Way back in the old times, the goal of every business is maximizing profit. This goal is written in every financial book one could find. I personally encountered such instance when I was still in college studying Finance. Whenever we are about to do a fund raising or any other kind of activity that involves selling a product or services, elders will always teach the children to make sure that you will sell a product more than how much you bought it. The mentality then was to sell anything as long as you would be able to sell it at a price higher than you originally bought no matter whether it might affect people negatively or not.
However, as time goes by, ethical considerations are given an emphasis or in other times in the same weight with the goal of maximizing profits. This story[1] is actually the beginning of my wake-up call in terms of taking consideration of preserving the environment. My Ecology professor showed a PowerPoint Slide on what would happen when we fail to preserve the water. Despite the water being said to compose 75% of the earth, if most of them is uncleaned, it would be useless. Examples of companies that encountered profit and ethical dilemma are Philex Mining (PSE: PX) pertaining to the Padcal Mining issue.[2] or the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill that was operated by BP plc.[3] We are all aware that mining and oil are one of the most profitable business but because of greed or carelessness on the part of the companies involved, instead of these companies using their revenues to improve operations, the money would then proceed to litigation and goodwill expenses which might affect their profit and reputation in the long run. It is really true that a company that put a huge emphasis on their ethics are more likely to succeed as people would look up to them and to the point they will be endorsing their product through word of mouth.
School Exposure and Realizations
However, as time goes by, ethical considerations are given an emphasis or in other times in the same weight with the goal of maximizing profits. This story[1] is actually the beginning of my wake-up call in terms of taking consideration of preserving the environment. My Ecology professor showed a PowerPoint Slide on what would happen when we fail to preserve the water. Despite the water being said to compose 75% of the earth, if most of them is uncleaned, it would be useless. Examples of companies that encountered profit and ethical dilemma are Philex Mining (PSE: PX) pertaining to the Padcal Mining issue.[2] or the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill that was operated by BP plc.[3] We are all aware that mining and oil are one of the most profitable business but because of greed or carelessness on the part of the companies involved, instead of these companies using their revenues to improve operations, the money would then proceed to litigation and goodwill expenses which might affect their profit and reputation in the long run. It is really true that a company that put a huge emphasis on their ethics are more likely to succeed as people would look up to them and to the point they will be endorsing their product through word of mouth.
School Exposure and Realizations
Upon joining an environment organization in college, I was actually more aware that profit (from business perspective) or increasing the organization's funds through fund raising (from an organization perspective) is still the main focus, but one must look out on how the organization would achieve the maximum profit without compromising their ethics or the organization's stand. During one of our organization meetings, it was discussed in the meeting that there was a beverage company who was willing to sell products in our school during our organization's 'Org Week' with a portion of the sales be given to the organization. Since our organization is an environment one, the Associate Dean of Student Affairs told the then officers that they cannot allow the said company to sell products during the 'Org Week' as it would not define who our organization is since the company's products contain chemicals, which is harmful for the environment, at the same time in terms of the health of the people. With these kinds of experiences I'd encountered before, I am now more conscious in terms of decision making when it comes to fund raising or doing activities that would not affect the stakeholders negatively. I'm fortunate that aside from being part of the organization that promotes to be environment conscious, the college I graduated from gave emphasis on this issue and ensure that whenever we are to make a fund-raising, we have to ensure that the said products and sponsors exemplify for being environmentally and ethically conscious.
During my stints holding various positions in the environmental organization I'm in, it is sometimes frustrating that you do not have the luxury like other organizations wherein:
- We are not an academic organization that asking for payments is almost impossible as we should take into consideration that the members we had were already required to pay for their acquaintance party or any other activities that academic organizations required them to participate in.
- By living with the organization's principles, we cannot afford to spend lavishly unlike other organizations and we are to work based on our limited resources.
- It takes luck to have someone who knows how to do financials at the same time is honest in terms of transparency of financial reports.
With these obstacles, it is really quite tempting to really find a way to improve an organization's financial position without compromising on ethics. There was an instance wherein the then president told me (as an incoming treasurer) that there is money left during the previous school year and I have to get it to the outgoing treasurer. However, I was told by that treasurer that the balance at the end of the school year is zero. Honestly, I find it funny that I used to tell my mom during these years that when I became a treasurer, I have to literally start from zero as the outgoing treasurers during my two stints did not give me anything and when I was to turn over the money to the incoming ones, they can start with some money. I'm not sure if these treasurers were telling the truth or they took advantage of the majority of the members' lack of knowledge when it comes to financing (most of the members are mass communication students; therefore they had a tendency to dread numbers, etc.). When I became the president of the said organization, I ensured that through my monitoring and guidance to my then treasurer (who also happened to be a mass communication student), I was able to make sure that the money was properly spent and there was enough money left for the succeeding school year.
There are other organizations who had their issues when it comes to finances, sometimes it was the cause of conflict within the organization. Aside from getting money that is not theirs or putting a premium on a price that is not justifiable, I also think that lack of transparency is unethical. In any organization whether profit or non-profit, it is important to be transparent. When I was a treasurer, I knew I could have taken advantage of my co-officers' lack of knowledge when it comes to finances since I'm the only business major that was an officer. However, knowing that the members entrusted me in that position because of my ability to deal with these numbers, at the same time by being honest, I should live by that trust that was given to me. Even if my president that time joked that I might be 'selling her' already because she just kept on signing without even reading the reports, I know that she trusts me enough for her to do that and I know I did not fail her. (Evidence of taking over her reigns as president of the organization)
This is actually the reason why I never wanted to become part of my academic business organization and settle to become a member of it (mandatory membership). Because in the said academic organization, the then treasurer did not disclose the financial report which made us wonder why are we (3rd and 4th year students) supposed to pay every week because of the organization's mismanagement of funds, so we could help the organization recover their lost funds. I felt that if she only showed the financial reports, there would be no qualms from our side. I knew by refusing to become an officer of the said organization doing that would affect my chance to work in a more prestigious company as they would prefer a graduate who had been an officer of an academic organization, rather than an interest organization that emphasized on a cause which can only be appreciated by non-government organizations. Despite these challenges, I told myself and my mom during that time that I would like to lead an organization that have an established culture and have a proper set of ethics and transparency. By being part of the organization for a long time (even longer than my required membership in the said business organization), I knew how my organization runs, especially when it comes to finances as I was the Treasurer twice and I know that I will not break the trust of the members and officers. Until now, I knew what I did was totally worth it. I did not have any stress when it comes to dealing with the organization's work ethics especially when it comes to money, I had a good set of officers and members, and I end my stint by being recognized as one of outstanding presidents. I might have not done all these things in my last school year if I did not factor in the culture that my organization which had their own set of ethics.
Work Exposure and Realizations
Being a rank and file employee, one would actually not care about the company's profit. The only thing employees would care is that they should get paid, nothing more, nothing less. In addition, as long as you follow the company's rules and policies, you will be fine. However, one should not work for a company for money, even if it would mean that the company is not complying with the ethical rules (e.g. poor work conditions). It is nice that more and more companies are starting to be environmentally aware such as requiring people to use reusable bags and not plastics. I think if all companies would keep on doing these things, we would prevent the damage that we did to mother nature.
Footnote:
[1] A Letter From The Year 2070
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