Do Ethics Matter?
It has been my strong belief that capitalism is fundamentally rooted in the premise that our interaction with others must be rooted in ethical principles.
To me, the financial crisis we are now experiencing world-wide has as its fundamental cause the vilotaiton of ethical principles which are necessary to create sustainable growth and prosperity. Once ethical guidelines are violated it leads to a cascading crush of distrust, resentment, and inevitable failure..
I am interested in the views of those who would like to start a Think Big Revolution around a return to ethcis in business and government.
To me, the financial crisis we are now experiencing world-wide has as its fundamental cause the vilotaiton of ethical principles which are necessary to create sustainable growth and prosperity. Once ethical guidelines are violated it leads to a cascading crush of distrust, resentment, and inevitable failure..
I am interested in the views of those who would like to start a Think Big Revolution around a return to ethcis in business and government.
Views: 258
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sharon Lindenburger, Journalist, Editor, Book Content Coach "where your words meet the world" on -
Here is the Merriam-Webster definition of capitalism:
Main Entry: cap·i·tal·ism
Pronunciation: \ˈka-pə-tə-ˌliz-əm, ˈkap-tə-, British also kə-ˈpi-tə-\
Function: noun
Date: 1877
: an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market
In itself there is no presumption within capitalism that business practices be ethical. Ethics is a field that far transcends and encompasses every part of life, for just as humans have the desire to advance, make money, provide for their families, etc., there is also within the human psyche a yearning for qualities such as justice, courage, compassion, honour, and myriad other qualities that make life truly human.
Capitalism, as an economic system, has always been vulnerable to the loss of ethics, particularly on the part of those who profit most from a capitalistic system. In my view, the current worldwide financial meltdown is a result of unbridled greed which has caused capitalistic endeavours to go out of control. There is nothing wrong with capitalism in itself; indeed it the system which most encourages innovation, creativity, and opportunity. Problems arise when capitalism becomes married to greed--which is always a risk in systems based on some form of reward for effort and competition. So there's a lot of vigilance required to participate in a capitalist system while retaining some hold on ethics, particularly ethics that address the dignity of all human beings. The system, as it currently is, has been a massive exercise in Social Darwinism. It was only a matter of time before the greed pushed things out of balance, and those at the top got a wake-up call that when you stress a system to the degree that it costs hundreds of thousands of people their jobs and their homes, that the entire system can then collapse. In other words, the ethic of looking after those who are less fortunate and of reining in greed, is necessary for the survival of the economy itself. Social Darwinism's "survival of the fittest" in the marketplace just cannot hold in today's global society.
So yes, I agree with you that a huge part of the Think Big Revolution should be a return to ethics in both business and government, and indeed in every part of our lives. Recently some of the world's greatest "capitalists" such as Bill Gates have begun to talk about the concept of "enlightened capitalism", the idea that part of your business success involves making things better for others.
A key question and challenge to us is "How do we continue to reap the benefits provided by the freedom of capitalism AND create a world that creates opportunities for all kinds of people to have a place at the table?" The current world situation of a global recession is uncomfortable for a lot of us, but in my opinion it can end up being a very great blessing, for it has given us the wake-up call that we need to take a close look at our ethics and our tendencies toward greed, and to think in a revolutionary way which takes economics out of the realm of "either/or" into the realm of "both/and".
Sharon
www.contentcoaching.com
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Permalink Reply by Harrison Greene on -
Thanks so much for sharing your views on this subject, Sharon. When you consider that Social Darwinism coupled with the credo that says "let the buyer beware" really fosters this lack of adherence to ethical principles and then consideer how the power of the Internet can educate, it would seem that there should be no reason for the success of greed. However, it seems to me that most people feel that instant gratification takes too long and are prone to just satisfy whatever urge strikes them at the moment. This is heroin for the greed addicts and they will take advantage of every opportunity to "capitalize". So, perhaps the 'englightened capitalists" like Gates need to figure out how to educate and motivate all of us to recognize the real pitfalls of those who live by Gordon Gekko's (sp?) mantra that "Greed is Good".
