Global Courant 2023-04-17 16:00:55
On April 26, 2023, the exclusive Masterclass for subscribers “Family Businesses: How to ensure their continuity” will be held, organized by Prensa Libre in alliance with the Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial and Financial Associations (Cacif), in which will address issues such as ethics and philosophy in family businesses, main challenges, family governance, intergenerational succession and transition processes.
To address the context and importance of ethics and philosophy in companies, Prensa Libre spoke with one of the Masterclass speakers, Betty Lobos Bollat, PhD in Law, who has doctoral studies in sociology, political science and philosophy. Below is part of the conversation.
Why is it important to address ethics in the company?
At the corporate level, whether in a small, medium or large company, the most important thing, the fundamental, the core and the backbone, is ethics and its application, which consists of the codes and rules of behavior that give it a name. owned by an organization.
Precisely because if we look at this world, it is becoming more and more troubled, uncertain, insecure and, we could even say, dangerous, which is why principles and values are what provide the strength to continue, both on a personal, social and business level. .
In practice, how are ethical values and codes materialized?
A person who keeps his word, who does not divulge the secrets that someone entrusts to him, is correct and trustworthy. So how can we preach with our behavior? With our ethics. In a corporation, this occurs when we all trust that colleague or boss who keeps his word. So, reliability is one of the most important and necessary hallmarks in our time.
What impact does business ethics have at the level of organizations?
There are national and transnational corporations that have won awards for their codes of ethics; So, the higher that code of ethics is in a company, the more reliable it makes it before society, and in the workers it generates what is called a sense of belonging. When work is done with pleasure and passion, it is no longer just a set of tasks, but there must be that sense of belonging. When that happens, the worker feels part of the organization, and of course, when a company has very high codes of ethics, the workers and the entire management and executive team will be together in good times and in difficult ones.
How are companies addressing this issue today?
In such a permissive world, people have relaxed and put principles and values to last place, when this is something that should not be negotiated. Agreements can be reached in the working groups, but with the principles and values we must be unyielding.
Where do the principles come from or how do we adopt them?
We receive them, to begin with, from the example of our parents, because they have advised, corrected, reprimanded or congratulated us. The root is in that example that we live from childhood. From what has marked us, we are forming our personality. Then we enter a society where the principles and values are very changeable and relative; Hence, the importance of the company having codes of ethics because that sense of belonging is passed from one generation to another.
And this also applies to a family business…
When the principles and values have been so solid in the first generation (speaking specifically of a family business), where these have been respected and there has been loyalty among the partners, who can be brothers, relatives, parents or children, it is preached the other members of your board or managers by example. That is why we look at companies in Guatemala that have already gone through five generations, have grown, multiplied and diversified, and what has kept them afloat is precisely a very high code of ethics.
When we talk about a code of ethics, is it necessarily a series of rules contained in a document?
When you are little, you absorb everything you see and hear from your parents, but what marks life is the example. So, it is not written, but we find it in the wisdom of our ancestors. Ethics is not learned in the university; Of course we can study it, but the principles derive from the way of living. They are experiential knowledge.
You don’t need to have a book in front of you to know that stealing or breaking the word is bad. So, ethics is not learned in school.
But what happens when there is an economic interest involved?
When it comes to a corporation, of course there is a social contract between the boss, the owner or the partners and the workers. It is a voluntary agreement. For example, when someone is hired, the manager or director gives him a document that he must read carefully and if he signs it, it is because he agrees and accepts the conditions voluntarily; That’s what the social contract is about.
Another example is when there is what is known as the ethics of profit. Someone is a seller and wants to place a product as expensive as possible and, on the other hand, the buyer wants to be sold as cheaply as possible. But there is a voluntary point between the two, where the seller and the buyer meet regarding the price and there ethical profit occurs.
And when we refer to profits or issues that involve economic interests, it is important that the owners or the board of a company take into account, in addition to the financial part, that of ethical agreements. For example, maintaining loyalty among partners or having ethical behavior in all their negotiation processes will allow them to continue and grow.
The problem can come when the children enter, but if they have seen a good example in the behavior of their parents, they will want to imitate the good.
Attend the Masterclass at no cost, this April 26, Family Businesses: How to ensure their continuity? register here
