The Daily Show Lampoons Harvard's MBA Ethics Oath (VIDEO)

Last night, The Daily Show poked fun at a recent push at Harvard to establish a sort of hippocratic oath for MBA students. Harvard's business ethics pledge contains the following line: "I will act with utmost integrity and pursue my work in an ethical manner."

Not too much to ask, right? Well, John Oliver spoke to several Harvard and MIT MBA students who had absolutely no interest in signing the pledge. One even said: "It's impossible to uphold the oath and still be responsible to your shareholders." Another said, "I feel that ethics is a really fuzzy subject."

Ugh. Thankfully, Oliver brought in an burly ex-con to to scare the MBA students straight.

WATCH...and be prepared for some bad language involving prison showers and loan securtization:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
MBA Ethics Oath
www.thedailyshow.com
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Comments

[lostpl8]

09:56 AM on 08/16/2009

Here is the my idea of business ethics:

People before profits

It might hurt you high growth income potential. But what is wrong with providing jobs and producing 8% growth every year. There are many small business that would kill for even 2% growth.

[Counterglow]

09:52 AM on 08/16/2009

To watch those smug, condescending little pr!cks is to immediately understand why the United States economy is in trouble, and it was businessmen who put it there.

[JIzin]

10:25 AM on 08/15/2009

LoL Would you say you are good at your job??
ROTFL

[LMPE]

06:24 PM on 08/14/2009

George W. Bush attended Harvard Business School in the early '70s. His professor later came out against him.

[CharlieMarlowe]

01:50 PM on 08/14/2009

There has been some discussion here as to whether ethics are black-and-white or "fuzzy" (a term used to defend dubious actions out of self-interest). It is neither. To act ethically is to act correctly in all circumstances without contradiction. The good example is from John 8:1-11. The woman caught in adultery is brought before Jesus. According to the Law, she must be stoned to death. Jesus said, "Whoever is without sin, cast the first stone". No one does. In this case, His response was neither black-and-white, nor was it "fuzzy". It contained no contradictions. It might have violated the letter of the law, but was so perfectly in tune with the spirit of the law that no-one could argue against it.

The best example of proper behaviour is the action of the Buddha when he was 80 years old. He was offered mushrooms to eat: it was the custom of people to offer food to Holy men. The Buddha knew that because the mushrooms had been prepared improperly, he had watched the preparation, they were poisonous. The man who had prepared them did not realize there was anything wrong. The Buddha ate the offering so as not to embarrass the man. He acted properly, and without contradiction. The Buddha knew that he had attained enlightenment and so to fear death would have been a contradiction.

[bramapanzer]

09:23 AM on 08/14/2009

Wow, the fact that so many people believe ethics is complicated scares me. The fact is, ethics are incredibly basic and all boil down to this one point.

If what I do provides more negative externalities (bad things) than positive externalities(good things) to society, then it is unethical.

Essentially, if your actions hurt more people than they help, you are not being ethical. Simple eh?

[cigi]

02:45 PM on 08/14/2009

THe whole RIGHT WING FRINGE is scarey....Same way with these idiots who say everything is "MY RIGHT TO"...your rights end when they offend another's...when you butt up against another man's rights you cancel out your own. It is called being responsibile for your actions and not letting your RIGHTS supercede others who by the way have RIGHTS too.

[naeldwyck]

08:21 AM on 08/15/2009

Ah, o.k. So if it would help a 1000 people and hurt 999 then it's ethical? I really hope that was sarcasm there, because otherwise you have a pretty funked up view of ethics.

[wilray]

08:50 PM on 08/13/2009

When I see John Oliver, I think "Harry Potter."

[zola77]

08:55 PM on 08/13/2009

Yes, adorable.

[wordvarc]

08:45 PM on 08/13/2009

Intelligent sociopaths go into business or politics and exploit any system. They demonstrate why we need laws and regulation. Their 'ethics' discussions and suits are only a facade of socialized behavior.

[triplbee]

07:29 PM on 08/13/2009

I went to Stanford's Business School. Each introductory class had approximately one session devoted to ethics. That session would also cover the virtues of diversity and whatever other feel good topic they felt obliged to mention, but clearly did not take seriously.

[Hirnlego]

07:18 PM on 08/13/2009

The Great George Carlin on
Business Ethics

The biggest, baddest oxymoron ever
http://www.bestcyrano.org/carlinBizEthics.htm

[Intelligentia]

02:44 PM on 08/14/2009

Now, that's a man who understands the system!

[Happyexpat]

02:57 PM on 08/16/2009

Thanks, I really needed that!

[Soundofthunder]

07:17 PM on 08/13/2009

Business ethics is an oxymoron. How can one maximize profits AND adhere to high standards of moral conduct? What is ethical about laying off people with families and mortgages? What is ethical about making products using cheaper materials that might cause one or more fatalities untraceable to the material itself which was nevertheless a contributing factor? What is ethical about meeting only the bare minimum environmental standards knowing full and well the resultant residual pollution with probably lessen the health of people in the surrounding community?

Corporations make these types of cost analyses all the time. When push comes to shove, they will externalize costs and pocket the difference. Ethics can only ablate one's bottom line, not fatten it.

SOT

[CharlieMarlowe]

07:32 PM on 08/13/2009

Peter Drucker: the purpose of business is to create customers, not profits

[Soundofthunder]

02:51 PM on 08/15/2009

That's what advertising is for. Nothing fronts unethical behavior better than a shiny coating of marketing BS.

SOT

[PhilipTaylor]

06:26 PM on 08/13/2009

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[wadenelson1]

06:20 PM on 08/13/2009

This video is beyond hilarious. Kudos again to the Daily show.

I earned an MBA at Arizona State University in 1982.

The program included a course in ethics. I actually recall it as one of the most valuable classes I took. The theme was really more "What ARE your ethics" as opposed to "this is ethical, this isn't."

To what ethical standard does one hold oneself? The bible? Thou shalt not steal?...

What does it really mean when one person calls another "unethical."

To whom does a company owe its allegiance? It's customers? It's shareholders? Its employees? There will be decisions which have to favor one over another.

I wish I could remember, or find out what the little book was we used in that class. I wish I'd held onto my copy.

For all the joking about ASU, and the "honorary degree" debacle, it really has an excellent B-school

[CharlieMarlowe]

07:38 PM on 08/13/2009

"What are your ethics" is immaterial to any serious ethics debates. The ethics of the individual do not matter. Ethics is in reference to stakeholders, not individuals.

I took a Business Ethics course as part of my B.A. in Ethics. I took it as a second-year philsophy course at a small university. The same course,syllabus, textbook and all, was also taught as an MBA course at a top business school. The fact that MBA students have a difficult time with material that is considered introductory speaks volumes as to the intellectual capacity of MBAs. No offence, but I'm beginning to think that the MBA is for those too dull-witted to enrol in basket-weaving.

[DessLoch]

01:35 AM on 08/14/2009

Wow Charlie Marlowe your last sentence speaks volumes about you.

[moosala]

05:59 PM on 08/13/2009

Has anyone read, "A Christmas Carol" lately? I find it chilling how similar these students' views are to those pontificated upon early in the story by Scrooge himself.

[HowietheScreamer]

06:18 PM on 08/13/2009

Scrooge was the quintessential Repube. "if they are going to die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population".

[WorkingClass]

10:59 PM on 08/13/2009

Don't forget, Scrooge was redeemed. The Nazarene forgave sinners. It is the ignorant that become enlightened.

[progressivesvotegreen]

05:53 PM on 08/13/2009

It may be a comment on my sense of humor, but that provided the best laugh I've had in weeks. A sinful delight.