Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Ethics of MBAs II

Character Aptitude Test
Character is what you do when no one is looking. And that is something an IIM cannot teach you.

(originally published on www.businessworldindia.com where I write a monthly column titled 'Life, liberty and the pursuit of yuppeiness')

Like thousands of twenty somethings, Gaurav Mathur dreamt of getting into an IIM. Unlike thousands of others, he actually did make it. But his dream was cut short just two weeks into the course.

A condition for joining any of the IIMs is that all the requirements for graduation of the student should be complete by June 30, 2006 (that is, in case the student does not have a Bachelor's Degree) for joining sessions of 2006-2008 batch.

In Gaurav's case, this was not so. Gaurav had just completed his fourth year of studies at MBM Engineering College, Jodhpur. After fighting a court case, he had succeeded in getting all the theory and practical exams done by June 30, 2006 but his Project, Seminar and Educational tour were still pending.

“I asked my case to be considered by Rajasthan University and made all sorts of efforts, but maybe because of the court complications (or simply my bad luck), things didn't turn out right. I then put my case to IIM Calcutta,” says Gaurav.

IIM C agreed to consider his case but asked him to sign he would abide by the decision of the Academic Council. The Council decided against Gaurav, and he was asked to leave IIMC.

But I am moved to write this column not to rant against rules and bureaucratic procedures – yes they infect even the IIMs which, ironically, impart education in management . This column is about the choice that Gaurav had – but didn't make. A choice which would have allowed him to keep his hard-won seat. But one he did not make because his inner voice would not allow it.

In Gaurav's own words:

There was little chance that my project etc would be completed before that date. I fought hard for it. But I knew it was almost impossible. So there were 3 choices left -

1. Convince some teacher to sign the certificate.
2. Forge a sign and put a false seal.
3. Modify the certi, honestly say that projects etc were not complete and plead before IIMC in the name of Justice.

Since no teacher was ready to sign a fraud certi, option 1 was out. Option 3 was almost sure to not let me inside IIMC …

Well wishers urged Gaurav to take option 2. A friend even had a copy of the seal to be forged and signing would be no big deal for anybody. Apparently, a babu would be checking the certificate – he would just take a look at it and put it in a box – ‘to be opened only when I would leave IIMC with my degree'. And everything would be ok by then.

Says Gaurav: “Looking at the practical side… I was doing nothing wrong. I deserved IIMC. I had earned it. And my seat will not be going to someone else. It is wasted. So I was not harming anyone either. And this logic was strong. Even my dad was ok with me getting a false sign on that certificate. (My friend) Sundeep had talked to him. Kabhi kabhi Krishna ban na padta hai.”

But something was not right - Gaurav was torn apart. What's more he had a scooter accident – and many other near accidents – which he took as a sign from God to do ‘the right thing'.

Finally on 29 th June 2006 he decided against submitting a forged certificate. He took his chances with the Academic Council and lost his seat.

Says Gaurav, “I do not regret my decision. I still have a lot of pain and anger in me. But somehow, among all the consternation and chaos, there is peace inside my heart. When you think about it, that inner voice, that self - respect, and yes, your bloody life.. is more important than an IIM.”

Faced with a dilemma similar to Gaurav, most would have chosen differently. Especially in a case where, like him, you have a reasonable chance of getting away with it. That's exactly what happened at one of the IIMs during the placement season earlier this year. A Placecom (Placement Committee) representative was found to have embellished his bio-data.

The ironic bit is that this institute has a mechanism to curb such fudging – all students are asked to submit their CVs for verification before they are accepted as the ‘official' CV to be given to recruiting companies. But here's the thing – the Placecom reps are the ones doing the scrutiny and so it really becomes a case of ‘who will police the policemen?'

The matter reached the Dean and acting Director of Placements. But can you believe it - - no action was taken! To quote a student who watched the entire proceedings with shock and disgust, “The guy escaped without a hair unhurt and was followed by others who were similarly inspired by him to decorate their resumes!”

The actual ‘decoration' falls in the nature of the inane. Some of the discrepancies (identified by comparing the candidate's summer placement and final placement CV):

• ‘All India Winners – FCB Ulka Marketing Case contest' (truth: his team was shortlisted for the final but did not actually win)

• Finalist (top 5 out of 200 teams), Marketing Case at Confluence – the International Business School Festival of IIM Ahmedabad (Confluence website shows his team was not shortlisted)

• Award of Honour for securing 3 rd rank in North India (in the summer CV he claimed to have got 4 th rank in his city – no mention of state honours)

And there are 9 more such points. All small - and in my opinion unnecessary lies - but which add up to one thing: lack of integrity.

