Bribery - The ultimate ethical dilemma

I was reading the article “Ethics Must Be Global, Not Local” written by Bill George and it got me thinking about how as people, we tend to not care about whether or not our decisions are ethical if there is no direct effect to us. I find it funny that when reading the different articles that the same company names keep popping up, for instance Siemens. The article goes on to talk about how the powerful people in these industries are willing to throw away the reputation of their companies to make a little money. I find it easy to see both sides of the coin when reading articles like this because companies are “spending” billions to make billions. It is hard to understand how the whole thing works. This article title creates a mind bender for be because from what I am reading a lot of the places where “bribery” happens it is custom for companies to give “gifts” or gestures of good will when entering into a new business partnership . Although bribes seem to still be a big part of business many companies are beginning to take the ethical high road. These companies are setting the guidelines and forcing there upper management to follow them to the letter, and if they deviate from the original guidelines then they are losing their jobs. I was very amazed to read this because I feel that companies are starting to see that the “cost” of doing business is not always money, and that if they can set standards and get there people on board they can run their business ethically. I personally feel that by holding your upper management responsible for their actions all the time, not only when they get caught by the law, starts to force change in the way business is done. Of course I do not think for one second that there will never be bribery or corruption but if we can all start to work ethically it will force the hands of those who continue to lurk in the shadows to do their business.

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/feb2008/ca20080212_394828.htm?chan=careers_managing+index+page_top+stories

By Robert Truckle