Ethics is Good Business
Profit is the first motive of business and assures its sustainability. Without profit, no business will prosper.
However, profitability is not the only measure of success in business. In fact, today many businesses leaders would craft their measure of business success by the standard of triple bottom line, meaning, profit, people and planet.
The first speaks of money measurement. The second and third, people and planet, are not monetary units but ethical standards. It means that successful business have to be ethically compliant in achieving its profit.
Recent economic crisis, though financial in nature, is also a ethical crisis because of its neglect of human values of integrity and of failure to protect the interest of the many other stakeholders; instead greed and self-interest triumphed.
Financial dishonesty and personal greed is at the core of the collapse of home mortgage financial set-up. Many local banks collapsed due to personal interest superseding sound banking practices. People centered values are sacrifice in the pursuit, not even of profit but of personal financial gain and advantage.
Other businesses are successful and enduring because their values are centered and rooted not only on profit but on the people and planet where integrity and sustainability are matters of great importance.
Gina Lopez is showing us that there are business bad for the planet not by closing mining firms but by opening our eyes to the horrific environmental destruction mining is causing in their surrounding areas.
