Business Ethics - DDM Garage Doors Blog

Business Ethics:

A Comment on Matthew Stewart’s article “The B-School Boondoggle.”

In the April 22-23, 2017 issue of The Wall Street Journal, Matthew Stewart reviews Duff McDonald’s recent book, The Golden Passport: Harvard Business School, the Limits of Capitalism, and the Moral Failure of the MBA Elite.

In this work, McDonald examines the history of Harvard Business School (HBS), including its damaging effect upon business management in America. Additionally, he summarizes a few of the business theories that “populate the promiscuous intellectual history of the (HBS).”

Stewarts affirms McDonald’s claim that none of them should be taken seriously. However, Stewart provides two reasons and implies a third: “First…they all start and end with the belief in a magic measuring stick that will reduce the problems of human collaboration to a game of numbers: second is that they always, always, justify the power and the glory of management. Did I mention the money?”

In his book, McDonald emphasizes a commitment to “the pursuit of corporate donations and consulting contracts” early in its history rather than genuinely pursuing knowledge. Meanwhile, HBS hails corporate managers as “the moral center of modern civilization.” Such a commitment and pedagogical strategy has encouraged the development of a market stocked with managers who possess little to no moral conscience. In addition, those who justify criminal practices because they – being the corporate managers – determine morality.

Unethical Behavior

Stewart’s article documents disturbing examples of corporate managers whose business practices and lifestyles demonstrate the effect of this commitment by HBS. This is not to blame HBS with all of the problems present in American society. However, such an approach has certainly not encouraged ethical behavior within the business sector where the greedy take and others suffer loss.

Our experience at DDM Garage Doors confirms the dark side of McDonald’s study. In recent years our website and YouTube tutorials company have suffered countless attacks. Furthermore, to cut corners, thousands of unscrupulous companies and individuals have stolen images and text from our website. In addition, one greedy competitor has used click farms to drag down the ratings on our more popular YouTube tutorials. Including our “How to Replace Garage Door Torsion Springs” video as well as videos of other competitors. As a result, a substantial portion of our annual budget is spent on legal work to protect our intellectual property.

That’s the moral landscape of American Business Ethics. Harvard Business School’s contribution to it is an American tragedy. Thank you, Matt, and thank you, Duff, for helping us see our failures.

(Written by Daryle Worley with comments from Dan Musick)

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