I hope you are right and that this depression we are on the cusp of entering will provide the impetus of which you speak.
A friend of mine runs www.thoughtrocket.com. Encourage you to give it a look. Thanks again for writing.
I have attached an article I wrote for a local business journal in April.
Harrison - Attachments:
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HG-CG-Greed 4-1-08.pdf, 1.2 MB
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Permalink Reply by James St. James on -
Well said Sharon! I strongly believe ethics are foundational to business - and that is at odds with Capitalism/Mergers/Synergies partly by definition of Capitalism. JSJ
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Permalink Reply by Nick Vandekar - Philadelphia Main Line Realtor on -
Many people presume that business people will deal with them ethically, as you stated in your reply below there is this drive for instant gratification, instant returns, when we forget that many times great results take time to grow. I think about bamboo which grows for many years establishing a root system before it has any above ground growth but is then dramatic to those who don't realize how long it has taken to establish a root system. Many people today are unwilling to establish the root system and have only one measure of success material wealth to judge themselves missing the greater good that comes through ethics and integrity and building relationships.
When you take time to put others before yourself you will always build relationships and a better life. It is then a matter of others seeing the benefits we reap, better health, greater happiness and joy to encourage them to embrace this better way rather than pursuing the instant gratification route.
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Permalink Reply by Shel Horowitz on -
Whenever capitalism embraces ethics, it does so in its own self-interest. So...the way to make capitalism more ethical is to make the self-interest of ethical behavior and the harm to the corporation of poor ethics more obvious. When companies see the positive consequences of ethical behavior (less price resistance, higher loyalty, willingness to evangelize and thus lower marketing costs, higher profitability, etc.), they move toward the values we want to support. And when they see the negatives of lawsuits, bad reputation, labor unrest, and consumer rebellion, they may ultimately realize that behaving badly is simply unprofitable.
Demonstrating this corporate self-interest was actually a key motivation of mine in writing my award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First--a book that demonstrates that doing the right thing can be phenomenally profitable. And providing ethical businesses with a marketing tool that highlights their commitment was one of the factors that led me to start the Business Ethics Pledge, an international campaign to make future Enrons impossible.
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Permalink Reply by Harrison Greene on
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Shel,
I've been traveling and apologize for not responding sooner. Thanks for your comments. In the scenario you mention, do you think the financial crisis we are in and the actions necessary to correct it will cause major corporations and government to, as you write, ...ultimatley realize that behaving badly is simply unprofitable?
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Permalink Reply by Rob Thomas on -
Harrison, I am glad to find someone who looks at Ethics as the basis of business as I do. I have actually wanted to do ethics workshops because I find that the out-ethics not only resides at the top of corporations but all the way down the line to the receptionist.
I have zero tolerance for the capitalistas who are being rewarded for out-ethics behavior. In their situation they have already proven that they are incapable of putting ethics in on themselves, therefore justice should be enforced by the group (citizens).
Yes, you have a comrade in this endeavor. It must be addressed before the downward spiral goes to far down.
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Permalink Reply by Carl Simpson on -
Our country and western society for that matter is now based on greed. We are not concerned about building something that will last but focused on immediate profit. You can see this everywhere in the US. Home builders, car makers, Walmart, etc. We will rip off our neighbor to make a profit in a heart beat. Unless we return to an ethical basis of operations we are doomed to some type of failure. The big problem is that those in power don't care how many toes they crush as long as they get theirs. So the chances of an actual return to a more ethical stance in managing business is not likely to happen, so a collapse is most likely. Not that big business has ever been ethical.
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Permalink Reply by Michele Price on -
Well, while others may have taken that road of greed I do not think is is wise nor prudent to say that "We will rip off our neighbor to make a profit in a heart beat" is focusing us on the results we want to produce.
Contrast, challenges and problems like we are experiencing now has happened in different ways over and over in history because we are humans. Human's learn from their mistakes.
