Integrity and ethical practices in business

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: The TV channel had headlined the story “Education or Business?” The story was about how students had been taken for a ride by the administrators of a couple of educational institutes that had taken large sums of money as fees and then not provided admission to the students. The police, the students’ families and even the local MLA were all interviewed. The administrators of the institute were not available for comment.

The headline “Education or Business?” was troubling. Was it implying that education and business were mutually exclusive? Or, was it, even more so, implying that cheating students with false promises was unacceptable behaviour in education but, and here’s the rub, understandable and even acceptable if it were yet another business?

Is business assumed to be corrupt and unethical? And, therefore, is it perfectly legitimate to indulge in practices that might not be considered ethical as long as it benefits the company? What then does it mean for entrepreneurs starting out to create something of value?

The CEO of a venture-funded start-up told me he wanted to create a company that was admired by all. The attributes he used to describe “admired” were illuminating: well-known brand, financially successful, large number of well-known customers, a thought leader, attracted top class talent. I asked him about the kind of culture he wanted to create.

He responded by saying “open and professional”. And what about integrity and ethics? He looked at me and said that one needed to be practical and “real” in business in India!

Really?

Over 20 years ago, as a fresh sales person at a then young and small computer company, I was asked to sell computers in a state where my company did not have any real presence. The state was perceived to be among the more backward and corrupt states in India. There was hardly any private sector worth mentioning and almost all the purchases were made by various departments of the state government.