Ethics | - "Ethics discussed at meeting yesterday of Sumaq at IE."

Santiago Iñiguez, Dean of Instituto de Empresa Business School.

“Fire burns both in Hellas and in Persia, but men's ideas of right and wrong vary from place to place”, stated Aristotle in his Nichomachean Ethics. The great philosopher could hardly be accused of moral relativism but supporters of this philosophical stream have frequently used that passage to illustrate their basic tenet: that moral principles are culturally based and, consequently, vary across the board. From this descriptive observation, moral relativists jump into the normative sphere: we should respect the customs of other cultures, whether we believe they are right or wrong.

Aristotle’s quote came to my mind yesterday over a discussion on moral codes at business schools with representatives of Sumaq, the alliance of the leading business schools in Latin America. I found solace in that the attending deans and programme managers said that they encounter similar challenges when designing and implementing moral codes (students’ codes of conduct) in MBA programmes with varied student cultural profiles. The challenge is how to find the right balance of adherence by all students for a clear and defined set of rules -a sort of global Decalogue or minimal moral denominator- and at the same time leave room for cultural diversity and divergence in customs.

In our International MBA, with participants from over 60 different countries and no dominant culture, there occur multiple cultural clashes among students every year. This is to be expected and reflects what happens in the real world. The important thing is how to solve those clashes and learn from those experiences. Certainly, dealing effectively and respectfully with cultural difference is something our students should learn.

I very much oppose moral relativism. We should respect cultural difference but we cannot allow, for example, sexist prejudices in our classrooms, despite that this may be, unfortunately, common practice in other cultures. I suppose that codes of conduct in MBA programmes act as moral equalisers. It is part of the global learning our students can achieve.

Martin Varsavsky (4th from right ) spoke yesterday with members of Sumaq.

Comments

[Ivan Ivanovitch]

The set of rules that Dean Iñiguez writes about apply not only to business students, but also to people in advanced stages of their careers. Dealing effectively and respectfully with cultural differences is already an essential skill for everyone living in a multicultural society. In addition to the cultural norms and legislation in our home country, there are numerous other norms and values we should be aware of and try to live in accordance with, such as the protection of the environment and the respect of human rights and dignities. If you are in a country that does not protect a specific minority from discrimination and the legislation in your home country does, I believe you have an obligation do behave as if you were in your home country (whether you are a corporation or an individual).

In my experience as an MBA student at two of the world’s leading schools (The Schulich School of Business with exchange at The Instituto de Empresa), I noticed that many students were not particularly interested in such issues. Business schools tend to be dominated by Alpha males, who are not known for their interest in tolerance and communication. I have observed numerous situations where people have been insensitive and even offensive to people from other cultures and this behavior was tolerated by the other students or the administration. This does not create a welcoming academic environment. I believe that codes of conduct are a necessity and they need to be enforced. Business schools should be more active in promoting awareness of values other than profit and career advancement.

Ivan Ivanovitch
IMBA 2005
Toronto, Canada

[Fernando Peral]

Tolerance can never mean tolerating the intolerable; this is not a cultural conflict, but rather the constant fight to extend and defend basic human rights as specific values that are recognized by all people as critical in order to live a decent life. This applies to all countries, but also to all human activities, among them the essential one of creating wealth, which is entrusted on business. I'll quote Isaiah Berlin, who said "Indeed it is because men, and they alone, are authors of value, that they are supremely valuable. To use men for ends that are not their own, hence to exploit human beings, degrade them, humiliate them, is to deny their human essence, to deny that they are men; and this is the most heinous of all sins".