Yes, I agree what we are seeing is greed and a lack of ethics in big proportions and what is necessary is for these big companies - to crash and burn so to speak. You cannot build a sturdy house on a bad foundation. It will be uncomfortable for us all as we live through this as we reconstruct new economies with new industries that focus on being self sustainable and ethical.
Never having been one to throw up my hands just because the solutions are not easy I see everyone of us as necessary in this opportunity staring us in the face. We can not just Think Big , but take Big Actions with our businesses as we will again be the backbone of America's prosperity.
In a world where we need to be able to think clearly and take inspired action it is important that we start with ourselves. My question for you is what daily, regular actions are you taking to make sure that you come from a place of integrity and breakthrough your own limited thinking so that you are being all you can be for yourself and your fellow country men?
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Permalink Reply by Harrison Greene on
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Your comments are timely, Michelle and your big question is vital for the transformation that is occuring today because it is not up to any one... it is each of our responsibility to speak from a place of integirityand to breakthrough our own limited thinking. I am attaching a piece that I wrote on the 4th of January that speaks about the transformation that I think is occuring now.
I wonder, though, exactly what course of action we should take to speak up to corporations who act unethically. For example, what should the customer service worker at a cell phone company do when the company puts bogus charges on a customer's bill. I just spoke today to a guy from London who worked at a company that would randomly break individual calls into three seperate calls in order to charge a connection fee three times instead of one. He finally quit this company. I have noticed my own cell phone company puts bogus charges of 25 or 50 cents on my bill and when I query they always claim it was a mistake and remove the charge. But, what about management that does this knowing that only a very small percentage of people will call and complain. $.50 from 10 million customers is a nice drop to the bottom line. What is the appropriate action for the customer service rep? What are customers supposed to do about this? If companies are built on this kind of foundation, how can we, individually, stop it?
Let's keep this topic moving to create more interest. Thanks for the great wisdom you bring to this subject, Michelle. - Attachments:
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Burn That Cane Baby.doc, 26 KB
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Permalink Reply by Ron House on -
Hi Harrison and all, I am late on this discussion, having only just joined thinkbigrevolution, but please let me applaud you and the other posters for the theme and direction of this conversation.
I also agree with Sharon Lindenburger that ethics stands outside business (and, likewise, science, art, etc.) and transcends them all. For example, an effective CEO (in the sense of one who makes unimaginable amounts of money) can also be completely unethical, or even criminal and get away with it. Ethics doesn't stand by whether it works out or doesn't work out. Sometimes it does, of course. We have a car repair shop where I live, and I once took my car there, making a really horrible noise and driving badly. I said "I need the car; whatever it costs, just fix it." Later that day I got a call saying "It was only (some trivial thing I can't remember) - we fixed it in five minutes, no charge." They knew I was sold that it was a major repair, but they refused to cheat me, so of course I recommend them far and wide.
I am promoting an ethical theory, the Principle of Goodness, which I discovered twenty years ago. It goes like this: Goodness is trying to benefit everyone; evil is trying to harm any innocent one. How can a business be ethical according to this theory? Well, "everyone" includes one's self, so one might have a company goal to benefit all one's clients, suppliers, staff, and society to the maximum extent, and receive fair payment for services. Now presumably, huge benefit for clients followed by fair payment should result in high profits.
I suspect we are close to the end of the age of tolerant, open society, and so it is all the more important for us to make progress with the kinds of issues you have raised here, because each individual needs to be 'innoculated' against bad ethics. This is what I am trying to do with the Principle of Goodness. principleofgoodness.net has some academic papers about it, and I have put up a manifesto here.
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Permalink Reply by JoElla Milan on -
I agree that we need a return to ethics in business and in life. Everyone needs to be held accountable for their actions. I am from the day that your word is Gold. When you say something, people can trust that you will follow through on what you say. In business, customer service is to me the most important quality that we can offer our clients. They need to trust us and know that we are ethical in all ways.
I have see lately, where someone abuses their honesty and trust and yet seem to get away with it. I feel very resentful, when I have to suffer the consequences for what someone else has done to hurt others. For our country to grow and prosper, we need to get back to more simplicity, honesty and family values.
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