For a young professional like Scott Biddick, putting
together such values as integrity in the context of business ethics as
practiced today is a long shot. There is always the ever-present danger
of being misunderstood that, in turn, can breed apathy, some envy
perhaps, and worse, create some enemies.
When viewed from the
insides of his circle with his business associates, there is hope that
his often-misunderstood position can change the old and dated opinion
that business is only for profit and nothing else. Scott discovered that
there is more to that old adage than what is vaguely understood.
The new norm
Where
before there was only one bottom line in a business enterprise, today’s
companies have recognized the need in committing to business ethics.
Moreover, the success of a company is now measured through the triple
bottom line in business: People, Planet, Profit.
In the triple
bottom line, “People” represents everyone involved in the business
(manufacturing, especially) including their customers. Planet refers
whether the planet is directly harmed (gas emission, release of other
pollutants in the air, soil and water). Profit is listed last because it
is the lifeline of the company – no profit, no company.
What Scott Biddick
had learned from the California State University (BS Admin.) carried
him through in his early career in Investor Relations, Public Relations
and in consulting companies. With his experience, he was able to shore
up and use what he had learned into his dealings with his clients, his
superiors, and his colleagues.
Insights and commitments
With
business ethics as the new guidelines, companies now report on their
financial, social and environmental performance. The report acknowledges
the basic fact that companies must make a profit to sustain and
survive, but it must also follow ethical and sustainable business
conducts not to harm people and the planet.
From the standpoint of
a company warrior out in the fields to make his conquests, Scott’s main
weapon is integrity. With it, clients are dealt with honest assessments
of business conditions instead of showing only the huge profit margins
and keeping out the fact that the merchandise, for instance, were
manufactured in some Asian sweat shops using child labor.
Omission and commission
One
other example is keeping out from the shareholders’ knowledge the fact
that the manufacturing process is blatantly using massive carbon
dioxide-emitting factories in small far-off countries. From Scott’s
perspective as someone who deals directly with company investors at
large, revelation of honest facts (and not covering them up) is needed
to be in line with the new business bottom line.
The new emphasis
on business ethics did away the questionable financial reporting and
spotlighting on the inflated compensation of company executives. All
these were thrown out including the worthless public assurances through
press releases that greatly eroded consumer and investor confidence.
Advantages
Scott
and his forward-looking colleagues must have sensed the advantages in
keeping stock with business integrity. It presents an opportunity to
excel (and set the standards) while earning the respect of customers and
vendors, even from their competitors.
With trust, customer
loyalty is assured while earning a solid and priceless word-of-mouth
advertising. The potential of increased earnings becomes greater as the
company’s reputation gets highlighted again and again. Scott Biddick and company must have known this since college.
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