Harvard Business School

In a roundtable discussion sponsored in 2002 by the HBS Bulletin, HBS faculty weighed in on the difficult subject of misconduct by corporations and corporate leaders.

“There are over three million corporations in the United States today,” noted Professor Nancy Koehn. “From my experience working with a range of businesses, I am sure there is no cancer of immorality among them. The vast majority of our alumni and business leaders are frustrated — some are outraged — by recent events. They want to talk about issues of corporate governance and the ethics of leadership. They can’t believe that what they consider an honorable profession is being publicly judged by the misdeeds of a few people.

“Mark Twain once said words to the effect that ‘history doesn’t repeat itself precisely but sometimes it does rhyme.’ The response to current events does seem to parallel — or rhyme with — what occurred in reaction to the emergence of big business in the early 20th century. Here at HBS, where we sit at the intersection of practice and theory, this moment presents a fabulous opportunity to learn.”