10 Commandments For Business Leaders (And MBA Students)

In the final panel at Net Impact, Thomas Neil Gladwin presented what he called his "Ten Commandments for Business." Replete with sarcasm and enunciated ridicule for Wall Street, Gladwin's commandments serve less as advice to follow and more as an indictment of the current state of business. In delivering them, he perhaps best captured the sentiments of the crowd—a mix of MBA students, professionals and academia focused on corporate social responsibility.

Gladwin is the professor of sustainable enterprise and strategy, and the director of University of Michigan's Erb Institute. Without further ado, here are his Ten Commandments:

1. Thou shall aim for sales growth maximization.

2. Thou shall build on cost externalization.

3. Thou will use tax avoidance to increase profit.

4. Thou shall seize control of the government. (According to Gladwin, "There are 3,000 lobbyists in Washington D.C., just for the finance industry. Pharmaceuticals have about 900.")

5. Thou shall concentrate control of the media. ("In 1983, 50 companies controlled all the media. That figure stood at five in 2004.")

6. Thou shall create wants to serve your business.

7. Thou will innovate only for the rich.

8. Thou shall let finance take over the world. ("We don’t need as many bankers as we have today.")

9. Capitalism shall concentrate thy wealth.

10. Thou shall overshoot limits and treat the earth as if it was in liquidation.

And there endeth 2020: Vision for a Sustainable Decade.

Previous posts from Net Impact 2010:

5 Tips for Job Seekers in CSR

Diversity is a Necessary Job Skill, Not an HR Policy

5 Questions That Will Change the MBA

The Sustainability Jobs Debate Gets Play at Net Impact 2010