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There is no question that the American capitalist system depends on truth, honesty and cooperation, for without these qualities the entire free-market system would collapse. Ethicist Dr. Scott Rae argues that “. . . the founders of this nation believed that the democratic experiment would work only if citizens are virtuous. Contrary to popular belief, total liberty was never their intent. Rather, their vision was one of ‘ordered’ or ‘restrained’ liberty, that is, freedom tempered by morals and character. . . Since business in a free-enterprise system is a cornerstone of democracy, we should all be worried about the future of the free market economy [even democracy itself] if virtue is not once again taken seriously in the public dialog about morality.” As a Christian, I would argue that there are three theological principles informing our understanding of business ethics:
- Holiness—when it comes to ethics in business this means standing against the practices and beliefs that characterize the culture, including the business culture. There is a clear standard for what is right and wrong and it is centered in God’s holiness.
- Justice—reflects the commitment to God’s character as one who is innocent of any intentional wrongdoing in business.
- Love—reflects an other-centeredness in responsibilities, including employees, other leaders, vendors, customers and stakeholders of the company.
I would argue strongly for an integrity strategy for business today, rather than a compliance strategy that merely seeks to comply with externally imposed standards (e.g., Sarbanes-Oxley). The integrity strategy seeks self-governance according to chosen standards (e.g., God’s Word) that enables employees to follow responsible conduct, not prevent criminal misconduct. With an integrity strategy, one sees a business comprised not of autonomous beings guided by material self-interest, but of image bearers of God (whether they are Christians or not) guided by values, ideals and interests beyond just self. Therefore, it is up to leadership to promote the company’s values and standards, to train and communicate, to integrate these values into the company’s systems and to assess via performance reviews compliance with these values and standards. This commitment to an integrity strategy for ethics necessitates asking several key questions:
- Does the mission statement of the company reflect this integrity strategy?
- Do the company’s core values reflect the integrity strategy?
- Does the company have a code of ethics?
- Does the code of ethics reflect and define ethical standards in relationships (e.g., between employees, customers, associates, community, competitors and shareholders)?
- Does the code of ethics reflect ethical standards in practical areas (e.g., environmental issues, accurate reading of transactions, conflicts of interest, gifts and entertainment, confidential information, government dealings, etc.)?
In effect, an integrity strategy will cause each employee to always have three questions in their mind:
- Is it legal?
- Is it fair (just)?
- Can I defend it?
As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has written, “Markets do not survive by market forces alone. They depend on respect for people affected by our decisions. Lose that and we lose not just money and jobs but something more significant still: freedom, trust and decency, the things that have a value, not a price. . . . No amount of regulation will restore our sense of honor and shame. Economics needs ethics.” I could not agree more!
See Covenant and Conversation, www.chiefrabbi.org. |
