13 March, 2007

Morality is a private and costly luxury




BUSINESS ETHICS
John Maxwell




AN ETHICAL dilemma can be defined as an undesirable or unpleasant choice relating to a moral principle or practice. In such situations, do we do the easy thing or the right thing? Business people in particular desire to win through achievement and success. But many think they have to choose between being ethical and winning. Many people believe that embracing ethics would limit their options, their opportunities, their very ability to succeed in business. They agree with Harvard history professor Henry Adams who stated: “Morality is a private and costly luxury.” Fortunately, there is an increasing desire for ethical dealing in business. One of our problems is that ethics is never a business issue or a social issue or a political issue. It is always a personal issue. People say they want integrity. But at the same time, ironically, studies indicate that the majority of people don’t always act with the kind of integrity they request from others. If you embrace ethical behaviour, will it automatically make you rich and successful? Of course not. Can it pave the way for you to become successful? Absolutely! Ethics + competence is a winning equation. In contrast, people who continually attempt to test the edge of ethics inevitably go over that edge. In the short term, behaving ethically may look like a loss. However, in the long term, people always lose when they live without ethics. Have you ever met anyone who lived a life of shortcuts, deception, and cheating who finished well?




Source: - The Economic Times

4 comments:

Avinash Kumar said...

its nice to see ppl talking about ethics in such a cut throat life! but u no wht i feel is nobody born criminal in this world n in most of d cases their circumstances force them to get involved in unethical prcatices, particularly those who r less resoursefull.
but yes this has to b changed for bettr life n most importantly for a guilt free life. n this can happen only if we all try to control our greed ,together.

Bharathan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bharathan said...

i have other opinions.. being ethical can indeed sometimes lead to curtailing ur growth oppurtunities.. The best example is from the Movie Guru. I mean here, your very own Dhirubhai Ambhani.. he was by no means close to ethical.. and contrast it to Ratan Tata.. who was moe often than not, ethical.. you know for urself who is more successfull..

what i believe is instead being ethical in ones work, u have to do your business with a heart..I know there are many cases where both mean the same.. but there are some important situations where there is a huge difference... having a heart while doing business will definitely give u sucess..
For there are many cases, where ethics may not be properly defined, and might work against ur favour, but having a heart will never go against you..

astrocrazy2005 said...

u hav a nice blog!!!! keep writing..