Loyalty And Ethics In The Corporate Scene: A Challenge of Values!
If loyalty was the last corporate casualty of the 20th century then, for many, ethics looks like being the first casualty of the 21st.
Loyalty and ethics are two old-fashioned values and, when they helped produce old-fashioned goods and profits, employees, shareholders, and society benefited.
Loyalty became an early casualty of the pursuit for increased shareholder value, as employees (many of long standing) were removed as part of cost-cutting measures designed to lift returns and pander, perhaps even "schmooze", to many analysts' share price expectations.
Ethics, it seems, at least in some countries and some organisations, might be on shaky ground in the quest to increase profits and expectations even further. The Enron scandal in the US highlights the importance of ethics, not only to the essence of corporate image but to the fundamentals that underlie all business transactions.
Consider these 18th century words from English author Daniel Defoe:
"Some in clandestine companies combine; Erect new stocks to trade beyond the line;"
... a reminder that history is full of situations where people and markets reacted, or over-reacted, to create high paper values that, eventually, were exposed as false. Along the way many people made money of course, but usually at the expense of others, who were likely to be short of many bits of relevant information.
Ultimately paper values can only be supported by the assets they represent and the cash that the assets produce. The "dot-com bubble" was a recent illustration of this and also of how markets tend to follow crowds rather than the lessons of history.
To be valued, loyalty and ethics need to be more than paper nouns; they need to be transformed by verbs bringing them to life. Confining these qualities to paper can also be as pointless as expressing them in the first place. If most people don't need to proclaim "I'm honest", why should organisations?
In some countries, paper legislation may, ultimately, define what corporate ethics means in a certain time and context. If that happens then the major corporate failure will be not in those companies that collapsed from questionable transactions, but that legislation that was needed to define what actually is acceptable corporate behaviour.
Loyalty and ethics are timeless, priceless values that remain a personal choice. Their possession is a great reward; their demonstration a far greater one because ultimately, you
are your values, and your values
are you.
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Charles Kovess, Passionate Performance; Mulgrave, Victoria; Phone: 03 9562 2248; Email: charles@kovess.com; Web site: www.kovess.com; Charles Kovess Australia's Passion Provocateur©, risked everything to follow his passion. He practised law for 20 years, then tossed it all in to become a professional speaker, seminar leader and author. Charles has written two highly successful books, Passionate People Produce, and Passionate Performance and works with Australia's leading organisations.
First published: 8 April 2002.
Last updated: 1 September 2006.