To anchor future managers in professional values and to move management closer to
a truly professional status, a group of Harvard Business School students developed an
MBA oath (see Exhibit 12.6 ). 64 Since 2009, over 6,000 MBA students from over 300
institutions around the world have taken this voluntary pledge. The oath explicitly recognizes
the role of business in society and its responsibilities beyond shareholders. It also
holds managers to a high ethical standard based on more or less universally accepted
principles in order to “create value responsibly and ethically.” 65 Having the highest personal
integrity is of utmost importance to one’s career. It takes decades to build a career,
but sometimes just a few moments to destroy one. The voluntary MBA oath sets professional
standards, but its effect