Business Ethics

I was listening to Radio 4 on the way home on Friday evening. (I am still in my 30s, honest, I know the middle aged spread, grey hair and Radio 4 listening suggest otherwise) Anyway I was listening to the Friday night comedy and a funny sketch ridiculing Barclays Bank for their alleged decision to lend £750M to members of Robert Mugabe's government in Zimbabwe.

Now little old me doesn't claim to understand politics at that level, but if it was true, Barclays would find it very difficult to justify such a decision on anything other than money making grounds. And without such justification this would offend most people's morals.

This got me thinking about my own moral integrity. Let us assume for one moment that the above allegation were true (I can't imagine the BBCs lawyers allowing Friday nights programme to be aired if it were complete fiction), I started to think about the theoretical possibility that Barclays were a prospect of mine and I had an opportunity to close a deal with them, would my moral compass allow me to go ahead with this deal?

The idealist in me would like to think not, but the realist in my is slightly embarressed to suggest that I might. My love for a conspiracy theory leads me to ask, if I dig hard enough would I find similarly morally questionable deals done by many multi-national corporates?

The truth is I don't know the answer to the above question. We all have a moral compass that guides us in life but difficult decisions are rarely a case of black and white and navigating the grey is one of the challenges we face, understanding that in these days of Web 2.0, where everybody has a voice, the wrong decision can have far reaching consequences.

Young Enterprise

A couple of weeks ago, Dan McGuire was telling me about his involvement with Young Enterprise, and invited me along to the London Finals of their Company Programme, for which as 'Young Entrepreneur of the Year' himself he had been asked to compere. For those of you not familiar with the concept it is where young people at school are encouraged to start and run their own companies, which are assessed on a range of criteria and the best ones in each local area going on to compete at regional and national level. With over 4,500 students in the London area having started this years challenge, this was the best 5 companies competing for the award.

Now those of us that know Dan, know that if you stick a microphone in his hand he usually ends up being the star of the show. He assures me that this has nothing to with the fact that Tarah, Ricky, Alex, Hannah and the team work very hard to make him look good. However I am delighted to report that last week he wasn't, not by a long stretch. Neither was the fantastic venue at Credit Suisse, nor was Levi Roots, the guest speaker, nor was the distinguished panel of judges or the various dignitaries that are always present at these kind of events.

The stars by a country mile were the five groups of young people who had come up with the ideas, formed their companies and managed and run successful businesses.

I must confess that I went along expecting a pleasant evening and to applaud the hard work and endeavours of these young companies. Well I got that completely wrong. What I actually saw was five very viable small businesses. Five companies that have better business concepts than many that have graced Dragons Den and some that grace our industry today! Five organisations that could probably support their directors and staff if, with a bit of guidance and support, they were encouraged to continue. At least two business that had the potential to be very successful SMEs with the right support. And perhaps most impressively, five presentations that were genuinely better constructed, better delivered and considerably more engaging than most of the ones I have sat through at CIPD in the last couple of days.

The travesty is that the rules of the competition force these young people to liquidate their businesses at the end of the process. But of course that's not the point and doesn't in any way detract from the value of the process. In fact, although it is an issue that should be addressed, it is only an issue because the rest of the process is such a success.

So with my evangelical preacher's hat firmly and proudly on my head. If a young person, who can demonstrate a track record in this process, applies for a job at your company, remember that is likely to be worth considerably more to you than the equivalent person with twice as many GCSEs and no life skills. And when Dan asks you to spare two hours a quarter to help advise and inspire these young entrepreneurs you better have a good excuse for saying no!!!