THE ETHICS OF BUSINESS

In the early nineties , a multinational conglomerate invited offers from companies for a mega project .The response was overwhelming . After going through the proposals , they shortlisted six companies – three Indian and three Japanese . They were asked to make individual presentations. The Indians were invited first .The presentation replete with data and power point slides impressed the panel . Each company was told that they had competition from the other two . On being asked what they thought about the competition , they tried their best to run down the other . Stories of client dissatisfaction , plummeting profits and incomplete projects sprouted up from nowhere while reiterating the fact that business with the other two was a risky proposition . As if on cue , the other two stuck to the narrative . Now it was the turn of the Japanese companies to make their presentations . The Japanese were asked what they thought about the other two companies from their country . To their surprise , each of the participants spoke highly of the other two . They told them that their competitors were as capable as anyone else to execute the project and they had no objection to it . No attempt was made to show the other two in poor light . What happened was beyond imagination . The project was divided into three phases and all the three Japanese companies were awarded a phase each .Talking about their competitors was the proverbial red herring . Capabilities aside , the panel was probing the participants for their business ethics .

It is not enough to do business . Rather , It should be done the right way .Business ethics are not edicts cut on relief but a set of unwritten rules .It is assumed that honesty and integrity are inalienable traits of  human beings . Every company has policies enshrined in the rule book . It is against company policies to accept illegal gratification or indulge in corporate espionage . Showing the company in poor light in public fora or dressing inappropriately at work goes against standard norms . On its part , the company you work for supports you through thick and thin . Besides a good salary , they offer certain benefits like insurance , health care ,child education and stock options . In short , they take care of your family as well .The company has reposed faith in you and in turn ,expects you to contribute to its growth . In a utopian scenario like this , why would anybody rock the boat ?

The lure of money drives people towards unethical business practices . Crossing the red line means that the employee is at high risk . You may not see eye to eye with the boss or the management . That doesn’t mean that you resort to unethical practices . It is quite possible that your ethics clash with that of the company . The better option is to quit than remain in a system where unethical practices are encouraged .Way back in the nineties , Nick Leeson a trader in his twenties was hired by Barings ,a Singapore based bank . The maverick trader was hailed as the next big thing and was known for his dare devilry in placing trades . Initially he made good profits pushing up the market capitalization of the bank by as much as ten percent .However , in subsequent trades , he lost close to 208 million pounds and hid the losses – an unethical practice indeed .To recover the losses, he placed a short straddle on the Nikkei which went the other way ,bringing down the oldest British merchant bank . Cancer caught up with Leeson . After serving four years in a Singapore jail , he was released on compassionate grounds .To think , Leeson was earning two hundred thousand pounds annually !                                                                                                          
Nine years later and a good two thousand miles away , a similar drama was unfolding in the city of Hyderabad in south India . Described as a scam of epic proportions , Satyam , one of the top three IT companies was caught manipulating accounts to the tune of one and a half billion dollars . On the verge of collapse , the company was bailed out by the Mahindra group . The Chairman and a few members belonging to the top management spent over four years in jail on charges of falsification and embezzlement . As a former employee of the company , I was saddened at the turn of events . A monolith almost bit the dust before it was rescued.  

                                                  
There is nothing wrong with earning money or courting privileges of power and pelf . Overlooking the ethics of business will only result in short term gains . The precipitous rise is an illusion . Once your reputation is sullied , no amount of money can ever get it back . Socially ostracized and condemned to a life of obscurity , one would think , the jail is a better place to live and in the words of Sir Walter Scott - to the vile dust from whence he sprung , unwept , unhonoured and unsung.                     

Uday  

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