In May, more than 100 students signed the School’s Professional Oath of Honor – Thunderbird’s own “Hippocratic Oath” for management professionals.

Professional Oath of Honor: a Shining Example of Ethics at Thunderbird

“In my wildest dreams, I would not have anticipated that the challenge I presented to students during our first Thunderbird Ethics Day in November 2004 would be taken this far,” says Thunderbird President Ángel Cabrera about the Board of Trustees’ recent approval of Thunderbird’s Professional Oath of Honor.

During May 2006 commencement activities, 102 graduates voluntarily signed the Oath, promising to abide by the ethical principles and values espoused by Thunderbird.

“With input from students, faculty and alumni – and the support of the Lincoln Center for Ethics in International Management – the Thunderbird Honor Council was able to articulate a code of professional conduct that reflects our shared belief that global citizenship is an integral part of the global management profession,” says Cabrera.

The official oath, which underwent more than 100 iterations as it was reviewed by students and faculty today reads:

As a Thunderbird and a global citizen,
I promise:
I will strive to act with honesty and integrity,
I will respect the rights and dignity of all people,
I will strive to create sustainable prosperity worldwide,
I will oppose all forms of corruption and exploitation, and
I will take responsibility for my actions.
As I hold true to these principles, it is my hope that I may enjoy an honorable reputation and peace of conscience.

This pledge I make freely and upon my honor.

Thunderbird is the first business school to have an oath that holds its graduates to a higher ethical standard – not just during their years at Thunderbird, but throughout their careers, says Greg Giauque ’06, past Honor Council chair. “What B-schools can do is get people to think even a few seconds longer about the decisions they make. Sometimes those extra seconds are enough to prevent a mistake that may have far-reaching consequences.”

As a statement of professional principles, the Oath will become part of the School’s pedagogy, used to instill a shared set of core values among Thunderbird graduates. The principles of the Oath will be reinforced at each step of the Thunderbird experience, beginning with the application process.

Prospective students will complete an essay related to the espoused principles, and during their first week on campus will complete an ethics module. Additionally, students will explore professional and business ethics in the context of MBA core courses and through a variety of elective courses.

“Ethics has expanded over the last several decades to include corporate social responsibility,” says Gregory Unruh, director of Thunderbird’s Lincoln Center for Ethics. “It asks questions such as ‘what is the role of business in society?’ and ‘how should business engage with the community in which it operates?’” He says the ethics training that Thunderbird students receive also stresses the role of business as an environmental force on this planet – its impact on the natural environment and its uses of natural resources.

Each trimester, Thunderbird hosts an Ethics Day at its Glendale, Ariz., campus, in which guest speakers are invited to discuss the role of ethics in business. On April 13, keynote speaker Quinn McKay, author of The Bottom Line on Integrity, shared the 12 principles for improving individual and group ethical decision-making.

In the fall, Ethics Day will include another visit by McKay, as well as a keynote presentation by Kent Roberts, vice president and general counsel for McAfee, who will discuss corporate ethics and social responsibility. A panel discussion about journalism and business reporting is also planned.

“Never before has an attempt of such magnitude been undertaken, to build a code of honor as a foundation for a graduate business institution,” says Abhishek Agarwal ’07, chief operating officer, Thunderbird Honor Council. “This will hold together generations of T-birds by a common sense of purpose and determination — to be ethical as individuals and as business managers.”