The CEO's Oath (Proposed)

A recent Gallup poll indicates that Americans now have no more trust in business leaders than they do in Washington politicians. Fairly or not, people have become willing to believe that executives, as a class, are greedy and dishonest.

So is the Hippocratic Oath needed for managers? The Hippocratic Oath is an oath taken by doctors to ensure medicine is practiced ethically.

The following are exerpts from the oath Harvard professors Khurana and Nohria proposed for managers.


1. As a manager...my purpose is to serve the public's interest by enhancing the value my enterprise creates for society.

2. I pledge that considerations of personal benefit will never supersede the interests of the enterprise I am entrusted to manage.

3. I promise to understand and uphold, both in letter and in spirit, the laws and contracts governing my own conduct, that of my enterprise, and that of the societies in which it operates.

4. I vow to represent my enterprise's performance accurately and transparently to all relevant parties, ensuring that investors, consumers, and the public at large can make well-informed decisions.

5. I will not permit considerations of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, party politics, or social status to influence my choices.

6. I will manage my enterprise by diligently, mindfully, and conscientiously applying judgment based on the best knowledge available.

7. I recognize that my stature and privileges as a professional stem from the honor and trust that the profession as a whole enjoys, and I accept my responsibility for embodying, protecting, and developing the standards of the management profession, so as to enhance that respect and honor.

"You have to create a new class of managers whose interests go beyond themselves. If business people really behaved like professionals, you wouldn't need regulations. Corporations have become the most powerful institutions in our society. Those institutions are too important to be not trusted." Rakesh Khurana, Professor of Business Administration in Organizational Behavior, Harvard Business School.

Adapted from TNP.
http://www.hbrgreen.org/
http://rakeshkhurana.typepad.com/rakesh_khuranas_weblog/
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=176808