The MBA Oath: Toward a More Perfect World

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Will the Oath really affect my behavior, today and in 30 years?

Will having the Oath on your office wall or pocket-size in your wallet still keep you accountable in 30 years? Perhaps not. But we believe it can help.

Upon signing, MBAs are asked to post a statement on what the Oath means to them and are encouraged to designate accountability partners on whom they can rely for support. By publicly articulating a set of beliefs, signers will have exercised their "ethical muscles" in advance of adversity. We will encourage signers to revisit and update their statements annually. Dan Ariely, the behavioral economist and author of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, found in a research study that when people are merely reminded of a moral benchmark, instances of dishonesty and cheating are notably reduced.

Ultimately, we hope signers use the MBA Oath as a platform to engage employees and colleagues in and outside their organizations around how to align behavior with the Oath's principles. In 30 years, this is a discussion that will have evolved with the world around it.

What is the vision for the MBA Oath?

We see the MBA Oath as an important "first step" of a long journey toward improved business leadership. The Oath is not a silver bullet that in and of itself will suddenly alter the course of business. Rather, it is a catalyst to bring serious business leaders together to engage in the difficult work of asking how a higher ethical standard can drive decision-making—how principles can drive action.

There is much work to be done in understanding and articulating what the Oath looks like in practice. How does a community of Oath signers make decisions differently than they would absent the Oath? How are trade-offs evaluated differently? How are the interests of stakeholders balanced differently? What drives accountability? These are the urgent but incredibly difficult questions to which the MBA community is now turning. We invite the broader global business community—MBAs, academics, and business practitioners—to join us in moving this important dialogue forward.

Humberto Moreira, Harvard Business School class of 2009, and Whitney Petersmeyer, class of 2010, were instrumental in creating the MBA Oath, a voluntary pledge signed by MBA students and graduates to "create value responsibly and ethically." It has been signed by more than 1,700 people to date.

Moreira is a member of the Harvard Business School class of 2009. Petersmeyer is a member of the class of 2010.

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