What is worse is the institutional response – rather the lack of it. The thought of ‘ruining a fine young man's career' is what probably stopped the authorities from taking appropriate action. Which I think should have simply been: ‘debarred from placement'.

And I don't think their kindness will teach him any kind of lesson. If anything, he would be emboldened, knowing that one can get away with it. And so would others.

In fact, Gaurav Mathur had far more to lose – and yet he made a difficult choice. The CV Fudger was a high performer anyways, and the fudging was merely to improve his chances of getting into a ‘dream job' where competition is stiff. And that I feel makes his action even more damning. Not to mention dangerous…

Because there are a number of job profiles where you have enough freedom to be tempted to misuse it. And there can be horrific consequences, as IIM Bangalore graduate Anshul Rustagi learnt the hard way. According to news reports, Deutsche Bank dismissed the 26 year old derivatives for overstating profits by some 30 million pounds over a two-month period last year. He left the bank following a disciplinary hearing on January 10 th 2006.

Anshul traded complex financial instruments known as synthetic collateralised debt obligations (CDOs). The Financial Times noted: "The London-based former rising star was involved in trading highly illiquid and innovative products in the fast-growing world of credit derivatives and was part of a team given a free rein by the bank. Deutsche Bank executives said that in rarefied areas such as complex derivatives there was more reliance on individual bankers than on the risk managers who control them".

The motivation: most likely, a higher bonus. Given the complex nature of the instrument Anshul would have hoped to eventually make that money or square off the overstatement in some manner – and nobody would have been the wiser. But his luck ran out.

It all boils down to your personal value system. Of wanting to be a ‘star' even if it means doing the wrong thing. Justifying to yourself that others probably do it too, so what's the big deal?

The latest KPMG Forensic Integrity Survey found that there's been ‘no real decrease in the amount of unethical activity going on inside companies'. 74 % of employees reported misconduct, compared with 76 per cent five years ago. The level of serious misconduct now stands at 50 %, compared with 49 % in 2000.

So maybe the CV fudger has it all right after all – and will go on to do brilliantly in his corporate career. Gaurav Mathur, with his more active conscience should consider other career options.

Also read: my earlier post: Ethics of MBAs

Correction: The CV fudger was in fact debarred from placement - but not expelled. Read my update.

14 comments:

  1. Very well said ,who will gaurd the gaurds.
    Is it wrong or right , its just dependent on your view point and in the end that s all that matters to your own self.

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  2. Strangly enough, our college has a guest lecturer yesterday (Mr. Parag Parikh) who spoke on values and principles.

    His agrument was that a person's value system might be right but it has to be principle centric. A crude analogy he gave was of a terrorist whose value system is to fight for his 'religion' but if it means killing innocent people, then it is not principle centric and thus he was in the wrong. Or a broker who advices an investor to enter markets when it is highly overpriced; his value system might tell him that since the market is rising, both the investor and he stand to make a profit. But as a broker, if he knows that the market is overpriced, he has to tell the ivestor not to enter or sell his holdings even if markets sppreciate further.

    In the end, it is principles that matter.

    Good post, Rashmi.

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  3. Rashmi,
    I know, I am getting into philosophy stuff but now that you have touched the subject I just have to write this.
    You say,"Character is what you do when no one is looking"
    but think of it, what makes character. What is honesty/integrity etc. Why are there some people who would not do anything unethical even if a million dollars are offered and why would others do it. And why are there degrees of honesty, why something is okay while something else is not.
    ( lot of whys, i know )

    The only answer that comes to my mind is that this is all about FEAR.

    People are honest only when they fear something, that something may be fear of badnami, fear of losing something, fear of harming people you love, fear of getting caught and above all fear of god(fear of going to hell instead of heaven... seriously, there are some...)

    I think i can attribute every act of honesty from anybody to one of these reasons. (Even Gaurav Mathur's, remember "What's more he had a scooter accident – and many other near accidents – which he took as a sign from God to do ‘the right thing'")
    Same way, any act of dishonesty can be attributed to the fact that the person feels that he/she can get away with it i.e. none of the mentioned fears apply.

