Prof. David Kimber, IESEG School of Mgmt, France, Delivers Guest Lecture at ISME, Bangalore

Prof. David Kimber, IESEG School of Management, France, Delivers Guest Lecture at ISME, Bangalore
Theme: Changing Perspectives of Ethical Leadership and Management in a Globalized World

Prof. David Kimber from IESEG School of Management was at ISME, the soon to be premier B-school in India, to interact with the students and bring a new perspective to the study of leadership and business ethics in the changing globalized world.

Speaking on the importance of value-based leadership in today's turbulent world, Prof. Kimber said that with all the business scandals that emerged from the U.S., and now from Germany, B-schools can only ignore this issue at their peril and that of the society. He emphasized that ethical values are critical to India's future success. There is a lot of hue and cry over the reliability of Indian BPO sector. A section of media and other organizations have launched a scathing attack on the call centre employees of India, which may prove detrimental for the growth of the Indian ITES/BPO Market. The recent sting operations made by the 'Sun' and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) can be seen as one of such campaigns.

The BPO companies must, therefore, take strong security measures to prevent any misuse of the details of their customers and must display their adroitness and efficiency in handling the works assigned to them. He used numerous other examples, such as the disappearance of Arthur Anderson from the Accounting Industry and gave them a topical interpretation.

Prof. Kimber also delved on how ethics and integrity studies help us cope with the 'unknown' - a globalizing, changing world. What ought I/we to do? Is it 'right'? Does the action comply with established tenets of acceptable behaviour? Will the outcome be desirable? How? For whom? Will others suffer? Have we 'worked it out' appropriately? Will the people accept it? And is it fitting? The best performing companies have leaders who are able to promote moral intelligence throughout their organizations, despite the fact that the business world all too often rewards bad behavior, at least in the short run.

On a concluding note, Prof. Kimber remarked, "We float on a raft, with no means of propulsion, without a rudder, in a sea of uncertainty, populated by fearful dangerous creatures we do not know or cannot see - the only guiding principle that we have at our end is our Ethics".

Unquestionably, something to ponder over.

Concluded.

* Contributed by -
Devanshu Darmora (Campus Associate),
Student of Post Graduate Programme in Management,
International School of Management Excellence, Chennai.

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