Manufacturing Morals: The Values of Silence in Business School Education

Anteby (Moral Gray Zones), an associate professor at Harvard Business School, studies rituals in organizational culture by investigating his employer, HBS. He admits that ethnographies like his “rarely encourage smooth comparisons.” That Anteby doesn’t draw a more explicit connection between his study and this trend—exemplified by studies of Zappos and similar businesses with specific cultures—is a shortcoming of the book, which can sometimes read more like an idiosyncratic memoir, when in fact the book shows how a newbie insider can provide valuable insights about business culture. However, such insights are rarely welcomed with open arms in the business world, as Anteby finds out: “Some [HBS] members strongly urged me to redirect my efforts toward other projects.” The book offers a peek inside one of the most storied and prestigious business schools in the country, and plays into some stereotypes about HBS, as in descriptions of the “speed and precision” of faculty assistants and custodians in keeping review packets, seating charts, offices, and grounds neat and tidy (“a running joke has it that the School’s squirrels are regularly shampooed”). (Sept.)