    Your CV fudger was someone who had "conquered his fears", only problem is that he got caught.

    ~Shikari

    PS: Have you never done anything dishonest, to a lesser degree maybe, and gotten away with it???

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  4. its really sad whatever happened with Gaurav Mathur.Its not his fault that on one hand mumbai univ. & other univs finish off their engg course much b4 june end including exams,projects,viva & everything & his university is unable to speed up their curriculLum.IIM-C should have been a little more considerate with him & should have allowed him to continue with the course as anyways he would be done with his B.E. in 06.Not that he was fudging any details.

    And what morals are we talking about when companies that recruit you,bloat their salary figures with 'n' hidden components and make it sound big & the same b-schools then use it to tom-tom to the world about their glorious placements.

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  5. Read all big words here..but really for the first time I felt "How important is a course to be officially completed".

    What Gaurav has faced i've also been in same situation ..but at a lower level ie. Graduation. Life makes u eccentric. But..keep ur hope up, give water n sunlight again to ur dream.So tat again u get to that dreamland of urs n finally live ur dream .

    Whatever may happen Life moves on, n our benefit is always. n as said," Whatever happens ,happens for the good only"

    n man Gaurav now ur Rockstar..n most imp ur up in ur own eyes..I m glad to c someone like this.Keep tryin ...n make it this CAT or try ISB (got placement till Rs.1Crore) go for it!!
    All the Best!

    N ya..thanx Rashmi Di for communicating this matter.

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  6. Rashmi,

    I don't know if anyone would agree with me here, but isn't this remark of yours blatantly unjustified:
    So maybe the CV fudger has it all right after all – and will go on to do brilliantly in his corporate career. Gaurav Mathur, with his more active conscience should consider other career options.

    There are CV fudgers, sign forgers and fund siphoners in all professions. rogue cops or hospitals aren't really surprises anymore.

    You just said that it boils down to personal values and ethics can't be taught. There are people with not enough ethical values everywhere. Why make this out to be a particular fault of IIM's or even MBA's?

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  7. For IIMs it is quite easy to check and find out if the resumes have been fudged. What about IITsn and other engineering colleges where 1000+ students sit for placements each year ?

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  8. Why to blame the "CV" fudger when most of the "B schools themselves " fudge placement details like C2C and no of offers, still no doubt Gaurav is a real hero.

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  9. Hats off to Gaurav! I don't know how many others would have done the same, but then such people aren't lost yet...

    I have met many heroes to think that Integrity is not lost yet.
    Cheers

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  10. To Gaurav,

    Kyu aajkal sleep sweet aur peace zaadaa hai...lagta hai khuda ka koi nek iraadaa hai.

    Kal tak thaa guilt dil aaj shehzaadaa hai...lagta hai khuda ka koi nek iraadaa hai.

    Regards...

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  11. Rashmi,

    I also did not like some of the impressions which are given by the post to a reader:

    - you make it sound as if Gaurav did something heroic by not 'forging' his "certi"(in the first half of the post)- really? At one point you say "most would have taken the choice of forging certificates"- really? Well, most would tend to differ.

    I agree forging academic credentials is rampant but definitely not soo rampant that "most" of the population would go that way.

    - Another point i would like to make is, the prevalence of producing fraudulent degrees, academic papers is far more prevalent in the North than in the South and East. When i did my engineering and MBA, i have interacted with hundreds of students and i found this to be the case. The atitude of many north indian students (though not "most") is almost casual about this.Gaurav Mathur is a N.Indian...maybe thats why his friends reacted the way he did.


    Maybe you did not intend to give these impressions...but reading through the first half of the post at least , thats what the 'dominant' rub off is.The latter half of the post clears you stand, but usually people always take messages from the first half of the post, especially a long one.

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  12. Dont the IIMS have the facility to defer admissions, if they do not, it is quite lame; the kind of thing that makes you not regret not giving THE CAT.
    Come on guys open up is what I would say.

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  13. CV fudging happens at all places. Before quitting software programming my job to do an MBA, I used to take technical interviews for candidates (usually freshers). I have seen CV embellishment taken to art form. I've seen people lie brazenly.

    It is a general phenomenon, and has nothing to do with MBAs. B-schools and ethics have nothing to do with each other. Ethics must be learnt at a far younger age.

    ReplyDelete

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