| Realistically, day-to-day operations and decision-making rarely poses serious
ethical dilemmas for the majority of employees. Sometimes the real ethical dilemma is
whether we should even be working for our employer or client. But not many business
communicators have the luxury of shopping around for the ideal employer.
While
most organizations have well-written codes of conduct that set out carefully worded
ethical guidelines, all too often the code is neither communicated nor enforced.
In Enron's case, its board of directors apparently went so far as to suspend the
code of conduct!
That, of course, speaks volumes for the role of ethics in Enron's corporate
culture, especially when you consider that the board of directors is supposed to act as
the ethical conscience of an organization.
But let's assume that Enron is an extreme case. How about Arthur Andersen, then?
In the words of Andersen's former managing partner and chief executive officer,
Joseph F. Berardino, "Maintaining the trust and confidence of investors is a central
tenet of our firm."
The same could be said of the entire accounting profession where credibility and
integrity are traditionally cornerstones of their reputation. One would expect the
profession to work extra hard at ensuring a high ethics quotient in their corporate
culture.
How did it happen, then, that Andersen lost not only the trust and confidence of
investors, but also of clients, overseas affiliates, the SEC and U.S. Justice Department?
Enron wasn't even the first public relations crisis of this type for Andersen.
The integrity of Andersen's reporting practices had faced harsh criticism over the years.
But rather than reform its unethical practices, Andersen paid its fines, settled lawsuits
and put its efforts into better methods of destroying evidence.
Now Andersen is fighting just to survive--its public relations efforts rendered
impotent or even detrimental to the company's image. Furthermore, the entire accounting
profession is coming under intense scrutiny and the credibility of their clients is in
danger of being tainted by association.
These events have implications that reach far beyond the accounting profession.
There are important lessons that all corporations ignore at their own peril--whether or
not, as some analysts predict, the overt implications of these events should fade by the
fall.
Daily media reports on Andersen, like some morbid deathwatch, have had a
profound effect on our culture. As business communicators, we need to be especially
vigilant.
"Now more than ever, the communication person needs to be an advocate for
ethical behaviour because the truth always surfaces sooner or later," says Len
Brooks, Executive Director of The Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics at the University of
Toronto's Rotman School of Management. "The longer you indulge in the practice of
maintaining a cosmetic shell, the harder it is to recover when the shell eventually
cracks."
As valuable employees, we have our finger on the pulse of society. We know that
corporate ethics isn't just some ivory tower concept. Ethics and corporate responsibility
are now integral parts of what our society perceives as being acceptable business
practice. Matthew Boyle summed it up nicely in his analysis of Fortune Magazine's Most
Admired Companies:
"What qualities will we admire most in the years ahead? That's an easy
one--in the near term, at least. Thanks to the Enron implosion and the subsequent rash of
accounting and corporate-governance scandals, the credibility of any corporation is no
longer assumed. It must be earned. If you don't lay all your cards on the table, we'll
assume you're a cheat. It's not enough to have a great brand, dazzling returns, and a
charming CEO. Now more than ever, trust is the sine qua non of reputation. There's no
mystery about that." |
