Preface

Alan Greenspan recently gave a talk here in Boston on corporate governance. He began by stating the undeniable fact that free market capitalism is based on trust. I would take this a step further: Trust in free market capitalism is based on trust in the collective integrity of the companies that make up the market. A company's integrity depends on trust—the trust it shows its employees, its customers, its suppliers, its stockholders, and all the other constituencies that surround it. This trust is not just a matter of virtue for virtue's sake; it is an indispensable element for any business that wants to survive over the long haul.

Having run a successful electronics company for almost 40 years, a company that became a world leader and a billion-dollar enterprise in a very demanding business, I am often asked what it was that made this company so successful. Competence, especially in technology, is critical. But it is not enough. A strong sense of ethics must guide the company in all its dealings with people inside and outside the company. Not just a strong sense, but an uncompromisingly strong sense of ethics. Bend the rules, and you might as well break them. You just cannot get away with being a little bit unethical, or being unethical once in a while. As soon as you're found out—and you will be found out—that vital sense of trust is shattered forever. The current newspaper headlines show this to be sadly true.

The importance of ethics comes through loud and clear in the dialogue and speeches from the MIT Sloan School's 50th Anniversary Convocation which is the subject of this book. As chair of The MIT Corporation, I am gratified by the attention given to the subject, first because it is so important for business leaders to reflect on what they must do to build trust; and second, because our schools must ask whether they are instilling a sense of ethical behavior in the next generations of business executives and leaders.

We are all proud of the Sloan School's rich heritage, but we will be even prouder if, years from now, we can see in this anniversary celebration an event that signaled a turning point in the journey to a world of business practice and education that recognizes the role of trust as the cornerstone of our whole economic system. Our collective responsibility is to take Alan Greenspan's macro-vision and apply it to every company and every situation we touch. The ideas expressed at the convocation and presented in this volume are an excellent starting point.

Alex d'Arbeloff
Chair, The MIT Corporation

Acknowledgments

Preparation of this volume and the splendid anniversary convocation on which it is based required support and leadership of a large number of loyal and dedicated people and organizations. General Motors Corporation has supported management at MIT since before the Sloan School was founded. So it is fitting that they served as our primary partner in hosting the 50th Anniversary Convocation. The Boeing Company, the Sloan Foundation, Deutsche Bank, Empirix, and Fleishman Hillard International Communications also provided valuable support to the event. We thank these organizations for their continued commitment to the Sloan School.

A large number of Sloan staff and faculty helped to plan and manage the convocation. We owe special thanks to Lori Correale, Eliza Dame, Paul Denning, Bernie Lord, and Robert St. Cyr for the countless hours they put into making sure the event came off flawlessly. Their best reward lies in the universal view of those who attended that it was a landmark event. Never before had such a large gathering of Sloan School alumni, students, faculty, and distinguished guests come together to both renew acquaintances and to engage in a thoughtful discussion about the current state and future directions for management practice and education. These hard working and creative people exemplify the important roles Sloan staff members play in the school day in and day out. We thank them, and all the Sloan School staff, for their ongoing dedication and professionalism.

We asked a small committee of faculty and staff to help us design the program for a 50th anniversary event that would be both a celebration and an intellectually engaging and challenging look into the future. For getting this combination just right we thank Eliza Dame, Thomas Kochan, John Little, Stewart Myers, Stephen Sacca, and David Weber.

Transforming the richness of the dialogue and the presentations into what we hope is a readable and coherent text was a daunting challenge. Andrea Meyer organized the materials and edited the papers and panel discussions into the chapters that follow. Jackie Curreri kept track of the various pieces of the book, brought them together to create a single text, and throughout managed to keep her sanity and humor intact. Paul Denning coordinated efforts with our colleagues at The MIT Press, and John Covell managed the process of turning a loose manuscript into the final product. Their individual and collective good work illustrates how a modern team works effectively and cooperatively across boundaries and distances.

Finally, our thanks go to the alumni, students, faculty, and other guests who joined us and helped shape the rich dialogue that took place at the convocation. This book is the product of their ideas and the articulate fashion in which they expressed them. We hope it does justice to both the substance and the spirit of their remarks.