What is INCAE MBA Oath Club and how does it work?

In 2010, INCAE became the first MBA School in Latin America to create an Oath MBA. Its objective? Inculcate the value of ethics and make students and Incaists more aware that their actions are seen, promoting good practices. Indeed, they are the ones in charge of taking this valuable oath at each Graduation Ceremony.

In 2020, INCAE, seeking to stay at the forefront, introduced the Master in Analytics Innovation and Technology (MAIT) program. To accommodate the change, the MBA Oath Club changed its name to INCAE Oath Club. Also the motto was updated from “Ethics is Awareness" to "Ethics is Awareness, Ethics is change” (Ethics is conscience, ethics is change). This motto is how the INCAE Oath Club is governed to share with students the value of ethics in the business world.

The organization was born in 2010, as a result of the economic decline that occurred two years ago in the world. María Fe Gonzales Santisteban (Peru, 33 years old), president of the INCAE Oath Club, speaks about this: “With the financial crisis of 2008 there was a whole movement in the United States that pointed to unethical leaders as those who had promoted the economic collapse. So, Harvard and the World Economic Forum got together and created the OATH (solemn oath or promise) for administrators. Later the objective was adopted and it was brought to INCAE”.

The Club's training base is the article “It's time to make management a true profession”, published in October 2008 by the Harvard Business School Review and written by the Dean of Harvard, Nitin Nohria. INCAE's OATH is based on the oath of this American university that commits its students not to put personal ambitions above the interests of its employees or society in general; that is, it is a personal ethical exercise for its members.

“Something we instill is the value of ethics: is it morally acceptable or not? It is about students knowing that their actions are seen and that they guide and promote these good practices and values. In a certain way, we as a club, try to influence and make our colleagues and the generations to come continue to cultivate and continue to become a work engine for all, "says Víctor Muñoz (Peru, 33 years old), secretary of the OATH of INCAE.

The INCAE Oath Club, says Sebastián Camacho (Ecuador, 31 years old), current vice president, “relates to INCAE students seeking to generate people who have more knowledge and perception about what they have to do or not do, helping the reasoning of the people. Seek that each one of those who participate in the club's events leaves with that spark of 'what they just showed me was good or bad' and thus generate knowledge, awareness (awareness)”; which will later be translated into action.

Firm foundations for handling ethical challenges

INCAE became in 2010 the first Business School in Latin America to form this student organization. Since then, more than 150 students have been part of the organization at the Walter Kissling Gam Campus.

The INCAE Oath Club is developed from four axes. 1) The staff, based on dilemmas, ethical challenges, personal decisions and life experiences that refer to ethics; 2) organizational, thinking about how to make organizations work ethically, to develop a strong culture of this value; 3) society, focused on fighting corruption, the main obstacle to the social and economic development of Latin American countries, and 4) networking, focused on multiplying power, which means more power to make more changes. 

The student leaders are renewed each new promotion, although their functions extend for another 12 months. In the first stage, the students work actively within the club, while the rest of their stay is focused on guiding the council that remains in office. 

“The year after they leave the council, the former officers stay on as advisers to the new members. In addition there are the LifetimeMembers, people who want to stay in the club and continue participating in this network”, says Camacho. 

“If you want to continue supporting the club, you are welcome”, adds María Fe. “As Lifetime MemberYou take an oath to follow ethical standards in everything you do. And you sign a commitment to be an ethical person for life.”

One of the challenges that the members of the INCAE Oath Club faced during the pandemic was to maintain the bond of the alumni members so that they could continue to be active from a distance. “We lost a lot of communication with them, but now we are taking them up again and bringing them back to INCAE so that they can tell us how the club has served them in their lives, how it is that what they learned here went hand in hand with what they are experiencing now” . 

Active master's students who attend INCAE Oath Club talks or presentations can learn how to apply the knowledge in their day-to-day life from the experiences that Lifetime Members share through anecdotes or advice. “In our presentations we put real life cases and make them think about what they are going to do when faced with a particular situation. It is not about giving them the solution, but that they think about it”, explains the president of the club. 

The student council has focused on creating spaces for people from outside the club, "including teachers, former students and former members, to come and give their opinion on what life is like outside the classroom, how ethics is lived in the world of business, especially in a Latin American environment, which has extremely high rates of corruption. It is to give the students a little taste of what things are like outside”, explains its vice president. 

As a personal experience, Lester López (Guatemala, 30 years old), . of the INCAE Oath Club, says that the club has allowed him to observe the business world from different eyes. “As members of the club, here we seek to reinforce your values, because in the end you are like the lamp that guides the rest of your teammates. That is what the group has given me the most on a personal level, being aware of my actions and how they impress others”. 

To be part of the INCAE Oath Club, it is only necessary to be a full-time INCAE MBA or MAIT student and sign the Basic Statement of Belief, which has the three ideological pillars of the Club. Membership ends on the day students graduate. However, it has already been said, it is possible to continue being part of the group as Lifetime Member and continue applying Ethics. 

More information about MBA Oath Club: 

• INCAE Student Organizations: MBA OathClub
• Website official
• Official social networks: Twitter y Facebook
• Media publications about MBA Oath Club: America Economy
• Media publications about the Harvard MBA oath: High level