In the upcoming years, this instinctive distaste is likely to abate. However, although Khurana and Nohira's proposal seems laudable and reasonable, rather than idealistic, they fail to present convincing evidence that having such professional boards and regulations have made the professions of medicine and law more ethical than that of business and that graduates of MBA programs are less knowledgeable than doctors and lawyers who graduate from similar-caliber business schools as their CEO counterparts. If MBAs do seem less well-versed in some aspects of modern business, this may be more due to the broad nature of what constitutes commercial enterprise, and the constantly changing nature of the field. Business is more volatile than either the law or most forms of general medical practice. Given this volatility, regulations regarding what business graduates must know might quickly become obsolete. The authors dismiss the notion that professionalism chokes creativity, which seems like one of the weaker arguments against general certification for managers, but, unintentionally weakening their argument as well as the value of the degree, they vacillate and say perhaps life experience could be used to contribute to the requirements certification, to acknowledge the diverse experiences of business professionals: "positions would be attainable by individuals with varying credentials, depending on the job responsibility: none; experience only; experience plus education; MBA only; MBA plus CBP; CBP only (which might be granted to an experienced manager who passed the certification exam without having completed the MBA, as people without a law degree are allowed to pass the bar and practice in some states). (Khurana & Nohria 2008, p.3).

No evidence is presented that performance management would become better, either more ethical, or more efficient,...

Much of the argument is a kind of 'me-tooism' -- because the fields of law and medicine have them, why not business? But will these extra steps address the issues where modern enterprise is lacking, or merely divert resources. No empirical analysis is given or cited. Also, in modern business, although 'making a profit' and honoring shareholder's stake in the company may seem to be the obvious duty of a company, issues such as environmental responsibility, sustainability, responsibility to employees, to consumers, and to the developing world also come into play, and unlike law and medicine, there is less agreement as to what a company's obligation is to these competing entities. This is unlike the legal profession, for example, where it is widely acknowledged that a lawyer must defend his or her client, regardless of guilty, to the fullest extent of the law and to the best of his or her ability. The correct way to balance the ethics and excellence of business performance remains a debatable question as does the purpose of management, and thus any moral codification is likely to be so overly constraining it is ignored, or so vague that it service no purpose.
Works Cited

Khurana, Rakesh & Nitin Nohria. (2008, Oct). "It's time to make management a true profession."

Harvard Business Review Online. Retrieved 21 Oct 2008 at http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbsp/hbr/articles/article.jsp?ml_action=get-article&articleID=R0810D&ml_issueid=BR0810&ml_subscriber=true&pageNumber=1&_requestid=27170

McNamara, Carter. (1997). "Performance management -- basic concepts." Management help." Retrieved 21 Oct 2008 at http://www.managementhelp.org/perf_mng/perf_mng.htm

Performance Management