Gen-Z has shown a desire, and for some a must, to incorporate purposefulness and ethical standards into the economic sphere. The days of Michael Douglas’s acclaimed 1987 film Wall Street, where the rule of the day was that there were no rules, are long gone. Today’s business professional is graduating from college following professional paths that prioritize meaning over profit.
Investment banking and higher education are both in purgatory, trying to recruit top talent when that perceived skill has every chance of being found in an open market.
Changes in higher education
Higher education emphasizes the need for ethical modeling in business learning at all levels. Top MBA talents are introduced to ethical business practices through programs such as the McGowan Fellows Program, a premier fellowship established by the William G. McGowan Charitable Foundation. “As they build their careers, Fellows are expected to make ethical leadership and commitment to social betterment an important aspect of their organization’s ethos,” writes Michael T. Nietzel of Forbes.
Approved McGowan scholarship recipients will receive value-based leadership training, alumni mentoring, and a social impact project as part of a year of tuition paid for by the fellowship. “Fellows emerge with a new perspective on the responsibilities and potential of leadership, as well as a cohort of like-minded professionals and access to a welcoming alumni network of changemakers. They are willing to advance business and society,” the McGowan Fellows Program describes.
Internationally, activities such as the Journal of Ethics in Higher Education of the Globethics Foundation, located in Geneva, Switzerland, facilitate communication with the academic community. “The journal is intended for academic experts in ethics and education who are at the forefront of ethical thinking in a global and cross-cultural perspective, academic integrity, and the philosophy and practice of higher education,” as outlined by the Journal of Ethics in Higher Education.
Ethics on the ground
Several entrepreneurs today seek Venture Capital (VC) financing to help them build their businesses. On the plus side, it can provide the funds needed to jump-start operations, boost advice and grow. But when a company raises venture capital, it can occasionally lose creative control. Investors may also demand large ownership interests or prompt payment to promote a sale.
In extreme circumstances, certain investors, such as Michael Douglas’ mythological character Gordon Gekko, try to buy companies and sell off pieces for quick profits. Known as asset stripping, this approach has led to concerns about ethics that have little regard for the suffering of affected people. While asset stripping investment techniques remain, there is an increasing trend among certain experts to help startups with a more collaborative, businesslike approach.
