How modern executives are different from their forebears

Spiritual growth is an odd mandate for business schools preparing graduates to make manna in a secular world. One such institution, hec Paris, has nevertheless decided to send students on a trek through the French countryside to a remote village, where a Benedictine monk (a former lawyer) guides them through ethical dilemmas. Whether or not the three-day seminar represents a shift away from the profit-driven logic of business and towards a kinder, gentler form of capitalism is up for debate. But it shows that expectations for what makes a great mba programme—and, by extension, a great executive—are in flux.