Arizona Business School to Require Students to Sign Ethics Pledge
Sep 11th, 2006 • Posted in: NewsGLENDALE, Ariz.
A graduate school in Arizona specializing in international business education announced last week that it will require all incoming students to take an oath promising ethical behavior after graduation.
The Arizona Republic reports that the oath required by Thunderbird, the Gavin School of International Management, is believed to be the first of its kind for a business school.
“Our belief is management is a real profession in the same way we treat medicine and law,” Thunderbird president Angel Cabrera said, according to the Republic. “When you are trained … you are also taught the (ethical) rules of the game, followed by an oath to abide by those rules.”
The Phoenix Business Journal reported that the oath stemmed from a student-led initiative and was backed by Cabrera.
According to the education trade publication Inside Higher Ed, the oath reads:
As a Thunderbird and a global citizen, I promise:
I will strive to act with honesty and integrity,
I will respect the rights and dignity of all people,
I will strive to create sustainable prosperity worldwide,
I will oppose all forms of corruption and exploitation, and
I will take responsibility for my actions.
As I hold true to these principles, it is my hope that I may enjoy an honorable reputation and peace of conscience.
This pledge I make freely and upon my honor.
While Inside Higher Ed noted that some business professors disputed the notion that an oath would lead to better behavior and noted that such promises are unenforceable, others, such as Eric Orts, the Guardsmark Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, said that as in other professional ethics codes such as law and medicine, the words and the oaths themselves assume a symbolic and philosophical importance and can make a difference by clarifying expected behavior.
Thunderbird, which received its unusual name from its original location on the Thunderbird Airfield in Glendale, Arizona, is ranked high among international business schools by national media and trade publications, according to the school’s website.
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