Business Ethics and Human Values Dr. Vipin K Sharma [email protected]

Abstract: In a country where morals and values were considered most important and a rich culture believed to be created by God full of all values and virtues, a country where the battles were based on values i.e. Dharma Yudh and the war at Kurukshetra was the one fought at Dharmakshetram, but these all are presently depleting due to casual approach by entrepreneurs, professionals and government agencies. ‘Business Ethics and Human Values’ has become the buzz word in business world today. The vitality increases further as relationships among people involved are shaped by ethical practices and mutual trust in this era of globalization and multinational competition,. There are various issues related to business ethics and human values in the corporate world. The former Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee call for "Zero tolerance" for corruption in order to restore ethics cannot become a reality unless we work with the foundation of human values. The recent scams perpetrated by Messrs Raja & Kalmadi in 2G Spectrum, Commonwealth Games and the latest Citi Bank scam etc have already considerably undermined this foundation. Emphasizing on mutual relationship between the business and the society, business cannot and should not be allowed to conduct itself in a manner that may be detrimental to the interest of the society. All organizations must always strive hard to reach nearer to the Buddhist religious principle says Bahujana Hitaya, Bahujana Sukhaya, which literally means 'Of the greatest good, of the greatest number'. The purpose of this article is to make aware all the people concerned directly or indirectly about the business ethics and human values and to broaden the boundaries of the debate on business success in an era of societal globalization and increase an understanding of its influence beyond the economic sphere and suggest how the business should conduct its multidimensional activities in order to pursue its social obligations in a transparent manner. Key Words: Ethics, Globalization, Values, Virtues. Introduction: It is a universal truth that very existence, survival and growth of every organization depends on its social environment and its acceptance and approval by the society. The renowned management guru Peter. F. Drucker in 1963 in his book entitled "The practices of Management" stated that the relationship between business and society is "like the relationship between a ship and the sea which engirds it and carries it, which threatens it with storm and shipwreck, which has to be crossed but which is yet alien and distant, the environment rather than the home of the ship. But the society is not just the environment of the enterprise. All small and big enterprises are vital parts of the society and serve a social function. Values and ethics have become the buzz word in business world.

1

In this era of liberalization, privatization and globalization coupled with multinational competition, Ethical practices in business are assuming a great significance as relationships with various people involved in a business are shaped by ethical practices and mutual trust, thereby ethical decision taking assumes importance in today's commercial world. There are number of issues relating to ethics and business ethics in the business world. Every business or every entrepreneur has to have some essential outlines and guidelines for their code of conduct for a business to carry out their activities. Therefore it becomes mandatory for all to know about business ethics and human values. The essence of business ethics and human values explained in the succeeding paragraphs will quite certainly improve business in more ways than one can imagine, and make it a very long-lasting and fruitful one. Ancient Indian View on Ethics: Morals and values were considered roots of existence in ancient India. We are blessed with a rich culture believed to be created by Almighty has a complete set of values and virtues. Our predecessors followed certain basic values in their lives. All Rishis starting from Viswamitra to Vivekananda and to the present saints taught their disciples morals through their preaching and writings. Ramayana, Mahabharat and Arthasastra contain ethics and human values. The dynamic world today deals with several ethics which includes business ethics, educational ethics, professional ethics, environmental ethics, cyber ethics etc. Western View on Ethics: Ethics is a branch of philosophy dealing with right and wrong in human behavior. Many religions have a moral module and religious approaches to the problem of ethics in history dominating ethics over secular approaches. Theistic religions are of the opinion that ethics came out from revealed truth from divine sources and is also studied as a branch of theology. The common traditional approach instructs people to "treat others as you want to be treated", is a common phenomenon in almost all moral codes and religions. Many Western philosophical works on ethics were written in a culture whose literary and religious ideas were based in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and the New Testament. This reflects a connection between the ethics of the Bible and the ethics of the great western philosophers. Aristotle wrote a number of books on ethics. 2

