Thoughts on International Anti-Corruption Day

“Same to you, Son… Did you know that today is three years since the UN signed the International Convention against Corruption? My guess is that several persons in positions of power, in many countries, have been caught demanding bribes and have been punished since."

“They were asking for it, Dad! Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

“I would say that the bribe-giver is as guilty of corruption as the receiver, Son…”

“They will pay for it! Tell me something, Dad – How did the word ‘red-handed’ originate?”

“It has some gory origins, Son, dating back to 15th century Scotland… It refers to the act of catching a murderer in the act, with red blood still on his hands.”

“Ughh! Then, what was that other new word you used last week, Dad - ‘Ethical’… What does that mean?”

“In the world of business, ethics is a phrase that keeps popping up nowadays, Son. It refers to knowing what it right or wrong in the workplace and doing what's right. All may be fair in love and war, Son, but not necessarily in business.”

“You mean there’s a right way in business too, Dad? You could have fooled me.”

“Of course, Son – There is a right way, and it’s not always as easy and clear-cut as your Arithmetic sums. Let me give you an example: Suppose a steel company makes a batch of steel that is less durable than its products normally are, although the steel is above industry standards, what should it do?”

“Why, sell it, of course, Dad.”

“I might agree with you on that, Son… But think deeper into the situation - Should the company tell its customers about the difference in quality? Should they sell this batch at a discount to its normal price? Should the sales team be told about the lower quality, so that they in turn can keep buyers informed?”

“Gee, Dad – Tough questions, like the steel itself.”

“Yes, they are, Son - and there is no concrete right or wrong answer in this case. It’s not all black and white, but many shades of grey. What is right and wrong sometimes depends on the industry context and how far the society has progressed along the road of business ethics…”

“Give me more examples, Dad.”

“Supposing an oil tanker belonging to a shipping company accidentally spills crude oil into the ocean, resulting in a minor ecological disaster. Despite that, at the annual shareholders meet, the management declares the highest ever profits and dividends in the shipping company’s history. They dismiss protests against the ecological damage as ‘outpourings of fanatics’. Has the company performed well, Son?”

“They have definitely not, Dad. That was an easy one to answer.”

“Yes, Son – That’s because, as Sri Lankans, we tend to be naturally conscious of our ecology… Now, let’s look at ethics at a transactional level. If the president of a company places an order for computers from the company in which his son is working – and the son ends up getting a commission. Is that fair, Son?”

“I would call it a conflict of interests, Dad.”

“Attaboy! If you were working in such an organisation, what would you do? Sometimes, employees fear for the consequences of reporting wrongdoing. But ethics ought to over-ride all else. There’s a phrase that has gained currency in today’s world: The ‘Whistle Blower’. He is a person who draws attention to wrongdoing within an organisation.”

“Imagine the cacophony in organisations with many whistle blowers, Dad! It would be deafening…”

“Insider trading on the stock market is another common unethical practice that has given equity trading a bad name, Son.”

“So, what needs to be done, Dad?”

“We need to clean up our act, Son. Let’s see what we can do to make business in this country even more responsible and respectable. We need to start thinking and talking about these things. Now is as good a time as any to progress further along the road of business ethics.”