RaceSco MBAlog

When I was in Connecticut, I was talking with one of my classmates about ethics. Since there was such a breakdown in corporate ethics during the past few years, all the b-schools (including my own) have been trying to figure out what they did wrong and how they can repent for their lack-of-ethics-teaching sins.

So my friend and I were talking about this. We couldn't think of a way that a school could actually teach grown-ups how to be ethical -- especially since most students at top b-schools have several years of real-world experience before they enroll. Their formative years are over, and a professor's ranting on being ethical probably won't do much. If someone's not going to be ethical, some classroom instruction or a bunch of articles on Enron isn't going to change their behavior. They're going to cook the books or lie or steal or cheat or whatever, regardless of anything!

And the time is being wasted on the 99% of MBAs who will never commit crimes quite on the level of Enron, Worldcom, et al.

But the b-schools have to do something. Or else everyone's going to wonder what in the world they're doing to stop all these crooks!

In this discussion between my friend and I, we decided that trying to instill ethical behavior is a waste of time. Instead, I think a trickier question is: As an aspiring executive, what do I do if I see some unethical behavior in the workplace? This question focuses in on the vast majority of us. There's a much greater chance that I'm going to observe an unethical act rather than defraud someone of a few million bucks on my own. B-schools can have a bigger impact if they teach MBAs how to speak up tactfully -- and in a way that preserves their own employment and rights.

The case of Betty Vinson at Worldcom is a perfect example. Vinson was asked to make entries that perpetrated the $11+ billion fraud at Worldcom. She initially refused, but eventually caved in when she realized that she would probably lose her job. As a mid-level executive in a town where Worldcom was THE big company, and no other companies near that scale were nearby, she didn't think she'd be able to find a well-paying job again if she was fired. She felt she needed to support her family above all else.

And instead of losing her job right then and there, she lost her job a bit later -- and is facing up to 15 years in jail and hefty fines. Not to mention being banned from working on U.S. government contracts and the loss of her reputation

What would you do in a situation like this? Would your family trump corporate ethics?

Business school deans, are you listening?