Business Ethics: An Oxymoron?
March 5, 2008
Why do I believe good PR and business ethics are inextricably linked? It comes down to definitions. Ethics is learning what is right and what is wrong and then doing the “right thing.” PR involves providing counsel on the “right thing” to do and then helping the organization get credit for it.
The business and political excess of the last 10 years have taken some PR practitioners to the dark side because they felt it was the only way for their company to profit. Although I personally believe doing right for right’s sake is enough, there are some who may not share this view. OK, here’s a reason that any good capitalist can embrace: research now shows that socially responsible behavior is good for the bottom line.
A recent analysis of overall financial performance of the 2001 list of 100 Best Corporate Citizens shows that this group of firms did significantly better than the remaining companies of the S&P 500. Professors at DePaul University found that the mean ranking of the 100 Best was more than 10 percentile higher than the other firms of the S&P 500.
Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Diversity And Success, In The Workplace
February 15, 2008
This article relates to the Diversity in the Workplace Competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. This competency explores whether your organization provides understanding and supports interaction among diverse population groups while respecting individuals’ personal values and ideas. Research shows that by fostering a climate where equity and mutual respect are intrinsic, an organization can create a success-oriented, cooperative and caring work environment that draws intellectual strength and produces innovative solutions from the synergy of its people.
All businesses can benefit from a diverse body of talent bringing fresh ideas, perspectives, and views to the workplace. However, a diverse workforce means that the managers within your organization must be capable of capitalizing on the mixture of genders, cultural backgrounds, ages, and lifestyles present in your staff to respond to business opportunities more rapidly and creatively.
This short story, Diversity—-and Success, in the Workplace, is part of AlphaMeasure’s Compilation, Tales from the Corporate Frontlines. It illustrates how one manager recognized and used a diverse team to achieve the best possible work product for the company, and win new business as well.
Anonymous Submission
Ethics? How To Take the Measure Business
January 29, 2008
When asked to write a small piece pertaining to ethics and integrity in the business world, my first inclination was to draw on personal experience.
Everyone has bad experiences to relate. We deal with a business, determine that we were treated shabbily therefore that business has no integrity. Or perhaps we disagree on the implementation of a refund, hence the business or owner has no ethics.
Rather than using ethics or integrity to describe business practices, a better definition might be “character”.
My dusty old copy of Webster’s New World Dictionary provides the following definitions for use in this context:
-ethics…the study of standards of conduct and moral judgment; moral philosophy.
-integrity…the quality or state of being of sound moral principle; uprightness, honesty, and sincerity.
-character…an individual’s pattern of behavior or personality; moral constitution. moral strength; self-discipline, fortitude, etc. reputation.
If you will look at these definitions you can see that ethics relates to standards of conduct. Period. Ethics are…no good or bad comes into the mix. Integrity either is or isn’t. Sound moral principle is relative to the observer or end user.
It stands to reason, therefore, that the best measure of good or bad practice falls to basic “character”.
Business Ethics: How The Sales Function Can Transmit Company Values
January 11, 2008
I recently got a “thank-you” call from a man who read my new e-book Buying Facilitation.
“Boy,” he said, “this method sure helps me close more deals and make more money. Thanks!”
“Glad I could help. Is that all you’re looking for? To make more money?”
“What do you mean?all? What else is there? Sales is about closing deals and making money, right?”
“I’m surprised you didn’t notice the value of becoming a trusted advisor, or how you can use the seller’s role as one of a servant-leader to lead your clients to discover their solutions quickly.”
“Well, I noticed all that. But it’s all in service of me closing deals and making money, right? I don’t mind doing it nicely if it gives me better results. But what’s sales about if my job isn’t about me making money?”
I’m wondering how many people out there still believe sales to be a job that is focused on making money? Or only about making money. All of us want to get paid fairly for what we do. The question is: how can we make money and make nice.
Work Ethics ? A Paradigm Shift
December 25, 2007
Work ethics is a hot topic in today’s business and educational worlds. Yet, how do we define this hybrid phrase with the word work meaning more than a specific outcome and the word ethics being more than the values that enhance that outcome?
When we say we are going to work, work becomes the place of employment. When we say we are working, the implication is that we are engaged in a work-related activity and should be performing one or more specific tasks. However, the word work in today’s global economy does not easily denote specific outcomes much less measurable ones.
Years ago when our economy was agrarian based, farmers said they were going to work the fields. Their work or more specifically the outcomes of their work could be viewed from the plowed fields to the stacked bales of hay. In today’s technology and service driven economy, workers outcomes are not as nearly recognizable, but what is noticed is their behavior.
