Crafting an ethical approach to business
Recent global economic calamities have shown that values-driven leadership is essential for progress
Employers l ove business school graduates. That’s not just a wild claim: 96% of global employers polled by the Graduate Management Admission Council in January said that hiring such graduates creates value for their companies.
The poll, which involved 179 recruiters across 159 companies of varying sizes and industry sectors in 31 countries or regions worldwide, projected a healthy demand for recent graduates of master’s-level business management programmes, especially MBAs.
An MBA is a pricey investment but one that is expected to pay big dividends, says Segran Nair, director of open programmes at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business (GSB). “It is for this reason that demand for the degree remains high,” he says. The school routinely turns away about half of all applicants because of a lack of space on the programme.
The GSB has two MBA classes each year — a full-time and a modular programme, with 79 and 80 students respectively.
Although the degree is still the most sought-after of business qualifications, the MBA needs to keep on its toes. Particularly, MBA programmes need to adapt to ensure that students get a stronger dose of innovation and social responsiveness in addition to solid business acumen. A strong focus on personal development, underpinned by ethics and values, is also necessary.
Much of the contemporary thinking following the collapse of Enron and the economic meltdown of 2008 has required a more abstract analysis and — dare one say it? — a philosophical turn of mind to explore its origins.
These crises were not merely financial in origin. Many of the initial wrong turns were ethical or could have been averted by more accurate self-assessment.
All of this is particularly relevant in the context of emerging markets. Countries’ economic and political challenges cannot be solved by skills alone. These skills will need to be applied empathetically, introspectively and innovatively.
As Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said in his budget speech earlier this year, effective leadership is essential to progress. We need our leaders to be able to administer with purpose.
According to Morea Josias, career services manager at the GSB, employers in the region are already shifting in this direction, so it makes sense for business schools to ensure they are providing the kind of skills that companies need.
“While employers are still looking for solid business acumen and traditional business skills, there is a move towards people who are also more in tune with social responsibilities, have values that are more community-based than corporate, and are geared towards sustainability in environmental as well as social terms,” she says.
“Being more socially aware and community-spirited are characteristics of the generation that have become known as the millennials. Young people between the ages of 18 and 33 generally fall in this category.
“Millennials have been shown to want more flexible and creative workplaces and they prefer more options in terms of their careers and their job path,” adds Josias.
The GSB, as an example, has redesigned its MBA curriculum for 2016 with a greater focus on values and inclusive business. The course now