What is taught in business school does not support this. The orientation towards profit is natural, and a part of the manager's job. However, the orientation towards excessive risk-taking is not taught in business school, but rather learned in the workplace. The government exhibited lax oversight of the banking industry. Indeed, the FDIC chairperson Sheila Bair had called for increased regulation of the mortgage industry and those calls fell on deaf ears in both Washington and on Wall Street (Lizza, 2009). Those within and without the industry were more interested in the short-term profits generated by the industry than protecting the public.
The short-term time orientation of managers that causes them to ignore risk in favor of returns is a strictly Wall Street phenomenon. That is the land of quarterly earnings reports, and substantial punishment of a firm's stock if it fails to live up to expectations. The market movers on Wall Street have a short-term time orientation and that drives the bankers to have one as well. That the government encourages such behavior by bailing out banks so that they do not need to face the negative consequences of risk only exacerbates the problem.
It is greed that caused the financial crisis (Palmer, 2008). Yet, greed is not taught on business schools. Greed is a part of human nature, and it is critical therefore that the financial system be structured...
The government failed to corral that greed in many ways -- from the Fed's interest rates, to banking industry deregulation, to the promotion of the American dream of home ownership, regardless of whether or not the person can afford it. This represents an abject failure on the part of government to do its job -- to manage the nation's economy in the best possible manner. Of all agencies, only the FDIC investigated lending practices during the housing bubble. Everybody else was enjoying the success of the banking and construction industries, and never committed to the type of oversight that would manage the people's inherent greed effectively. The business schools teach effective management of greed -- they are not to blame for the crisis.
Works Cited:
Knowledge @ Wharton. (2008). Subprime crisis: A bouquet of opportunity masked in a reek of risk. Wharton School of Business. Retrieved November 22, 2009 from http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1995
Palmer, D. (2008). Greed reflects a failure of leadership. Wharton School of Business. Retrieved November 22, 2009 from http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1987
Lizza, R. (2009). The contrarian. New York Times. Retrieved November 22, 2009 from http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/07/06/090706fa_fact_lizza
