Ethical Entrepreneurship

People often assume that they are living in very troubled times. Their anxieties, insecurities and nostalgia often make them assume that they have been quite unfortunate to be born in an age where corruption, mismanagement and anarchy are the order of the day. After all events like 9/11 have no precedence in the history. Disaster like that are not stand alone events. There was Enron, the Iraq War with both sides being equally sinister, and the final crumpling of the stock market that has sounded the death knell for all notions of morality and ethics. So, if you are tempted to think that morals and ethics are concepts of yore that have no relevance in present times, it can be excused as a logical deduction. But the truth, as always requires a closer scrutiny. And the closer you get, more you realize that assumptions and presumptions notwithstanding, in the long run morals and ethics make great business sense. Especially, considering all the aforementioned examples, after all, Enron would have been still doing business had it not for the malpractices that plagued their entire system and caused the entire edifice of their existence to buckle and shatter. In the following text I will try and explain the why exactly having your ethics in place, especially if you are an entrepreneur and running a successful entrepreneurship ready to embark on a new business, will always hold you in good stead.

Now, the question that immediately commands our attention is as to what defines ethics and are they absolute and objective in terms or relative and subjective in nature. Ethics, as per the dictionary meaning of the term is, are the principles of right and wrong that are accepted by an individual or a social group. Hence, ethics can be regarded as something that has their origin in the basic understanding of an action or thought and their interpretation by an individual or the social group affected by the outcome of that particular action. But in business parlance the term has a broader meaning and interpretation attached to it. It is like the basic Christian tenet, “do unto others as you would want them to do to you” which implies that a businessman and an entrepreneur should do things that are not against the general welfare of the stakeholders of the venture. Now, stakeholders is a very broad and comprehensive term encompassing all the concerned parties of a business organization like stockholders, investors, employees, vendors, customers, and the community at large. It is important to note here that even the society and community in which the group is operating are their stakeholders, as does the overall environment. The simple implication being that you cannot surpass, overlook or dilute the advantages of one group for the sake of some other group. To put it in perspective it is akin to a situation in which the CEO of a company is not allowing any activity that will cause degradation of the environment, even if the activity is not illegal as per the law of the land. Now, that can be called an ethical stance. And organizations that indulge and promote ethical behavior are respected and honored all across giving them a unique advantage with investors and customers alike. Ethics and corporate social responsibility are good marketing and promotional tools as well, if the organization is able to project its sincere intentions behind them. The case of Tata Nano, in India, may be a case in the point. The company has created unprecedented buzz and curiosity in the market around their small car, much before a single product has rolled out of their factory. The low cost car, has been projected as Ratan Tata tributed to the burgeoning Indian middle class and the company’s focused determination to provide the four-wheeler at the promised price, despite of all the hardships and challenges encountered, has earned them great respect in the corporate world and amidst the general public, causing their stocks to soar in the market. This modern fable of ethics, values and living up to the promise despite seemingly insurmountable challenges has quite a few lessons in it, for a modern day entrepreneur. In the clutter and anarchy of the modern day corporate, an unflinching adherence to ethical and moral issues gives the new venture and its proponent, instant “share of heart” in the consumer mindscape.

Refer : Entrepreneurship

Good ethics should never be mistaken for a weak spine. It is about following what you deem right and making it a point that others get the idea that you will not take any compromise lying down. It is an oft-repeated but oft-ignored adage that if someone is able to steal from you, you are probably equally guilty, if not more, than him. An entrepreneur should try and inculcate an environment and culture in his organization that propagates a zero-tolerance policy towards unethical behavior. This will help him in winning the admiration of his co-workers and staff and will help him tide through the pregnancy pangs that are unavoidable in the initial days of the business being rolled out. Consider, just to bring home the aforementioned argument, how happy, comfortable and committed the female staff will be working in an office where they know the top brass will not tolerate any incident of sexual harassment. Such ethical stance immediately reflects in lower attrition rates, thereby saving valuable resources in recruiting, hiring, training and knowledge management.

Ethics have ceased to be just-the –text-book-materials, which were relegated to some weekly sessions for kids in schools. Time has shown us that they are still very relevant and important in the modern day business as well. What’s more from a completely commerce oriented point of view; they make good business sense and return on investment as well.