Now, ethics is a difficult word to define, as it is more than the enhancement of outcomes. This is aptly demonstrated by the variety of expectations such as being to work or school on time, performing quality work, being self-directed, having self-initiative, or being positive to both fellow contributors and customers. Ethics, from these expectations, encompass the internal behaviors of the contributors or what I really believe are attitudes.
Business Ethics
December 7, 2007
There is much talk today about ethics in business - as there should be, but there should be more than talk; there should be a high moral code for all executives who are responsible to both their customers and their shareholders.
I have been the president and CEO of one publicly owned company and also was president of another that was responsible to customers who traded equities. This carries a high responsibility to all concerned. You have to be more than worried if you do something wrong because you will go to jail. You must have the desire to try to always do your best for everyone who works for you as well as all the customers or investors that deal with your company.
Ethics is supposed to be either black or white, right or wrong, but today it is many shades of grey. If any company does shady business you can be sure it starts at the top and filters down because the president is the one who sets the example for the actions of the entire company. This is as true for actions of our elected officials as it is for corporations or individuals. We have had some pretty sorry examples of that in Washington.
Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Work Ethics and the Customer
November 19, 2007
This article relates to the Ethics in the Workplace competency, commonly evaluated in employee surveys. It gives examples of how employees and customers consider ethical behavior and sound values an integral part of your organization. This competency covers a variety of topics like customer treatment, employee professionalism, and expected/acceptable organizational behaviors. At a high level, this competency will investigate the standards by which your employees treat your customers, co-workers, and the organization itself.
This short story, Work Ethics and the Customer, is part of AlphaMeasure’s compilation, Tales from the Corporate Frontlines. It provides a view from the customer’s side of the counter that might inspire you to rethink the old phrase “the customer is king”.
Anonymous Submission
I work in a back office environment. The front lines of customer service are far away, so I don’t think much about the ethical matters involved in providing good service.
All of that changed recently, when I found myself on the customer side of that check out terminal (formerly known as a cash register), and in dire need of help.
Enron?s Ultimate Victim: Ethics
November 2, 2007
FROM the ‘MORAL HIGH GROUND’, where we imagine ourselves, the Enron fiasco should have come as no surprise. Enron is simply a quintessential example of the degradation of principles such as trust, loyalty and ethical standards.
Why it happened,however,is what really needs to be understood if business is to restore its ethical foundation and survive tumultuous times.
Few will argue that business today is more challenging and competitive; most everyone accepts that the marketplace is more cutthroat than ever. We live in a dog-eat-dog world where for most, corporate survival is focused on just trying to not get eaten.
Not long ago, things were not so ruthless, or so we’d like to think. Companies had a tacit understanding with their employees: the company will always be there for you. The expression, "I’m a company man," once represented the unquestioned relationship between employees and employer. The company was our family, and families looked out for one another. Anything less was considered disloyal and unacceptable.
Laws and Ethics?. Who?s Kidding Who?
October 15, 2007
Years ago I read an article by a renowned psychologist wherein he wrote his studies found one percent of all human beings would never lie, cheat or steal. One percent would always lie, cheat or steal and given the right set of circumstances, the rest of us would likely lie, cheat and/or steal.
I mention this to highlight the fact that, if we can buyoff on this one principle ? sobering though it may be ? we have then, a benchmark from which to begin to at least try to understand the denigration of ethics that lead to outcomes like Enron and WorldCom.
Most believe morality walks hand-in-hand with unquestioned ethics. A quick look-up in a dictionary for Morality reveals words like, ethical, good, right, honest, decent, proper, honorable, just, principled and so on. All good words, no doubt. Words too that describe what most of us ? including Enron Exec’s - see in ourselves, Morally Upstanding.
Nevertheless, there is no shortage of those who climb high upon their perch in an attempt to [dare I say] distance themselves from the great unwashed by proclaiming their undaunted commitment to honesty and ethics all the while engaging in activities to the contrary. Foyer walls of most companies utterly ooze words of benevolence and righteousness ? there only for others to see, but in practice, never to be followed.
Business Ethics: An Oxymoron
September 27, 2007
An oxymoron: the juxtaposition of contradictory words or concepts. That is what we have with the term “Business Ethics”. The very contradiction that is inherent in this latter phrase is an indication of the challenge that individuals who work for organizations face as we all approach the resource limits of this planet.
The global concept of business is fundamentally based on the principle of competition for limited resources. That is the practice of maximizing one’s gains at the expense of others. This ultimately has the effect of creating a hierarchy of those who have and those who have not. This is really paramount to “eliminating the enemy” i.e other human beings.
The concept of ethics is based fundamentally on moral principles. That is, principles of right and wrong as dictated by the core human values that we as human beings hold dear in our hearts. These are core values of fairness, love, compassion, integrity, respect, peace, joy, fulfillment, harmony, beauty, etc.
