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Jim: Paul, in my view every organization has “ethical standards,” whether or not they are stated. They come from the owners and managers, from law, custom, and the “company culture.” What most companies, especially small companies, do not have is a formal statement of ethical standards, or philosophy of doing business, or whatever we care to call it. More often than not, it is because the business management doesn’t know where to start. Or more to the point have not made it a matter of priority in the battle to survive.
We said that we would get to resources, but there are a ton of resources. Perhaps if we go through the steps of drafting a “business ethics” program, we can narrow the list. So, where do we start? Or for that matter, how do we start?
Paul: Jim, you can’t reduce business ethics to simple and simplistic data, which can be fed into a handy-dandy, pocket ethical calculator which will then immediately display the ethical answer. ‘Ethics’ is hard, painstaking, difficult, often complicated, and sometimes risky. It requires willingness to face facts, probe issues, challenge popular beliefs, critically examine options, and courage to act on the best available alternative within the context.
You are right that we must have tools if we are to do a good job. It is no different than woodworking, computer repairing, gardening, or any other task. Having the right tools, and knowing how to use them properly is essential for doing a proper job. The more complete the tool kit the easier and better the performance. The tools we use not only affect the product we come up with, but the kind of worker we are.
Jim: I’m with you there, Paul. If anyone thought this would be easy, they weren’t paying attention. Which is all the more reason that a business owner or manager needs to approach the task with as many tools as possible, and hopefully the tool-bag will be full of high quality tools.
Paul: Let me give you a couple of good resources as we start assembling our tool kit. Anthony Weston has a book titled, ‘A 21st Century Ethical Toolbox’ (Oxford University Press, 2001) in which he examines ethics as a learning experience, ethics and religion, paying attention to values, families of moral values, some traditional ethical theories, theoretical and integrative approaches when values clash before pointing out specific tools for critical thinking (finding the facts, watching words, and judging like cases alike), creativity (multiplying options, and problem-shifting), and ethical action (knowing your goals, matching tools to goals, learning by dialogue, and learning by service). He also has a chapter devoted to Business and Professional Ethics.
Jim, if I could persuade you and our readers to read one book on business ethics it would be Robert C. Solomon’s, ‘It’s Good Business: Ethics and Free Enterprise for the New Millennium’ (Rowman & Littlefield, 1997). See what you think of these few gems.
“Business is an ethical activity. That is the premise of this book.” (p. xiii) “Ethical errors end careers more quickly and more definitively than any other mistake in judgment or accounting... What makes such career calamities so pathetic is that they are not the product of greed or immorality or wickedness. They are the result of ethical naiveté.” (Pp. 16, 17)
I think Solomon has overstated his case here. What I think Solomon is referring to however, is the ordinary activity of most of the businesspersons you and I know and deal with. They are not out to do us in by unethical manipulation. They are, for the most part, wanting to do the right thing and doing it to the best of their ability most of the time. ut, even good intentions need good tools to get the job done.
Jim: All of which supports my contention that adopting a formal statement of business ethical standards or practices is important to the success of the business. In other words, it isn’t an option, it is a requirement.
Paul: Here are a few more of Solomon’s thoughts: “Unethical thinking isn’t just ‘bad business,’ it is an invitation to disaster in business... Ethics provides the broader framework within which business life must be understood.” (p. 17)
“Nothing is more dangerous to a business — or to business in general — than a tarnished public image... The fact is that a tarnished image has direct consequences, for sales, for profits, for morale, for the day-to-day running of the business,” (p. 19).
More resources to check into: Center for Business Ethics, Bentley College, Waltham, MA ecampus.bentley.edu/dept/cbe.
Ethics on the World Wide Web: commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/ethics/ethic_list.html.
Ethics resources at Questia — Online Library of Books and Journals.
www.questia.com. |