Business Ethics: Every individual in this world wants to lead an ideal and luxurious life, where he tries to find out the norms, ideals and standards of the particular society and this can be achieved through three ideals of human life, i.e. truth, beauty and goodness. They refer to three aspects of our experiences- ‘thinking’; ‘feeling’ and ‘willing’or satyam, sivam and sundaram. These all refer to the Ethics. Ethics is a set of moral principles, which guide the code of conduct and behavior of a human being in his life and in society. It is a person’s own positive attitude and desirable behavior and it differs from one another among individuals. It is a branch of philosophy dealing with right and wrong in human behavior. Most religions have a moral component, and religious approaches to the problem of ethics. Ramayana and Mahabharata form the very basis of cultural consciousness that symbolize Hinduism. Kautilya says that artha ie sound economies, is the most important; dharma and karma are both dependent on it and followed by several values like Truth, non-violence, brahmacharya, secularism, sadbhavana in his life. The concept of ethics comes from the Greek word, “Ethos” that means both an individual’s character and a community’s culture. Generally it is believed that business ethics involves adhering to legal, professional, regulatory and company standards, keeping promises and commitments and abiding by general principles like truth, fairness, honesty and respect. The Institute of Global Ethics defines ethics as ‘obedience to the unenforceable’. Ethics in business and Indian ethos has been accepted as a subject of study in big business school across the country. It has got a strong contemporary relevance. Business ethics provide some fundamental principle that needs to be followed while staying in business practising business ethics and policies. It would be appropriate here to mention a Buddhist religious principle says Bahujana Hitaya, Bahujana Sukhaya, which literally means 'Of the greatest good, of the greatest number'. That is what business ethics must actually be all about. We must ensure that while putting best efforts in improving the prosperity of the business, one of the most common deeds of the business must be to see whether the business is leading to the common person in a desired manner or not.

3

Lying, greed, free riding, employee crime, white collar crime, embezzlement and fraud and bribery are the main forms of unethical behavior. If these unethical behaviors are defeated then the path towards enlightment can be achieved. And this was the essence of enlightenment of many philosophers - Lord Buddha, Tagore, Nehru, and Gandhi to name a few. Lord Buddha gave four noble truths which constitute the essence of Buddha's enlightenment that he was eager to share with all fellow beings. There are some laws of business ethics that I feel any business must follow. These are based on past experience and I feel strongly about and implement in every business. • Ethics ’not I, but thou,’ with motto: ‘not self, but non-self’ •Always respect your competitors in fair and open competition • Be honest when you are describing your professional experience and competencies • Avoid any type of conflict of interest • Acquaint yourself with each client’s business and provide honest and impartial advice • Maintain the confidentiality of all client information • Eliminate any form of hidden compensation or kickback • Maintain commitment to the development of innovative work of the highest quality • Never compromise on any forms of plagiarism ethics and social responsibility • Acknowledge contribution of others who have collaborated unconditionally with you in creating a niche in your field. Another very important area for ethics to be apparent is in the field of education. The public often hears of student ragging resulting suicide in reputed colleges. These instances scare people and lead to mistrust. It is essential that college authorities maintain ethical standards so that they can maintain the trust that we need to place in them as customers. The interest in business ethics has increased by recent trend towards Total Quality Management. TQM has two consequences for business ethics. First, it means that the consumer’s interests cannot be ignored. Second, management should define procedures and codify them for the introduction of code practice. The codification of procedures involves duties which impart a value judgment. 4

Human Values: Moral values are most important for mankind. The quality of human action is the manifestation of one’s behavior which in turn is a product of culture and values. We should instill ethical practices in this fast moving business world in order to maintain the quality of life and perfection. This is the pathway to excellence. In every human activity whether it is pure science, entrepreneurship, education, political science or environmental science we need to follow the practices which are best for the welfare of the world. ‘Loka samatha sukhino bhavantu is the ancient mantra for universal welfare. Values are mainly related to individuals and since they are related to justice, they remain the same for everyone. Values do not change from individual to individual. Values decide the standard of behavior. Some universally accepted values are freedom justice and equality. Other principles of values are love, care, honesty, integrity and self respect. Ethics is common to a group of individuals; the group may be religious or professional. Ethics is mostly based on some code or law and judgment of any action is based on code of conduct or law. Ethics change from individual to individual culture commonly refers to conduct of a group as a system of worship, it may differ from society to society, nation to nation or religion to religion. Every business needs to have an ethical framework or policy for human values and behavior. Employees should be given training on how to interact with different people, be it customer, suppliers or competitors. They need to be aware of how they are expected to behave with people at different levels and that inappropriate behavior will have consequences. It is very important to understand that each person has his or her own impression of ethics. All depends on perception that what may be wrong for one person may be right for another and vice versa. People having different attitude, level of intelligence, perception, region and culture are of different views and ethics which cannot be changed overnight or even with a fortnight training session. Each person has grown up with a particular cultural background and their own understanding of right and wrong. It is important to judge a person’s understanding of ethics before recruiting in a business. You need to understand if his sense of ethics is in compliance with your business. Social factors, upbringing and education also play an important 5

