MBAs and Firearms Companies

The Fuqua Report is a periodic survey conducted among graduating MBAs at a number of graduate schools¹ across the country.  According to their website:

“Its goal is to determine the prevailing attitudes, career plans and values of graduating MBAs from top-tier business schools.”

Normally I wouldn’t have paid any attention to something like this, but a friend of mine read about it and noticed an interesting result.

One of the survey questions is “Are there industries in which you would not work because of political, social or ethical concerns?”  Of the total number of respondents, 63% responded yes to this question.  Among those, 36% said they would not work in the firearms industry versus 3% in 2000.  Interestingly enough, the percentage who would not work for tobacco producers declined to 58% from 94% in 2000.

Here is the table: (I hope they don’t mind that I reproduced it here, but I thought it interesting enough that it should be included)

     

     

     

     

   

     

   

   

     

     

     

     

   

   

     

     

     

     

     

   

   

     

     

     

     

     

   

   

     

     

     

     

     

   

   

     

     

     

     

     

   

   

     

     

     

     

     

   

   

     

     

     

     

     

   

   

     

     

     

     

     

   

   

     

     

     

     

     

   

   

     

     

     

     

     

   

   

     

     

     

     

     

   

   

     

     

     

     

   

   

     

     

   

   

     

     

   

 

2003 2000 1998
Are there industries in which you would
      not work because
      of political, social or ethical concerns?
Yes: 63% 64% 64%
          
  Industries *  
  Tobacco Producers 58% 94% 91%
  Firearms 36% 3% N/A
  Alcohol Manufacturers 15% 26% 22%
  Defense Contractors 12% 16% 12%
  Oil and Gas Companies 7% 5% 8%
  Government 4% N/A N/A
  Accounting Firms 3% N/A N/A
  Foreign Owned Firms 1% 3% 3%
*Percentages of respondents who indicated that there
      were industries in which they would not work
N/A – questions not asked in 2000/98

The question clearly identifies “political, social, or ethical” concerns as the basis for refusing to work in an industry.  This is of concern to me, since my initial take was that maybe they were afraid to work in the firearms industry because of economic concerns.  Perhaps it is possible that some of the respondents were considering the current state of the industry, but I’m concerned that the majority of these people are against the firearms industry for other reasons.  I’m also puzzled that this would be the case, since we’re being told that people are coming to a greater acceptance of firearms, especially given all that has happened since September 11, 2001.  Perhaps these people are being given a special brand of Kool Aid in these schools?

It makes me wonder if we aren’t seeing yet another effect of the strangle hold that Political Correctness has over our institutions of higher learning.  Or am I reading too much into this?

¹ The following schools were included in the survey:

Dartmouth College (Amos Tuck School of Business)

Duke University (Fuqua School of Business)

Indiana University (Kelley School of Business)

Northwestern University (Kellogg Graduate School of Management)

UCLA (The Anderson School)

UC Berkeley (Haas School of Business)

University of Chicago Graduate School of Business

University of Michigan Business School

University of Texas (McCombs School of Business)

University of Virginia (Darden Graduate School of Business)

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