In a society that loves speed, modern interventions like technology and electronic messaging replaced manual labor and long conversations, consequently altering lifestyles, making habits and decision-making of today’s people entirely different from that of their ancestors—or even parents. The fast-paced nature of day-to-day matters is overwhelming: speed is no longer just an option to most in the working class today but a necessity. For instance, electronic messaging has greatly increased work productivity by providing people with means for faster communication. A space-age system known as “online research,” quite ironically now, finds itself in library databases—there are websites and platforms that encourage this kind of research, suggesting that the Internet is ultimately a faster and more practical avenue for gathering information.
The 9th Global Business Conference on the 7th of February 2015, tackled several issues on matters of technology and the future—two of the most frightening words anyone could remind a businessman or a manager with in this day and era. While it is true that people who do not or refuse to catch up with trends will be washed away by the coming flood of newer things, there are things that do not change, and things that no matter how fast things come and go cannot be measured or bought. In the interest of all these fast changes around, an important question comes to mind: how far can one really deviate from principles and ethics, in light of all things superficial and fast? Ethical issues like piracy and intellectual property come to mind again—books can be reproduced with fast technology, and ideas can be “borrowed” or even “claimed” inappropriately, all for the love of convenience.
Mr. Mark Gordon, the Managing Director of Indigo Strategic Marketing Pte. Ltd., in his lecture gave insight into this idea of fastness. The word he kept using is “beauty.” His emphasis on beauty goes together with the importance of simplicity and of efficiency. His proposal is that business problems—in other words, things that are done the long way—can be better solved using the simpler method over the longer method. During the question and answer portion, I raised an ethics question, which was not properly answered. I shall rephrase the question in these words: “In the interest of choosing ‘the solution with the fewest steps,’ a digress from otherwise ethical decisions is sometimes inevitable. Reproducing materials under copyright is really easy, especially when things are easily shared on the Internet. Pirating movies and songs is also easy to do—and doing this saves one from going through the hassle of spending money and going to the CD store. What then is the best course of action?” In my view, piracy and copyright infringement are wrong. An organization, however, might look at “wrong” differently and replace it with the word “practical.” It is practical to just download materials from the Internet instead of purchasing them. It is practical to borrow ideas and then use them in the company so that things may turn out more beautiful and elegant—things that the public will deem to be products of the company, which in reality came from ideas that are only unethically stolen.
Authors Dyck and Neubert offer a different point of view. Organizational culture plays a very crucial role in the development of a company and in a management. The “set of informal shared values, norms, standards for behavior, and expectations,” more often than not, defines the success or failure of an organization, inasmuch as virtues and goals are concerned. To an end, people will want to purchase from reputable companies, because careful, discerning consumers would normally choose good brands over “just nice products or services;” and a good brand is one that has gained the public’s trust over the years. The reason ethics is important to consider in the realm of money-making is that both parties—business and consumers—are affected. There are people who allow the reproduction of copyright materials, insisting that it helps advertisement by making the products more known and familiar to the public. This course of action, however they refashion it, will never be ethical because it involves an act of crime. The practical way may not necessarily be correct, and the correct way may not always be the most practical; but between the two, the latter is recognized more virtuous as it follows the multi-stream view.
Part of the motives of studying ethics is proactivity and strong internal networking in the organization or company—these attributes are attained when good communication is present. Ms. Cecile G. Tamura, the President and CEO of Okasaki Industrial Corporation, and Airily Corporation, brought up an interesting issue with regard to ethics and communication. This issue, better known as “disruptive innovation,” involves at least two companies, an older company and a newer company. The case of Kodak and Instagram was used to illustrate this issue. Kodak has been present for over 80 years as the leading photo company, according to the lecture. At the emergence of a new millennium, social networks and smartphones began attracting the public and the market. Instagram, a free social media platform, became Kodak’s best worst competitor because of the sudden change in the market’s needs and wants as a result of the popularity of digital technology. Suggestions of new management plans were given to Kodak. A new management plan for the company would perhaps be a timely solution to the sudden drop of their sales. However, the response was unthinkable. It was something like “Why will you teach us new management? This method has worked for over 80 years!”
A company’s ability to adapt to changes is a hint of good organizational culture. More importantly apart from being able to adapt to changes, a company’s openness to feedbacks and suggestions shows marks of good management and leadership. The fastness of how things come and go in this era is unpredictable. It might even be safe to say that even “good, old methods” of the past need to be further developed in order to meet the demands of the future—or even the present.
Ms. Tamura ended with a statement that I will also choose to conclude this essay with. In her exact words, “A lot of things that we know now are going to be obsolete. Are we prepared for jobs that do not exist yet?” Because many students today are fixed on the idea that finding a job is the next best thing to do after graduation, it is highly predictable that naturally, the answer of most people would be “no.” I believe questions like this call for immediate attention and action. Questions about the future serve as guides and reminders to us to learn to properly and ethically manage the time, networks, and organizations we have and are entrusted with. The business leader or manager of the future understands the value of working with ethics. The future of his company is as bleak and stainless as perhaps a plain two-dimensional circle. As he walks through life, he has the upper hand to choose what to shade his company with, whether good or bad. Temptations involving money, power, corruption, and vices are replete, and one unwise move can result in a bad shade for the company. However difficult, a good business leader will work hard and persevere to keep his company away from threats. This course of action is not only called virtuousness. It is also called prudence.
Great!
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