Communicating ethical corporate behavior
Hill & Knowlton's Jim Sloan makes some relevant remarks in an article on communicating on ethical standards. He says the public has grown cynical about corporations acting ethically, and people are convinced that it's impossible to succeed in business without cheating. Day-to-day life reinforces this theory on many levels. Simply brandishing an ethics manual and stating proudly that all your employees must read it and sign it won't do, nor will putting an emphasis on teaching values and enforcing them - essental though that is. So convincing the public that you are not cheating today requires an extra dimension of persuasiveness about the business itself - conveying, in a believable way, just how you are going to succeed in an admittedly dog-eat-dog climate. Article Do you agree with Jim?
2 Comments:
To use an old phrase, not only do you have to talk the talk, but you have to walk the walk. It is a little disconcerting to find that management, as a group, continues to make the big bucks whether the company is doing well or not. I often think that if one's work was truly performance based with measurable parameters there would be massive unemployment. Most managers only have the ability to "warm" the seat and make "same situational" decisions within a psychological box. If the sides of the box break God help them. You can see plenty of examples such as the management mess in Iraq. It is also interesting that if you can't solve the problem you simply redefine it as they have done about what constitutes a "Geneva" convention. I guess I should answer the question. Yes I agree with Jim but his statement "So convincing the public that you are not cheating today requires an extra dimension of persuasiveness about the business itself - conveying, in a believable way, just how you are going to succeed in an admittedly dog-eat-dog climate." is a little simplistic due to the presence of the Internet. I suppose on the surface this piece of writing seems like a rant against management but there is more meat on the bone than it appears on first reading. I have always been interested in the nuts and bolts as well as the psychological ins and outs on management. Anyway I can hardly wait for your next blog on the subject or any other one for that matter.
I agree with Alex about having to walk the walk, the pesuasiveness of the ethics inititiative should be in what is actually done to ensure ethical business behavior.
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