In a perfect business world, an alphabet soup of government agencies would not be needed to regulate and enforce fair play in the marketplace.
In that world, businesses would always voluntarily follow honorable, ethical and prudent models. Questions of right and wrong would be as simple as black and white.
But the world, including businesses and governments, isn’t perfect. Thus, every business entity, from the most basic sole proprietorship to multi-national corporations must wrestle with questions of ethics; if, when and where demands of the marketplace — as well as demands of shareholders — might require consideration for “bending the rules” or operating in the cloudy gray edge of normal ethical standards.
Is cost cutting at the corporate level always a mark of good business sense, producing a near-term higher profit margin? Or will deep cuts in support services ultimately shortchange the customers who rely on that corporation’s overloaded work force that can no longer give adequate time to their issues?
Is it ethical for pharmaceutical companies to alert physicians to off-label uses of prescription drugs when advertising those uses in the general marketplace is specifically illegal? Is this not just a way to avoid years of bureaucratic review so a medication can be used for needed purposes? Or, since physicians can legally prescribe drugs for off-label uses, is it simply a marketing ploy to use the internal channels of the medical community for what is essentially non-public advertising purposes?
Is it ethical or moral for tobacco companies to aggressively market smokeless — chewing — tobacco at the same time they are supposedly adhering to federal requirements to scale back advertising for cigarettes?
In accordance with its philosophy of teaching America’s future business leaders the highest of ethical business standards the University of Hartford’s Barney School of Business, represented by Beta Gamma Sigma, the national business honor society, will be teaming up with VantisLife Insurance Co., of Windsor, to offer a free public class on business ethics Feb. 16.
Speaking at the class will be David O’Hearn, former deputy commissioner of the state Department of Public Works, now on leave from a military tour in Afghanistan supervising contractors there. The class will be held in Mali Lecture Hall I, in Dana Hall, from 5-6 p.m.
Classes such as these are essential for young entrepreneurs and business professionals to learn at the outset that ethical business is good business. It will be up to them to insure that future businesses, at all levels, bear the responsibility for creating an environment where ethical management can be executed without fear of repercussions.
Business leaders should learn from the outset to beware of rationalization, particularly in ambiguous situation, understanding implicitly that making the right choices — the moral and ethical choices, is the only road to true business success. Knowing where to draw the line, knowing the difference between cutting edge versus slash and burn, should be an inherent part of every business model.
Business schools already are tasked with instilling a clear sense of business ethics. But an unambiguous sense of ethics can also be instilled in those already in business, if companies make ethics an acceptable topic of conversation and ensure that ethical behavior is built into the organization’s processes.
Peter L. Tedone is president and chief executive Officer of Vantis Life Insurance Co. in Windsor.
