Should you look to win at all costs?

The motor racing world was sent into shock this week as revelations emerged from the Renault team that driver Nelson Piquet jnr was instructed to crash his car to help his team mate Fernando Alonso to win the Singapore grand prix in 2008.  It comes hot on the heels of 'Bloodgate' in rugby, whereby Harlequins were found guilty of ordering winger Tom Williams to fake an injury in order for a player to be substituted for him.  This winning at all costs culture evident in the sporting world comes in the same week as the one year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, caused by investing too heavily in the American sub-prime mortgage market.  Within this context it is increasingly important for companies to demonstrate their commitment to ethical and sustainable business principles.

How can your company become more ethical?

Here are a few steps you can take to make your company more ethical.

1. Get top management on board - The examples mentioned earlier stemmed from the top.  Management need to lead on this and set the right example for the entire company to follow.
2. Set the objectives of your ethical approach - Is the new approach going to benefit staff or other stakeholders?  Establish this at the outset.
3. Identify your values - For instance removing the fear of failure is a key first step.  The Institute of Business Ethics is a good first place to go for outlining ethical values.
4. Draft an ethical code - And then make sure it's distributed widely and feedback is recieved from all stakeholders.
5. Implement - The implementation strategy must be both dynamic and continuous. Incorporate the code into induction, staff training and management development programmes.

Now more than ever business has to be ethical and sustainable.  Customers demand it and employees demand it.  Is your business as ethical as it could be?