The Moving Finger 

Where are those good business ethics?

Lionel WIJESIRI

My dictionary defines business ethics as ‘the accepted principles of right or wrong governing the conduct of businesspeople’.

It is common knowledge that the ethics of a particular business can be diverse and they apply not only to how the business interacts with the world at large, but also to their one-on-one dealings with a single customer

Many businesses in Sri Lanka have gained a bad reputation just by being in business. To most people, our businesses are interested only in making money.
 

In Marxist jargon it could be called capitalism in its purest form. Making money is not wrong in itself. It is the manner in which some businesses conduct themselves that brings up the question of ethical behaviour.

Many major brands that the public use today can be seen not to think too highly of good business ethics. Money seems to be the major deciding factor. Million Rupee profits blind the companies to their lack of business ethics, and the Rupee sign wins.

There are popular soft drinks and fast food restaurants that were been suspected time and time again for unethical behaviour.

But do we care? Why cannot we understand that in the end, it may be up to us to make sure that a business adheres to correct business ethics and pay close attention to their ethical behaviour? If we are silent, if we are apathetic, we have to pay the price in silence. (Of course, there are many companies that pride themselves in their correct business ethics, but in this competitive world, they are becoming very few and far between.}

What happened to the ethics of the higher echelons in the corporate world? What happened to honesty as being part of personal work ethic? The average consumer believes that the answer is simple and straight forward. Corporate leaders have become more and more selfish and all they think about is the bottom line.

Since 80s, I have known a Managing Director of a large company who didn’t care about business norms. He thought that each and every employee was expendable.

No one mattered to the workplace. When one left, another was brought in. There was no extra thought given to wanting to keep someone who’d worked for 20 years and was leaving. It did not matter if they knew everything about everything in their field. He is still there carrying on his business in his own style.

There is another revised clause introduced to the modern business ethics: don’t admit your mistakes in front of consumer. The concept is currently very popular. The days have gone when corporate bosses accepted wrong-doing and took ownership for their mistakes.

We live in a litigious society. Instead of civility, we have a culture which perpetuates the concept of “protecting one’s back.” It’s a pity that the days when people displayed integrity and provided quality service appear to have vanished.

The other day I was on the phone with a Government owned business enterprise. I was questioning my billing statement, but the service representative kept talking over me. Finally, I interrupted her by saying, “Would you please listen to me?” After sensing my concern and being put on hold, she responded with, “OK, OK, we will credit that amount on your next bill,” and slammed the phone.

In the old days, the conversation would have gone something like this: “I am sorry; you were right; that amount should not have appeared on your statement; we will gladly rectify the problem immediately; thank you for notifying us of your problem.”

In many places it appears that the organisational wheels are turning and managers are expected to train their customer service staff to avoid admitting mistakes at all costs. I assume their logic is that admitting mistakes means that one must take responsibility for the error.

Such an approach to customer service might then leave workers open to possible retaliation, insults, or litigation. I suppose some concerned individuals may want to sue their department store, but most people merely want their problem handled in a civil manner. It’s that simple.

However, in today’s business world, it doesn’t appear to matter whether people do the right thing for others. The driving force is to do what’s in one’s own best interest.

We need a cultural paradigm shift. What happened to “honesty is the best policy?” Is it because, as one CEO said about his employees, “My guys are trained to playing to win: don’t expect 100% honesty from them, its guerrilla warfare out there. Winner takes all”

Serving people is different. It means demonstrating leadership, civility, and the courage to admit mistakes. Only then can our society regain the integrity that has been lost through our feeble efforts to protect ourselves from our own community.