Have We Lost All Ethical Business Practices in this Day and Age?

The business domain is often considered to be quite dynamic. In contemporary times, it has become even more so, finding how flexible the world is has become.

A reason for the same is the fact that there are no hard and fast rules in the business sector.

Even if you cannot go beyond the limits of the law, there are so many loopholes inside it that you will find a way to get what you want.

Why else do you think that the corporate lawyers are the wealthiest amongst all? They find ways to make their clients, who are business moguls, earn more through manipulating the law and playing on the edge. They do this to earn more.

The sad part about all of this is the fact that the players playing the unethical game are the leaders of the business world.

A business which has the power and the means to do what they want and get away with it will only play on the unethical boundary of law.

A small business owner would never do something illegal because he knows his business would not be able to handle the lawsuit or financial losses.

For the small entrepreneurs, the only worry is to get clearance from all the debt they have accumulated over the years. Getting a debt consolidation loan for bad credit with no guarantor is the aim for many. This way, they save money by reducing the repayments.

A business person dealing with perpetual debt would never have the time or the energy to take the unethical route in business.

The even sadder part is that many business moguls take their unprincipled ways to the backyard of the up-and-coming businesses.

That is why I felt the need to highlight a few ways that are so dishonest and immoral that they should be punished in ways that set an example for the future.

Corporate Espionage

Espionage was a term that was used for the government’s activities involving spies. A nation’s government often sends spies out in the world that gain information related to activities that can harm it. This is how MI5 operative works and benefit the entire country in doing the same.

It was a positive term until it wasn’t.

By associating the word corporate with espionage, its entire purpose is defeated, and it becomes an illegal activity.

A company sends its employee, as a spy in disguise, to one of its competitors to get trade secrets that can help the former is eliminating the latter and earning plenty of rewards as a result.

This is a widespread practice at present, and the majority of the times the victim organisation does not even realise what hit it.

Imagine if Pepsi did it to Coca-Cola and got its secret formula. Do you think something like that would have a drastic effect on Coca-Cola and its sales?

The Non-Disclosure Agreement that you must have signed upon leaving an organisation is a way to counter the same. However, it is still not a permanent solution.

Hostile Takeovers

Utter dislike, animosity, antagonism and even hate are all synonyms of hostility. This is a term that only has a negative connotation.

The takeover means taking control. It should be a positive term. By taking command of our hands, we can do better and work more efficiently.

However, when we combine these two words, there isn’t anything positive that is left.

A hostile takeover is a scenario between two organisations, wherein one takes over the ownership rights from the other into its own hands, without the knowing or the consent of the other.

You must be wondering how this is possible. It is when the company has a board and shareholders.

The public shares of a company are bought collectively to get a seat on the board. If it is possible to get a majority of the shares in the company, the person who is taking over can very easily replace the previous owner and the entire board of directors as well.

The result? A business owner who had built a company on his blood and sweat has lost it, despite not wanting to.

Do you see how immoral this is?

At present, the Chinese threats are gaining grounds in the UK’s corporate markets, that is why our government has made the takeover laws even more stringent.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is another term for cheating. When you copy someone else’s ideas and innovations and put your stamp on them that is called plagiarism.

In the world of academia, it is a sin. You will never graduate if you plagiarise other’s work. If you are mentioning something that has already been written, you have to say that source, so that credit is given where it is due.

However, in the business setting the rules are not as crisp and clear.

The term inspiration is taken into account many a time. The tag of plagiarism gets evoked without even the slightest of penalties.

People have made millions by copying other people’s creations and slightly tweaking it here and there and calling it their own.

From music to literature; from paintings to clothes, plagiarism is found everywhere.

When prominent designers in the first copy the designs of the small weavers in third world countries without giving them credit and sell the same at a price ten times higher than the weaver, nobody asks any question.

The weaver suffers, and the designers flourish.

It is wrong on so many different levels that writing about it enrages me.

Winding Up

Do you not think that we have genuinely lost the moral code of conduct in the business sector?

Yes, within an organisation, there is a fat book that mandates that every employee working inside the firm pays it to heed and follows it to the T. If not, then the firm will not hesitate in parting ways with the employee.

Do you think that the same kind of code should be followed in the real world?

A business that breaks this code should be asked to leave and wind up its operations. It is like taking out the rotten fruit from the basket.

The day we start doing something like this will be the day ethical practices, and the true spirit of the business world would be restored.

I hope the day comes sooner rather than later.