The corporation as a ‘community’: an oxymoron? Can business schools re-invent themselves?’

The paper is the inaugural public lecture given at INSEAD (6.11.1999) to the memory of Dean F. Berry, former Dean of INSEAD. The author aims at inviting a debate on the role and responsibility of business schools in today’s globalization process. He summarizes some of the arguments which question the globalization and the neo-liberal ideology and wonders whether there is still some place for developing the sense of the “community”. Today’s cult of individualism and the “I and We” debate are discussed, exploring whether the enterprise can become or remain a “community” (when the competitive pressure induces M&A and the cult of EVA). The answer does not encourage optimism. In that context the lecture explores whether business schools can bring a contribution to the development of a sense of community. The answer is a positive one if business schools are willing and able to redefine their role and models to develop “accountable citizens” sharing a community.