The Microbusiness Oath: a riff on a good idea

Posted on | November 23, 2009 | Comments Off

Did you know that MBAs are not considered to be professionals?

I didn’t. For some reason, I assumed that when that degree was conferred on you by whatever institution of higher learning you attended, one of the things so conferred was professional status.

Part of the assumption has to do with the simple fact that it seems that post-graduate education of any sort ought to confer professional status, in my head.

Another part of the assumption has to do with the even simpler fact that I hadn’t really thought about it very carefully.

Anyway, I bring this up because I came across The MBA Oath (tag line: Responsible Value Creation), via Charles Greene of the Trust Matters Blog.

I love this idea.

I love the notion of consciously making a commitment to making decisions throughout your career that are informed by more than simply improving shareholder value, that that fiduciary responsibility must coincide with other responsibilities.

It doesn’t have to be one or the other, either line shareholders’ pockets or serve the greater good. One of the things we ought to be able to expect from people with post-graduate degrees is an ability to walk and chew gum at the same time.

I love this idea so much that I think this oath should not be confined to MBAs, even though I understand the impulse to target MBAs specifically, given the headlines of the past year or fourteen months.

But, even though I am inclined to portray microbusiness owners as being almost inhumanly humble, noble and selfless, there are those among us who are less-than-admirable in the realm of ethics, integrity, etc., too.

Generally speaking, firms run by those sorts suffer one of two fates. Either they flame out in a blaze of scandal-ridden infamy or they make buckets of money for their unsavory owners and cause the rest of us to question karma or cosmic justice or whatever (some of the more high-profile spammers come to mind).

So, I decided that this kind of oath would be a good thing for business managers of all sorts to commit to, whether they were among the MBAs prepared by post-graduate business schools for corporate leadership or whether they were among the less formally educated who own and operate small and microbusinesses.

‘Cause you’re never too big or small to have ethics.

(Parenthetically, I think it’s interesting that I didn’t have to edit this oath very much in order to change it from an MBA’s oath to a small business owner’s oath.)

I make you a gift of The Small/Microbusiness Manager’s Oath:

As a (small) microbusiness owner, my purpose is to serve the greater good by bringing people and resources together to create value. Therefore I will seek a course that enhances the value my enterprise can create for society over the long term. I recognize my decisions can have far-reaching consequences that affect the well-being of individuals inside and outside my enterprise, today and in the future. As I reconcile the interests of different constituencies, I will face choices that are not easy for me and others.

Therefore I promise:

  • I will act with utmost integrity and pursue my work in an ethical manner.
  • I will safeguard the interests of myself, my partners, my employees, my customers/clients and the society in which we operate.
  • I will manage my enterprise in good faith, guarding against decisions and behavior that advance my own narrow ambitions but harm the enterprise and the communities it serves.
  • I will understand and uphold, both in letter and in spirit, the laws and contracts governing my own conduct and that of my enterprise.
  • I will take responsibility for my actions, and I will represent the performance and risks of my enterprise accurately and honestly.
  • I will develop myself as a business manager so that the profession continues to grow and contribute to the well-being of society.
  • I will strive to create sustainable economic, social, and environmental prosperity throughout my direct and indirect sphere of influence.
  • I will be accountable to my peers, and to everyone with whom I interact in the context of managing my business, for living by this oath.

This oath I make freely, and upon my honor.

(NOTE: The Microbusiness News Briefs Podcast is on hiatus this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. The podcast — along with the other WPI microbusiness news weeklies — will be back next Monday, November 30, 2009.)


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