Q: What is the MBA Oath?
A: Similar to the Hippocratic Oath taken by doctors upon graduating from medical school, the MBA Oath is a voluntary pledge for MBAs to create value responsibly and ethically as future business leaders. The MBA Oath is an effort by many top business schools across the country to transform business into a profession with a code of conduct.
Q: Why is there a requirement for the MBA Oath?
A: One of the most major criticisms of the MBA Oath is that the Oath, at its current form, is only words and does not have any mechanism or official body to enforce compliance of the Oath. The Marshall Honor Committee seeks to best remedy this by proactively educating any MBA Oath taker. We do not view the requirement as a "bar" of ethics that takers need to be passed in order to be able to sign but rather to provide an invaluable education opportunity that helps students to act more ethically when confronting any "gray" areas.
Q: Can I still sign the MBA Oath if I do not fulfill the requirement?
A: Students are free to sign the MBA Oath on their own at the www.MBAOath.org website. Requirement for signing the Oath at USC Marshall is enforced by each student's honor to fulfill the requirement.
Q: If I have classes/career events during the MBA Oath events, can I make up for the events in any other way?
A: Speaker's series will be recorded and be made available in the near future. For those who cannot attend the event due to conflict of schedule, you may watch the video online in lieu of attending. Due to the interactive nature of the case discussions, there will be no make-up sessions for the discussion. We have arranged for multiple times for the discussion sessions for this reason.
Q: When will I be able to sign the MBA Oath?
A: Students may only sign (upon completing the requirement) at the year of the graduation. The Honor Committee is currently planning to create a perpetual MBA Oath book to be kept in the school for all Marshall signees. For 2012, the MBA Oath signing ceremony is tentatively scheduled to be hosted at JKP 300 on the afternoon of our graduation date. More detail will be announced as the date approaches.