resultsthroughintegrity

IF IT’S LEGAL THEN SURELY IT’S ETHICAL?

The economist Milton Friedman argues that “there is one and only one social responsibility of business - to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud”(1).

 These “rules of the game” are to be understood as a particular society's laws. In a nutshell, Friedman is arguing that business people are ethical if and only if they struggle to increase their profits and that they are entitled as part of that struggle to do whatever the law permits.

 As long as a person's profit-maximizing actions conform to the law and professional rules, he is, in Friedman's view, acting ethically.

 Ethics is not rules.

The activities of businesses under the Nazi regime should be sufficient to show that morality (2) and law are distinct. Helping to build extermination camps was legal and good for profits but it was not ethical. Even in a more just society, laws often state only a minimum requirement, usually what is enforceable in practice, rather than what is right.

 Yet Friedman’s answer is the most common one in business today.

Friedman’s approach to ethics is limited because rules cannot cover every situation. An ethical code that simply gives detailed rules and nothing else will sink under pressure either from clever people who find ways round the rules or from new situations the rules don’t cover.

 Another very real problem for investors who take law as their professional moral guide is the different laws that operate in the different countries where they do business. While the sale of the pesticide DDT is illegal in the EU, it is legal in many less developed countries. Does that make it morally acceptable to invest in factories producing DDT in poor countries?

 What distinguishes ethics from rules is that rules tell you how to act while ethics tells you how to think before acting.

 If rules are the bricks with which we build the house that shelters us from greed and selfishness, then the foundations of that house are ethics. Without ethical foundations, the house of rules will collapse under the growing weight of regulations and the pressure of financial storms.

 So what is ethics?

Integrity at Work-Do the Right thing and Do things Right

By
Douglas Ross

“Individually and collectively, we will optimize our efforts to safely complete quality work that meets customer expectations on time, every time at a world class cost.”

The goal statement is an example of integrity at work.

The goal integrates the mindsets and behaviors required for success with specific performance measures of people, safety, quality, delivery and cost that directly impact profitability. It assumes that the requisite organizational structures, systems and processes are healthy and robust. 

Yet, integrity at work is not yet a vital ingredient in our personal and professional lives.

The challenge is to create a simple and easy way to integrate people, systems, processes and structures to be successful at work and at home.

You Reap What You Sow

By Douglas Ross

Money, power and fame are the desired results of doing the right thing in business today.  Why does doing the right thing in business not always work?  Do you really need integrity in your life to be successful?

You reap what you sow is an ancient proverb that demonstrates the link between actions and results. People, who do not get the results they want, may want to look at their intentions.

Thou are That

By Douglas Ross
Joseph Campbell’s book “Thou Are That” inspired this recent funny dialogue with my seven year step -daughter.  “Thou Are That” simply means what you see in other people is within yourself. This is an important first step in the development of integrity. When people take this small step, people accept responsibility for their perception and feelings about others. It then becomes a force in our decision making and a code of behavior for our actions and words. It is amazing how children can lead us to important truths.

Integrity -Obvious and Unheeded

                                                 By Douglas Ross

I wrote the following article to show how strategies that are obvious but unheeded become the critical difference in any outcome. David McCulloch illustrates this point in his narrative on George Washington and the American Revolution in his book 1776. Today, as Toyota has overtaken GM in car sales, it is my belief that integrity is that obvious but unheeded strategy.

“It is absolutely necessary for me to have persons that can think for me, as well as execute orders” George Washington.

The Whack-a-Mole Approach to Management

 

by Douglas Ross

I wrote this fun but revealing look at what I call the business whack-a-mole approach to managing. I hope you enjoy it . It sets the stage to look at companies that take the path of most resistance to resolving systemic issues.

It is very simple. The world is complex and moving fast. The demands are challenging and the consequences immediate. Unravel the challenges and the world is your oyster. Surrender to the challenges and the world swallows you. The path of least resistance leads to surrender while the path of most resistance offers the world.

Will Integrity Work in Business?

Written by Douglas Ross

I received this letter from a retired executive who worked in a multinational:

"I've been thinking about your integrity theme and I am having a hard time picturing how you will present it as a saleable commodity to business.  I don't think that integrity guarantees you success or failure in business. There are lots of unethical people that are very successful in business and lots of people with integrity who have failed.  I believe that integrity is the way that you should live your life but I can't find the link in my mind that would be a plan for success in the business world. Perhaps you can share your thoughts on this with me."

My answer is that integrity is a technology and not just a personal value. We will examine the technology of integrity in the next article but first let us turn our attention to integrity and success.

The Emperor has No Clothes

» Download emperor.pdf Written by Douglas Ross Is your organization meeting the right targets? Are your people displaying the behaviors that lead to significant performance improvement? Is your organization identifying and dealing with its current realities? Is your culture strong and vibrant at all levels? Do you know why the organization is perfectly aligned to get the results it currently is achieving? An organization is a purposeful system with specific performance objectives. To achieve its purpose, organizations create departments. Departmental organization and the interrelationship between departments affect performance. For example, the effectiveness of the materials management department and its interaction with operations impacts business target achievement. If department operation and any inter-department interaction occur with inefficiencies and waste, then these inefficiencies are translated into costs that carry forth into the performance.