Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/54913
During my lifetime, many expe- riences have informed my views of business education, including my childhood in the capitalist center of Hong Kong, my service on cor- porate and nonprofit boards, and my more than three decades as a business professor and dean. But none have expanded my view as widely as my travels over the past five years in Indonesia, Zambia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Palestine, Jerusalem, and China. In the article that follows, I share two more diary entries from my travels, as well as some of the con- clusions I have drawn from these experiences. I believe that business and business education are powerful forces able to transform lives, for better or worse. If business schools are to affect the world for the bet- ter, educators must acknowledge the necessary goal of a business school education: to help our students see the world through a larger lens so they can recognize their ability to make a difference in the human community. Guiding Principles July 2009, Afghanistan, Beyond the Bayan Pass in the poorest dis- trict of the Ghor Province: Ghor Province is sparsely popu- lated, with a great number of unskilled displaced migrants. Here, I sat cross-legged among 20 women who had recently started a bakery with a startup grant that helped them procure an oven and initial supplies. The fragrance of miniature cakes filled the building. The woman in charge of the bakery quietly recounted how her child had died of starvation before this business was established; beside her, a frail woman sat nursing an infant. Later that day, I struggled as I tried to wrap a very long scarf around my head: a beautiful hand-embroidered gift presented to me by workers at another women's enterprise. These women design, sew, and sell scarves and household linens. The women spoke rapidly about their success and their desire for more training, noting that their growing operations were out- stripping the simple inventory and accounting systems avail- able to them. Residents of an Ethiopian village celebrate the opening of a new irrigation system, built with the help of Catholic Relief Services. 42 May/June 2011 BizEd They had ambitions and plans for the future; their most sig- nificant goals were to establish their own shop and educate their daughters. These women defined a new standard for hard work. They took care of their homes, cooked, and trekked up the mountains daily to collect firewood for the winter. Then they started sewing, sometimes staying up all night to make good on an order. I could not help but be impressed by the work ethic these women possessed. But I also was impressed by the stark contrast between their lives before the bakery and home decor business and their lives after. Through our programs, business schools can train leaders who will recognize and reward the work ethic found in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and else- where. These leaders can find ways to move the citizens of these com- munities into the global economy. I believe it is essential that we communicate three principles to emerging business leaders, if they are to inspire this kind of change in the world and meet the challenges of our time: 1. Business is a necessary good, not a tolerated evil. Despite the scandals and break- down of responsible decision mak- ing that triggered the financial crisis, business is necessary for the well- being of individuals and communi- ties. Businesses provide jobs, skill development, and capital for invest- ment. They serve as the impetus for establishing physical, financial, reg- ulatory, and social infrastructures. Although progress across the world has been uneven, global business has been the driver that has lifted