part in one’s life. During the induction process the induction period is very crucial as it is at this time that the person can be introduced to business ethics of an organization. This is the time when he is introduced to what is right and what is wrong for the business, and what is ethical and what is unethical from the business point of view. It is important to mention here that the existing ethical practices are not enough; one has to demonstrate visibility as well with strength and character. “Not only that whatever is unlawful is unethical, but what that is lawful still be unethical. Be it a business or any other profession, credibility could be sustained only by practicing ethical values.” There was still hope for improvement if the people as individuals based their conduct upon human values that could be appreciated by our progeny. Prof. James Hoopes Murata who specializes in ethics in business at Babson College, USA, addressing a conference in Chandigarh said Ethics in any profession or business was in some way connected to leadership. He referred to the Max Weber's concept of charismatic leader as a charming person near to god. He said American management gurus emphasized "values" and were near to gods. He quoted Aristotle to bring home the message of human values "A man develops the virtue of justice only by doing just acts". The reasons for the disappearance of ethics in the modern scenario could be growing competition and the struggle for survival. He focused on the need to integrate human values, society and the market. Guru Ravinder Nath Tagore had rightly said: "In sin we lust after pleasures, not because they are truly desirable, but because the red light of passion makes them appear desirable, we long for things not because they are great in themselves, because our greed exaggerates them. These exaggerations break the harmony of our life at every step, and we lose the true standards of Values".                                                          There are many unethical and corrupt practices present today in politics, business and other professions which must be stemmed to safeguard the society. We should avoid crying over split milk over the dismal scenario and there is still a great room for improvement if the people as individuals based their conduct upon human values that could be adhered to by our offspring that following ethical practices is not suffice our purpose but one has to display appreciations

6

with strength and character. This would certainly prove that credibility can be sustained only by practicing ethical practices and human values in any business. I feel proud to mention here the mission of a company Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) which states that- “Hindustan Lever’s commitment to national priorities has ensured that the company is part of people’s lives at the grass root level making a difference to Indian and to Indians – in depth, in width and in size. Hindustan Lever has always identified itself with the nation’s priorities: employment generation, development of backward area, agricultural linkages, exports, contribution to exchequer etc.” Besides this, the other example in this aspect is of TISCO which affirms ‘its faith in democratic values and in the importance of success of individuals, collectives and corporate enterprise for the economic emancipation and prosperity of the country’ invests a lot to gain long term profits, but can’t cling to it, and LIUN is the example which gained short term profits with no emphasis on human values. Other examples are who have public and brand image in the market because they are equipped with strong ethics and human values are: Reliance, Sony, IBM etc. Conclusion: The vision of great scriptures, books and philosophers-Great Buddha, Vivekanada, Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi and others who contributed in this discipline and their vision of a socio economic order have enormous potential to overcome existing anomalies and for shaping the policies and programmes of modern business. In a world that has been rocked by multiple scandals in corporate, government departments and environmental disasters consistently, it becomes essential for the government and the business organizations to extract and implement sound ethics and values largely in the specific Indian context to possess to function productively and profitably while facilitating healthy and sound mutual relationship between the business and the society. In no way any business is allowed to conduct itself in a manner that may be detrimental to the interest of individuals and at large to the society. Hopefully these efforts will help to regain some of the footing that has been lost over the years. With a little effort and responsibility, perhaps the organizations of today can leave the world in a better shape for our children and the generations to come.

7

Notes and References: 

Biswanath Ghosh: Indian Ethos in Management (New Delhi, Vikas Publishing House).



BOAOA1 – Seminar 2 Blake Chapman, Raza Mateen, & Franky Ng Mr. Pollock Monday, June 4, 2001.



Business Ethics and Human Values- International Conference at Punjab University Chandigarh in December 25, 2010.



Dr Rinku Sanjeev and Dr Parul Khanna: Ethics and Values in Business Management, (New Delhi, Any Books India,).



Hundekar S.G., Business Ethics and Human Values, Excel publication.



ISM Principles and Standards of Ethical Supply Management Conduct with Accompanying Guidelines, published by the Institute for Supply Management, Inc., Tempe, AZ, www.ism.ws, 2002.



James A.F. Stoner, R. Edward Freeman, Daniel R. Gilbert, JR. Management Sixth Edition, Pearson Education, Prince hall.



Jayamani C.V., Business Ethics and Human Values School of Management Studies, CUSAT,Cochin , Kerala. Miller, Kevin: Refusing to Compromise Pays Big Dividends (Retrieved 2006).

8