Do you own a moral business?

The phrase 'it's just business' is often used to justify morally questionable behaviour. The immense power business wields over the well-being of this planet makes the issue of morality in business more important than ever.

Outside of the “sanctified” realm of business, where profit rules above all else, most of us are pretty good at knowing good from bad. Good is when someone is true to their word, when they act with generosity, respect and compassion, and when they treat others fairly. Bad is when someone exploits another for their personal gain or lies, steals and kills.

Strangely though, we have been letting businesses literally get away with murder. Why is this so? Who is to blame? Is it the individual decision makers, the businesses or the system?

When it comes to money and profits, people in general seem quite prepared to throw the accepted norms of social decency out the window. Such group-think says: as long as we make money ASAP and don’t immediately or directly see the cost of that activity, we are a-ok.

Certainly the systems we have constructed around business perpetrate this lack of conscience. We actively celebrate the making of money and extravagant consumption. We often divorce our purchasing and investment decisions from the causes we profess to champion. Witness the greenie driving the smoke-belching car, the human rights activist who buys sweat-shop brands and the anti-war protestor whose investments fund the development of new weapons.

The individual leaders must also be held accountable. In the Enron and HIH scandals, the finger pointed clearly at the moral failure of those in charge. In part, I believe shareholders are also to blame; collectively, their actions fuelled by the desire for big returns contributed to the appointment of these so-called leaders.

All business decisions have moral implications that must be considered. Business is personal because it directly affects our lives and our futures. It is also personal because each and every one of us can use it to choose the sort of world we want to be part of building.

Google’s motto – don’t be evil – is a clear moral stance. It is no longer good enough to say “business is just business”. There is a price to be paid for every dollar we make and spend.

Just as you choose to be the person you are in life, you can choose how your business acts. As Stefan Engeseth wrote in his book ONE: A consumer revolution for business:

In a world where consumers see their purchases as votes for a better world, “management by goodness” would be more than a phrase, it would be a competitive advantage. Management by goodness gets the biggest boardrooms.

Will your business choose to be good or bad?

Zern Liew is a thinking designer who uses his creative problem solving skills to help clients build beautiful businesses.

7 comments | Add your own

Hear Hear!!! But too many are motivated by the mighty dollar and somehow forget all their good morals in the race for the big deal! They will never even admit to their actions as it is just 'doing business". A bit of thought before action goes a long way for us all to get along, enjoy business and unmask the unwinable race. Jana from Sydney
Agreed Zern, and well said. By the way, I felt that my own stance on some small issues were not sufficient to rate a mention, until a client made much of some environmentally friendly standards and general ethics concepts I had written in a submission - but it is hard to get reliable information on what is "right" sometimes don't you agree? Often we may "zig" one way only to be '"zagged" by a hidden wrongdoing! Karen Dempster - Creating Change from Victoria
Very well put, Zern. You have tackled a subject that is all too often ignored. And ignored at our peril too, especially if we are building our businesses on relational marketing and networking. Our attitudes and actions are far more obvious to those we come in contact with than we often realise so it makes good business sense to be "fair dinkum". But as you so rightly say, Zern, we are all contributing to the kind of world we live in and we can each help to turn the tide towards a moral and just society. Remember the story of the Hundredth Monkey. Jenny Goodwin from Queanbeyan, Australia
Unfortunately we teach our children to lie at a very early age (so as not to offend others) and that sets a pattern that seems to have got well out of hand - when did you last hear of someone lying in a courtroom being imprisoned for perjury? What you have identified is the most odious aspect of business (and politics), hence one of the strongest drivers in favour of people flying solo, wherein we can live by our own standards rather than those who would seek to control us. Viva la quiet revolution! (or am I just getting cranky in my old age?). Grant Hyman from Sydney | Read my articles
Cranky is good Grant - it fuels change. There is all too much apathy at the moment.
Re Karen's comment on what is right. The St James Ethics Centre (http://www.ethics.org.au/) sums up ethics as "What ought I to do?". I believe that most of us deep down inside knows what is right. But we cloud that intuitive goodness with rationales that enables us to not quite do what we know is right. Zigging and zagging may be all the rage, but you do need to be guided by your sense of morals. Zern Liew from eicolab | Read my articles
A friend of mine made this very poignant observation today: People who lack morals are the very ones who denies its validity and impact on our world. They justify their actions well - someone else will steal it if I don't, my boss told me to do this, our policy is to disrespect you, "they" would have done the same (bad) thing if our positions were reversed, I was just looking after number one... Sigh. Zern Liew from eicolab | Read my articles
That's a great, if depressing, point that your friend makes. There's an article in there, I'm sure! I think, though, that the age of actions without consequences is drawing to a close. Let's hope so. Sam Leader from Flying Solo | Read my articles

7 comments | Add your own

Add Your comments

Preview comment

Name

Website *

Town / city and country

Email (never sold, displayed or given away)

* This will link your name to your site. So please avoid self promotion elsewhere! We delete spam, disrespectful or off-topic comments.