Graduation MBA 1

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Welcome to you all at this very special occasion the graduation of the First MsM-FHR MBA Intake.

Dear Graduates

It should not take you much imagination to appreciate that I am extremely pleased that you have reached this happy end of an exiting venture.

The road you have traveled was not only a very long, demanding and tiring one but, because you were the first to embark on the program, it also was a bit of ‘building the boat while you sail it’. Indeed, your perseverance has been exemplary and the reward you will receive today is well deserved.

But not only your perseverance stands out. You have laid the basis for yourself to be life long learners. Over the past two years you have reformed many aspects of your professional and personal lives and styles to become role models for this society. You will be models in terms of knowledge, skills and most of all, in terms of the high standards which you have internalized.

Before I make mention of your specific achievements I need to refer to the internal dynamics of you as a group. Who knows better than you how you as a group have so admirably shared the joy of individual achievements with each other. I do clearly remember the spontaneous applause again and again of all of you when I announced which one of you had won the challenge cup for having the best mark for a specific module.

You have established and maintained a healthy balance between cohesion and competition and I would think that this is a principal source of the extraordinary success of your group. You have traveled together as a group always recognizing that some will and must lead and at the same time always standing ready to provide support to those of you who found it hard to deal with adversary circumstances. As a group you need to be congratulated for this and you will be a shining example for the intakes to follow.

Not only as a group, but also individually your achievements, your study results, were remarkably good. Nine of you graduate with distinction, which is about 30 %. Anand Jagessar has the highest average mark, which is 84. The overall average mark of all of you is 78 and none of you has an overall average mark below 70. There were only three compensations and one resit. I would think that this is an achievement which would not misbecome in a global context. Your diploma is an international diploma, it is internationally accredited and recognized and you have earned it while complying with international norms. In a time of globalization that is the performance ‘benchmark’ our country as a whole should strive for.

Enough about your achievements. Let me now say a few words about what I think is expected from you in the future. You all must have been reflecting on what this graduation means to you, not so much in terms of an immediate promotion or so but in the wider context of your role in the various social contexts in which you will be spending your professional and personal lives. I was reminded by one of you that in the United States graduation is referred to as a commencement, a start of something new. What is that something new?

In fact I already referred to your responsibilities as new role model in our society. I think that this responsibility must be at the core of the expectations which should be entertained by you in your future life. But what does it mean, to be a role model? The simple answer to this question is that a role model is a person who serves as an example of positive behavior.

But that simple definition has a fundamental philosophical basis. The notion of the role model follows from the idea that there is within each of us the ability to inspire those around us by living a life that is more outward than inward focused. By being selfless, we can do our part to make the world a better place, spreading love and hope through our daily actions. It is not only by what we say but more importantly it is the life we live that shows what each of us is made of.

Confucius, Gandhi and other philosophers have not only underscored this idea but have linked to it the proposition that being a role model is the prime duty of any ruler, including the head of a family or a business.

You all have the ambition to be leading a business in one form or another. In that position rightly so, you will be expected to be an example of positive behavior, someone worthy of imitating. But what are the specific characteristics of a young MBA graduate as a role model? I would distinguish three aspects which are related to the verbs ‘to be’, ‘to know’ and ‘to do’.

‘To know’ is about education and knowledge. You have in this MBA broadened your knowledge base, your knowledge got more depth and you have obtained knowledge which enables you to better identify internal and external factors that drive issues and their solutions. You have acquired the basic ingredients for becoming a generalist with a specific professional background rather than being a well trained professional only. This enriched knowledge will enable you to see matters from a wider perspective and to facilitate you in adopting synergistic and holistic approaches in addition to analytic and dialectic reasoning in the process of problem-solving. This is an invaluable trait in any business organization. It will allow you to lead not only from the front or from behind but also from the center.

This brings me to the next aspect of the role model. ’To do’ is about transferring knowledge in action. In a leading position most of your actions will be in the area of decision-making. I would argue that at the end of the day every difficult decision boils down to either a conflict of competing principles or a difference of perceptions about facts. In both instances there is a need to think the problem through to its roots and find a solution that may not necessarily be the truth – whatever that may mean - but which is a solution that is effective because it is fit for purpose, is inherently of high quality because it meets your standards, is cost efficient because it avoids waste and meets the proportionality criteria because the harm it may cause others does not counterbalance the benefits which follow from it, both for your specific business and for society at large. Thereby it should be taken into account that what is easily quantifiable is not necessarily reflecting the intensity of values and principles involved.

But let us not forget that one can have knowledge and deploy it effectively in one’s actions but still live a miserable life which no one would want to imitate. Therefore defining a role model must also address the notion of happiness. I would argue that the experience of happiness needs to be associated not so much with the satisfaction of material and other desires but more so with a particular state of mind. It needs to be associated with ‘to be’ rather than ‘to have’.

‘To be’ means development. It means to be clear who you are, who you are supposed to be and who you are going to be. It suggests that you are content with whom you are, with your actions and plans and your place in the world. For you as an MBA graduate this challenge specifically embraces a continuous process of learning inspired by high moral and social standards and a strong sense of responsibility. The result will be that you will be seen to have a useful role in society and because ‘you walk the talk’ you will agree to be held accountable for your conduct and dealings. Meeting these challenges will constitute a good life and according to Aristotle this will ensure that you will be a happy person.

Let me end with the wish that this will come true for each of you !