The Manager's Oath
The Manager’s Oath
I read an article in HBR last year about some professors at Harvard Business School who believe that the reputation of business practitioners has been tainted by the likes of Madoff, Enron and the masterminds of the Credit Crisis. In order to recover Brand Equity (reputation) they want MBA candidates to take management practitioners Oath; much like the Hippocratic Oath medical practitioners take.
The Oath (http://www.mbaoath.org) is a series of points that basically represents the some important ideals and the spirit that I’d like to think managers share- that is, honesty and integrity. Most managers I know realize the responsibilities they have go beyond just the shareholder returns. They understand the impact their practice has on the environment, on the legal system, their reputation, the social good and finally on the moral of their team.
The Dilemma
The client needed a feature rich extranet upgrade. They wanted to put a database online.
The project was scoped into 2 parts. Part 1 was working with the current database to extract it. Part 2 was the custom development and install on their servers.
The client lead the BA to a particular conclusion about the current database the company had to work with, which was the basis for the specs, which the Project Manager used to base the Project Estimate (and budget) on (the budget was based on man hour estimates).
The database was by no means as straight forward and simple as the client lead the BA to believe. As a result- Part 1 took a great deal longer than originally estimated. It was the PM and BA's suspicion that it was more than just a simple mistake - in order to get a lower cost for the development.
My friend was the PM. Once the client signed off on the contract, and the developers dug into the database, they quickly found out the size of the project was greatly misleading, and the database was deceptively complex. The hours for Part 1 estimates were quickly burned without the forward movement in the project that was expected. She felt obligated to make a Change Order to the client to re-estimate the amount of time was involved in Part 2, in order to cover the loss for Part 1.
Her developers found out about the Change order and project momentum was affected.
To be fair, once she sat her team down and explained the larger picture on why the obligation existed- that the client was being unfair with them, and as a result the project would be a loss, and that they’re not looking to gouge the client, just looking to make things up and be fair about things in the end, and just get what’s coming to them, the team was ultimately understanding and on board.
So- was that ultimately a violation of the oath? When considering that we have to look at which specific points it potentially violates.
1 Was it a violation of Integrity?
2 Was it a violation of Good faith?
3 Was it a violation of representing the performance of the enterprise?
Integrity
On one hand- it was not because the client drew first blood so to speak. While it could be inferred as two wrongs make a right, that’s a simplistic answer that doesn’t represent the complexity of the situation. The client did in fact mislead the company and that’s why the company was at a loss, and they weren’t looking to make any level of profitability beyond what they would extract if everyone was honest from the beginning.
On the other hand, my friend willfully lied to her client.
Good Faith
On one hand - I’m not certain it was a violation of the Good Faith. As I mentioned, the intent was for a level of profitability that would be derived from the outset of the project if everything was above board, and no more than that. She could have lied and gotten a higher level of profitability, but she chose not to.
On the other, she lied. She knew she was doing it. She sat down with the intention to lie to them.
Performance of the Enterprise
On one hand, Yes.
On the other, well- ok- there is no other.
In conclusion- Ethics and morality should be in someone’s everyday practice, in their personal and professional life. I’m not certain if having an oath will make a huge difference, but it certainly can’t hurt, and management professionals should start taking lengths to repair the brand equity in the eyes of the rest of society.
Thanks to John Murray who is awfully fond of oathing.
I read an article in HBR last year about some professors at Harvard Business School who believe that the reputation of business practitioners has been tainted by the likes of Madoff, Enron and the masterminds of the Credit Crisis. In order to recover Brand Equity (reputation) they want MBA candidates to take management practitioners Oath; much like the Hippocratic Oath medical practitioners take.
The Oath (http://www.mbaoath.org) is a series of points that basically represents the some important ideals and the spirit that I’d like to think managers share- that is, honesty and integrity. Most managers I know realize the responsibilities they have go beyond just the shareholder returns. They understand the impact their practice has on the environment, on the legal system, their reputation, the social good and finally on the moral of their team.
The Dilemma
The client needed a feature rich extranet upgrade. They wanted to put a database online.
The project was scoped into 2 parts. Part 1 was working with the current database to extract it. Part 2 was the custom development and install on their servers.
The client lead the BA to a particular conclusion about the current database the company had to work with, which was the basis for the specs, which the Project Manager used to base the Project Estimate (and budget) on (the budget was based on man hour estimates).
The database was by no means as straight forward and simple as the client lead the BA to believe. As a result- Part 1 took a great deal longer than originally estimated. It was the PM and BA's suspicion that it was more than just a simple mistake - in order to get a lower cost for the development.
My friend was the PM. Once the client signed off on the contract, and the developers dug into the database, they quickly found out the size of the project was greatly misleading, and the database was deceptively complex. The hours for Part 1 estimates were quickly burned without the forward movement in the project that was expected. She felt obligated to make a Change Order to the client to re-estimate the amount of time was involved in Part 2, in order to cover the loss for Part 1.
Her developers found out about the Change order and project momentum was affected.
To be fair, once she sat her team down and explained the larger picture on why the obligation existed- that the client was being unfair with them, and as a result the project would be a loss, and that they’re not looking to gouge the client, just looking to make things up and be fair about things in the end, and just get what’s coming to them, the team was ultimately understanding and on board.
So- was that ultimately a violation of the oath? When considering that we have to look at which specific points it potentially violates.
1 Was it a violation of Integrity?
2 Was it a violation of Good faith?
3 Was it a violation of representing the performance of the enterprise?
Integrity
On one hand- it was not because the client drew first blood so to speak. While it could be inferred as two wrongs make a right, that’s a simplistic answer that doesn’t represent the complexity of the situation. The client did in fact mislead the company and that’s why the company was at a loss, and they weren’t looking to make any level of profitability beyond what they would extract if everyone was honest from the beginning.
On the other hand, my friend willfully lied to her client.
Good Faith
On one hand - I’m not certain it was a violation of the Good Faith. As I mentioned, the intent was for a level of profitability that would be derived from the outset of the project if everything was above board, and no more than that. She could have lied and gotten a higher level of profitability, but she chose not to.
On the other, she lied. She knew she was doing it. She sat down with the intention to lie to them.
Performance of the Enterprise
On one hand, Yes.
On the other, well- ok- there is no other.
In conclusion- Ethics and morality should be in someone’s everyday practice, in their personal and professional life. I’m not certain if having an oath will make a huge difference, but it certainly can’t hurt, and management professionals should start taking lengths to repair the brand equity in the eyes of the rest of society.
Thanks to John Murray who is awfully fond of oathing.
posted by Mike at 9/29/2009 09:08:00 p.m.
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