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By Shari Lifland
Certainly in light of recent headlines, the term “business
ethics” may appear to be an oxymoron. But according to business consultant
Robert C. Solomon, sound ethics is a necessary precondition of any long-term
business enterprise, and excellence in business must be built on a foundation
of fairness and honesty.
In his book “A Better Way to Think About Business—How
Personal Integrity Leads to Corporate Success” (Oxford University
Press), Solomon writes, “Excellence in business begins with a conception
of business activity that is not separated from the values that most of
us hold dear. But values are effective only insofar as they are built
right into one’s personal and corporate character. They are not just
top-down impositions and spiritually uplifting posters on the walls of
the corporate cafeteria. They must become manifested as virtues, personally
endorsed, and second-nature ways of doing things and thinking about business
matters. And to hold this altogether is what we call integrity.
So, how can executives deal with the tension between
doing what is necessary and doing what he or she thinks is right? Solomon’s
approach to business is based on the writings of the Greek philosopher
Aristotle—that true business success requires a switch from strict
focus on the bottom-line to an approach that looks at business as an essential
part of a good life. In other words, money, while not a bad thing, isn’t
the only thing. Self-respect, cooperation and a sense of community are
equally important. In Solomon’s words, “A good corporation is
one that is not only profitable but that provides a morally rewarding
environment in which good people can develop not only their skills but
also their values.”
It’s possible that too much emphasis is placed
on beating one’s competition. Solomon writes, “An overemphasis
on competition can be disastrous for the sense of community and for the
underlying cooperation that is necessary for any successful business activity.
The need to be more competitive is more often than not better cast as
the need to be more cooperative, to earn the loyalty, trust and understanding
of one’s customers, employees and investors.”
Defining Some Key Business “Virtues”
- Leadership: The most common view is that leadership is power.
Power does follow leadership, almost by definition. But power is not
leadership, and leadership is not power. Leadership begins with integrity
and virtues, in particular, those virtues that allow a leader to articulate
the emotions and aspirations of others, to inspire them with trust and
hope. Instead of power over others, leadership is about power with others,
or “empowerment.” This does not mean giving power over, nor
even sharing power, so much as it is the mutual creation of power, power
through hope, power through trust, through the power of a shared vision.
- Integrity: Integrity is not itself a virtue so much as it is
a synthesis of the virtues, working together to form a coherent whole.
This is what we call, in the moral sense, character. Integrity means
“wholeness,” wholeness of virtue, wholeness as a person, wholeness
in the sense of being an integral part of something larger than the
person—the community, the corporation, society, human, the cosmos.
- Ambition: In the United States, ambition is highly lauded and
associated with motivation and persistence. In many other cultures,
however, ambition is seen as a vice, as not just motivation but ruthlessness,
a dangerous form of greed. Insofar as ambition implies vision, motivation
and stick-to-itiveness, it is a virtue. But insofar as it suggests callousness
and lack of interest in or attention to the well-being of others and
ruthlessness, it turns out to be a vice.
- Creativity: This is what free enterprise and entrepreneurship
are all about. Creativity in any organization requires freedom, room
to imagine, a sense that someone up there is listening. Just as important
as innovation in the organization is sponsorship—if just allowing
room for mistakes—from the top. But of particular importance is
moral imagination, not taking ethical problems or solutions at face
value but rather seeing beyond them, perhaps into new moral territory
not considered before.
- Honor: Honor is a “supervirtue” in that it embraces
virtually all of the others. It refers both to one’s public status
and to one’s view of one’s self. Honor involves living up
to the expectations of the group. In business, it helps clarify both
the role of the individual employee or executive in the corporation
and all of our roles in society. It is not opposed to success and profitability.
Indeed there is no success without it, and not much likelihood of continued
profits either.
Different Ethical Approaches
Solomon advises, “There are many ways of being
virtuous, and there are many ways of being ethical.” In his book,
he lists seven different “ethical styles,” some of which may
clash with others:
- Rule-Bound
- Utilitarian
- Professional
- Loyalist
- Virtuous
- Intuitive
- Empathetic
Final Thoughts
Looking ahead to the business world of the 21st century,
one wonders how our leaders will deal with the thorny issues of corporate
ethics that lie ahead. One hopes they’ll take Solomon’s words
to heart, that “In the corporate world, to lead a good life and to
be a good person, it is essential to work for a great corporation—great
not just in the sense glossily celebrated in the Annual Report, but great
in the sense of great to work for, great to be a part of, great in a sense
that speaks to our pride and our spirituality, and not just to our pocketbooks.”
For more information about A Better Way to Think About
Business, go to
www.oup-usa.org
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