The global crisis is as much a failure of ethics as it is of finance. Business at the end of the day has to serve society which gives it its licence to operate. Creating virtual products as they did in financial markets wasn't serving anyone. Neither was flogging subprime packages to people who couldn't repay them, securitising them in packages that nobody could understand and then giving those packages a AAA rating in exchange for a nice fee. So how to fix it?

Here is an interesting suggestion from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona. As detailed here, the proposal is to professionalise managemtn and get managers to take the equivalent of a Hippocratic Oath.

As Thunderbird president Angel Cabrera writes, managers need to have a code of conduct. "Whatever its final form, a professional code for managers must recognize the multiple forms of value created by an enterprise: not only financial returns to investors, but also professional development for employees, value for clients and suppliers, new technologies, efficient use of limited natural resources, etc. It must recognize the inherent obligation of managers to balance the interests of various constituencies in ways that create value simultaneously rather than exclusively. And it must also underline the critical importance of transparency and accuracy in communicating to investors, employers, clients or regulators their risks and benefits that each constituency should expect when dealing with the enterprise. Just like any other professional code, managers need to affirm their commitment to the greater good and to not let personal interest get in the way when serving their enterprise and society at large. This requires an understanding of and commitment to uphold all relevant laws as well as universal norms and values around human rights, labor rights, the environment and against corruption—such as those captured by the United Nations Global Compact and other international initiatives."

It actually makes sense because things won't change until industry bodies, including those for management, pull their weight and set down codes for their members. If they're members don't follow those codes, they'd be out.