HighTech Women: The Business of Ethics

HighTech Women is an idea whose time has come. Those of us involved in this sector in any way at all (and that includes academics like myself) are familiar with the buzz, the excitement, and the satisfaction that comes from meeting challenges, solving problems and moving onto new levels of knowledge and experience. HighTech Women provides a forum where we can debate, share and learn from others.

Let me share with you some of my own interests and concerns. I'm an economist by training, and for the last ten years have worked (researched, taught, advised) in Cambridge University's business school, the Judge Institute of Management Studies, on the topics of business ethics and corporate governance. I might add that for an even longer time I have been a Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College, a college of the University whose aim is to assist women at every stage of their lives to develop their academic potential and thus achieve their goals and their aspirations.

The Judge Institute exists to serve the business community worldwide. One of the issues that has become of increasing importance over the last few years is the issue of corporate reputation. Reputation is painfully built, but can be destroyed in an instant by one media headline, one ill-judged decision, one dubious involvement on the far side of the world. Companies have come to realise that the only good (profitable) business is good (ethical) business. Corporate scandals, the increase in the power of global corporations, the growth of corruption and fraud worldwide, and greater public awareness of human rights, of environmental issues, of global free trade questions (Seattle..) - all these raise questions concerning ethics in business. How can companies maintain and enhance their 'good' reputation, and thereby do good business in both senses of the word?

Can academics teach business to be ethical? The answer, of course, is 'no'. What we can do is to provide ways of thinking about 'good' business which can help companies (and the consultants who advise them) to comply with all existing legal and regulatory provisions, to raise ethical awareness in their companies, and to put in place structures and practices which can help to create and maintain an ethical corporate climate. In order to do this we draw on disciplines such as philosophy, economics, law, social and political theory and psychology.

Let me share with you some of the frameworks of thought which people find helpful when thinking about these issues.

1. As individuals we all have our own views as to what we value, what we believe to be 'good' about our lives. We touch base with these views when we have to make decisions. So we value the 'good', and we make 'right' decisions. Businesses too have a commitment to the 'good', and daily they are faced with making 'right' decisions which have both moral and practical aspects

2. Business is legitimated by society (it has a 'social contract'), and this is why it needs to have in some sense a commitment to the good of society, to the common good. This can translate into simply making a good product, or into issues as complex as deciding whether and at what price to supply Africa with Aids drugs. In practice 'society' is a very vague idea, so business tends to think in terms of its stakeholders (customers, suppliers, employees, financiers, local communities etc.) as those to whom it has a commitment

3. Ethics is not an 'add-on' for a business any more than it is for a person; it is an integral part of its existence.

4. So where in the company do we find 'ethics'? Is it a question of individual values and decisions? The company is also a moral agent in its own right, but it acts through individuals. If the board of directors takes a decision which results in customers being shortchanged (closing of bank branches..), and you are in the position of having to implement that decision, then it is the company which is being unethical in that it is placing profits before people. If you are asked to participate in implementing that decision, what do you do? That's a difficult one. But suppose you became aware that the bank was defrauding its customers and you were offered a cut in the takings, you'd probably whistleblow - I would. Remember, this is the Eichman issue. Do you obey without question? No, you are still a free and autonomous moral agent, no matter who you work for.

5. It is easy to see the ethical aspects of strategic decisions and actions. It is perhaps less easy to see the ways in which ethics is embedded at the level of structures and practices. What about a lack of ethical sensitivity in promotion practices, product quality issues, selling practices, outsourcing practices - the list is much longer…?

6. How can companies be 'ethical'? Let me offer a checklist.