Hippocratic oath for MBA students? Yes, it’s true

MBA graduates will now do what doctors do before stepping into their profession. They will take an oath on the lines of the Hippocratic Oath taken by their medical counterparts.

The MBA Oath, started by the 2009 batch of MBA students from the Harvard Business School, is aimed at tackling a glaring absence of ethics plaguing the corporate world. The idea has found resonance with management graduates in India.

At least 1,849 MBA graduates in India have registered and taken the oath. Many are from institutions like Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, centre for management studies at the Indian Institute of Science, MS Ramaiah Institute of Management Studies and Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi.

“It is our duty to teach students about ethics. Otherwise we will have another Satyam to handle tomorrow. If at least 10% (of MBA graduates) remain ethical, the country would reap benefits. We can’t expect 100% retaining their ethics in the workplace,” says Prof T Prasad, Centre for Student Enterprise, NITIE, Mumbai.

Students agree that there is a need to reinforce values through an oath. “It will remind me of the values I need to protect and stay true to,” says Rahul G, an MBA student.

“We want them to value the education and apply what they have learnt to do good for society,” says Sen B Mathew, dean (placements), Kristu Jayanti College of Management and Technology.

But not many are happy with the idea. “Oaths should not be just about a ritual followed during graduation ceremonies. One oath is simply not good enough, as values and ethics have to be nurtured in students from when they join the course,” says Pankaj Gupta, director, Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Bangalore.
“An oath can be a culmination of what is taught and reinforced in students during their stay on campus. But it can’t be a substitute,” says Ramesh Venkateswaran, director, SDM Institute for Management Development, Mysore.