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Corporate accountability is never far from the front page, and as one of the world's most elite business schools, Harvard Business School trains many of the future leaders of Fortune 500 companies. But how does HBS formally and informally ensure faculty and students embrace proper business standards? Relying on his first-hand experience as a Harvard Business School faculty member, Michel Anteby takes readers inside HBS in order to draw vivid parallels between the socialization of faculty and of students.
In an era when many organizations are focused on principles of responsibility, Harvard Business School has long tried to promote better business standards. Anteby's rich account reveals the surprising role of silence and ambiguity in HBS's process of codifying morals and business values. As Anteby describes, at HBS specifics are often left unspoken; for example, teaching notes given to faculty provide much guidance on "how "to teach but are largely silent on "what "to teach. "Manufacturing Morals "demonstrates how faculty and students are exposed to a system that operates on open-ended directives that require significant decision-making on the part of those involved, with little overt guidance from the hierarchy. Anteby suggests that this model--which tolerates moral complexity--is perhaps one of the few that can adapt and endure over time.
"Manufacturing Morals" is a perceptive must-read for anyone looking for insight into the moral decision-making of today's business leaders and those influenced by and working for them.
About the author
Michel Anteby is associate professor and the Marvin Bower fellow in the organizational behavior unit at Harvard Business School. He is the author of "Moral Gray Zones: Side Productions, Identity, and Regulation in an Aeronautic Plant."
Summary
Making unprecedented use of his position as a Harvard Business School faculty member, this title takes readers inside HBS in order to draw vivid parallels between the socialization of faculty and of students. It reveals the role of silence and ambiguity in HBS' process of codifying morals and business values.
