business ethics unit VIII PowerPoint Presentation

Minnesota businesses: Why not try to do better? Young, Stephen B . Saint Paul Legal Ledger ; St. Paul, Minn. [St. Paul, Minn]01 Apr 2015.

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ABSTRACT  

Wilfred Bockleman wrote for the Center for Ethical Business Culture at the University of St. Thomas the book

"Culture of Corporate Citizenship: Minnesota's Business Legacy for the Global Future" wherein he documents the

rise and successes of this Minnesota business ethic. The statement was made to me that asking businesses to be

ethical is to admit that businesses might be unethical, a possibility that some business advocates don't want

people ever to consider. [...]they think it best not to have ethical standards. FULL TEXT  

There is a way for the Minnesota Legislature to build on the community-enhancing tradition of Minnesota business

leaders but it has run into really sophomoric opposition from some business leaders and their allies in the

Republican Party.

The Minnesota tradition of community-minded business leadership came from the old Yankee, Calvinist vision of

good stewardship in this life over our talents and economic assets. This tradition arrived from New England with

early settlers and has been passed down to us by families like the Daytons and the Pillsburys.

As Ken Dayton used to affirm: "The purpose of business is to serve the community; profit is the reward for serving

well."

This high-minded commitment to good stewardship resonated well with later Lutheran arrivals from Germany,

Norway and Sweden, and it reflected Catholic concern for taking care of the common good.

The noble ideal is that capitalism and business gives to society that which makes society better. Good

stewardship rejects out of hand any avaricious intent to just extract money from others as much as possible

without giving back a high-quality good or service.

Wilfred Bockleman wrote for the Center for Ethical Business Culture at the University of St. Thomas the book

"Culture of Corporate Citizenship: Minnesota's Business Legacy for the Global Future" wherein he documents the

rise and successes of this Minnesota business ethic.

Sadly, we have no data bank where all the good that Minnesota businesses do is recorded. We are left with only

our stereotypes and anecdotes, good and bad, about business contributions to or detractions from, our common

good and the personal good of individuals who benefit from products, services, wages, loans, investments, as well

as charitable dollars spent by business on the arts, education, environment and social services.

This is silly because setting up such a registry of accomplishments in our digital age is so easy and so cheap. It

would be like writing a blog or posting photos on Facebook.

A well-documented, easy-to-access, data bank would clear up misconceptions about the positive contributions of

business and provide citizens a benchmark for their assessments of how valuable a business really is or is not to

the community.

I have been working with state Sen. John Marty on a proposal to open a voluntary registry at the Secretary of

State's Office where businesses file many documents for the public record. To my chagrin and surprise, this first-

in-the-nation idea has run into negative pushback from some business lobbyists and Republicans.

Their principal argument opposing making it easy for businesses to post the full range of results of their

operations -- including their impacts on customers, employees, owners, lenders, suppliers, communities and the

environment -- actually denigrates business ethics.

The statement was made to me that asking businesses to be ethical is to admit that businesses might be

unethical, a possibility that some business advocates don't want people ever to consider. Thus, they think it best

not to have ethical standards.

From this point of view, ethics and corporate social responsibility should be kept out of sight and maybe even out

of mind.

This strikes me as an attempt to cover up the truth.

This strange approach to goodness reflects, I think, an outdated social Darwinism where it is OK to go through life

selfish, mean, and even abusive if you can get away with it.

The superficiality of this argument is stunning, and its hold on some in business and the Republican Party is

depressing.

The same argument applies to undermine all ideals of goodness and all standards for improvement. It applies even

to the commandment given us by Jesus Christ. Asking us to love our neighbors as ourselves implies that some of

us don't love our neighbors and so fall short in ethical achievement.

Similarly with grades in school: We should not hold forth standards of excellence because that would expose some

students as not being excellent in performance.

Or we should not demand higher skill from our athletes because that would expose them to embarrassment when

they fall short of hitting a home run, or fumble a football, or lose a race.

Refusing to set high ideals condemns us to mediocrity and selfishness. How can any society drop its standards

and turn its back on excellence and hope to prosper or be happy?

The culture of "let's not try" brings on decline and defeatism. It is unworthy of any good person.

I remember my dad talking about our efforts in the Pacific during World War II when the Seabee motto was widely

quoted: "The difficult we do at once. The impossible takes a little longer."

So why not give Minnesota companies the chance to undertake what is not even difficult: report if they want to on

how well they have served our community?

After all, that is what we expect them to do with their financial results. Report them out, good or bad, to those who

have an interest in their success or failure.

And there are many awards and recognition programs and events to hold companies and business leaders up for

public approbation when they have done well through their successes.

It would be so much to the advantage of companies themselves to report on all their impacts. They would earn

more appreciation and respect.

To stimulate living up to ideals we should make it easy for people and companies to, consistent with the norms of

Minnesota Nice, put on the record their accomplishments. You can't reward or praise others unless you know what

good deeds they have done.

I once heard a sermon at Unity Unitarian Church given by Ray McGee, a family counselor, which is applicable to

this initiative. Ray's advice on raising children was to "catch them when they are doing good." Rather than being

hypersensitive to children's faults and slip-ups, parents should respond to the good that children do and so

encourage repetition of the best in conduct, thought and speech.

Moreover, any low bar for improvement set by some in business is out of touch with the global movement for

corporate social responsibility.

All over the world the practices of capitalism are changing toward greater corporate social responsibility.

Minnesota should be at the forefront of this movement. Major companies in Minnesota are already compiling and

publishing on their websites annual non-financial reports following the format of the Global Reporting Initiative.

A way should be found for medium and small companies, which are so important to so many of us, to also go

public easily and cheaply with their non-financial results.

If the data on all companies were in the public domain, it would be easy for reporters and academics and business

lobbyists to add up all the good that is done by business and put it before us.

But I have even heard it said that business should not support standards of social responsibility because that

implies that companies might not be responsible all the time.

Don't hold companies to account, it is argued, for they might come up short in the good results department.

Minnesota did not prosper as it has by seeking only minimal achievement.

If low expectations had then been in vogue, the men of the First Minnesota Regiment most likely would not have

volunteered to save the Union and end slavery and, later, they most likely would not have undertaken the charge on

July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg against a large force of opposing Confederates to save the Union line atop Cemetery

Ridge and make a Union victory in that battle possible.

(divider)

Stephen B. Young is executive director of the Caux Round Table, an international network advocating ethical

principles for business and government.

(c) 2015 Dolan Media Newswires. All Rights Reserved.

Credit: Stephen B. Young DETAILS

Subject: Social responsibility; Business ethics; Political parties; Traditions; Political

leadership

Location: Minnesota

Company / organization: Name: Republican Party; NAICS: 813940

Publication title: Saint Paul Legal Ledger; St. Paul, Minn.

Publication year: 2015

Publication date: Apr 1, 2015

Section: News

Publisher: BridgeTower Media Holding Company

Place of publication: St. Paul, Minn.

Country of publication: United States

Publication subject: Business And Economics

Source type: Newspapers

Language of publication: English

Document type: News

ProQuest document ID: 1670019331

Document URL: https://search.proquest.com/docview/1670019331?accountid=33337

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Copyright: (Copyright 2015 Dolan Media Newswires. All Rights Reserved)

Last updated: 2015-04-07

Database: ABI/INFORM Collection