Business Ethics
As the mortgage industry continues to collapse under the weight of its own failings, I cannot help but be reminded of the Worldcom and Enron debacles that dominated headlines and ruined lives and pensions earlier this decade. And while big business promised to learn from those tragic stories, it appears that history is something to be discounted. After all, scandal is what happens to companies with questionable ethics.
Contrary to popular opinion, business ethics is not an oxymoron. Though most of us would argue that it is increasingly apparent that corporate America wants not to be bothered with such trivial matters. Business ethics are unworkable theories that belong in non-profits. They’re talking points that belong in college classrooms not boardrooms.
With attitudes like that, it’s not hard to see why we face the situation we are in. Business ethics in the mortgage industry, it seems, have taken a backburner to profits. Sadly, for many of us, this comes as no surprise.
Some may argue that the blame should not be placed solely on the shoulders of the mortgage industry. They would have you believe that shoddy business ethics have nothing to do with what is happening. I disagree.
Business ethics do not advocate predatory lending. Nor would any company in possession of even one ethical fiber sit back and ignore the fact that millions of people were getting into home loans they simply could not afford. The same ethical void that led to the implosion of Enron and Worldcom is at work today. Greed is not a business ethic.
I find it funny that if you visit any bookstore and take a walk through the business section, you will find book upon book espousing the virtues of rock solid business ethics. I find it interesting that courses in business ethics are mandatory at business schools around the world. Yet it appears that so long as you take the class or read the book, you’re covered. I mean come on; life in books is easy, real life involves decisions that transcend ethics.
For me, business ethics is a redundant term. Why differentiate between one’s business ethics and one’s regular ethics? Are there so many differences that they need to be separated? Are there certain ethics that one can ignore in business but not everyday life?
Maybe that designation is part of the problem. Perhaps if more business leaders simply erased the line between business ethics and normal ethics we’d no longer find ourselves in such messes.
Somehow, I doubt that will ever happen.
