bernie Madoff, Enron, Bear-Sterns, and the sub-priming lending disaster are our examples of business ethics, then our culture could use more business ethics.  Recently, Slate posed the idea that teaching ethics in business school is a tough proposal, but a needed one. Ethical failures cost companies… a lot.

There is a shift occurring in the world of business and organizational operation. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, middle management was a prime focus in business. Somehow and someway, managing people became the norm for companies. Do people and problems really need managing? It seems managing people and problems is more placation than about leadership. Leadership has more to do with moving organizations and people forward towards a goal or idea. Management has more to do with keep things kosher within a business or company.

The MBA, the recent standard of middle to upper business/organizational management, is beginning to see changes – hopefully for the better.  Most programs teach students how to run a company or business, but few teach how to lead people… a more complete concept. Years ago, the trend was to crank out problem managers rather than making leaders. Xavier University is one of the growing schools focusing on leadership and ethics, rather than cut-throat profit and get-ahead tactics. Here’s the program in a nutshell:

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