‘The rationale that everyone fudges, or that you have to cheat to stay competitive is a powerful lure, to be sure. The path to perdition is enticing, slippery and all downhill’ – Jon Huntsman, ‘Winners Never Cheat’, 2005. This is a quote contained in an interesting article we are running in this section headlined “Ethical [...]

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Ethics and morality over greed

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‘The rationale that everyone fudges, or that you have to cheat to stay competitive is a powerful lure, to be sure. The path to perdition is enticing, slippery and all downhill’ – Jon Huntsman, ‘Winners Never Cheat’, 2005.

This is a quote contained in an interesting article we are running in this section headlined “Ethical Road to Success: Is it worth travelling’ written by a young professional.

The boldness by which the writer Sonia Chinnaiyah has taken on the larger business community and is urging young people not to cheat – in the pursuit of their dreams and ambitions – is not only an honourable plea but a courageous one. “if you are silently suffering because you have kept your margin to safeguard the ethical values, be courageous and take a stand to not succumb to the subtle traps of your male bosses and colleagues. If the situation worsens and the top management and your colleagues are continuously enticing to tarnish your good character, it is better to leave that organisation to safeguard your values and to ensure a successful personal life,” she says.

For many young professionals the lure of big money (as the writer also points out) in the corporate sector completely takes control of their lives. Fast cars, wine, women and song then become the order of the day – to hell with ethics, morality, reasoning and good behaviour. The other day a group of learned persons discussed the need for an organisation to promote ethical behaviour in business given the rampant unethical happenings in awarding contracts, tenders and favour-seeking and simply day -to-day decision making.
As the economy grows and development takes off, corruption will be the biggest threat to future growth. Corruption has become an everyday happening so much so that on Thursday, world pop star Bono dubbed corruption as the ‘biggest killer of them all’. Speaking at a World Bank event in Washington, the well-known Irish rock star who founded an international anti-poverty campaign, said, “Everybody here knows that the biggest killer of them all… is corruption.”

More courageous words from Sonya: “As professionals we should be bold and strong and not let such immoral leaders misuse company resources and encourage unethical practices. As far as possible, it is advisable not to allow such leaders to walk all over you and end up doing majority of their work including unethical tasks, while they are busy doing nothing. In a worst case scenario, leave the organization if you are fighting a losing battle (e.g. if you are in a situation where the top management acts as a puppet for all the ‘professional crooks’ who dominate most of the key decisions).” Today’s corporate world is so murky (old boys network, crooks at play in every sector, favour-seekers) that there is little room for honest, decent professionals – particularly women – who go by the book and moral guidance.

The Supreme Court rulings on LMS, Sri Lanka Insurance, Water’s Edge and the oil hedging deals and the corrupt deals and flights (travels overseas) of fancy are just the tip of the iceberg of this global malaise. The kind of wheeler dealing that takes place in board rooms, casinos, night clubs and upmarket restaurants is far beyond what one would expect to happen behind closed doors. There is nothing clean in business today. Corporate social responsibility, the buzzword in global business on the responsibility of a business towards society, is being cleverly manipulated to cash in for profit or brand enhancement. However there are also genuine and sincere organisations which contribute towards community building; not for gain but social interaction and developing communities.

This brings us also to the recent budget handout in removing the tax on racing cars imports which is promoting vulgar or obscene extravagance among a small section of the country’s population. Will this be the way Sri Lanka is going to promote sports with cars like the Lamborghini costing Rs 120 million? A recent University of Colombo survey, according to a Free Trade Zone union, has worked out a ‘Living Wage’ per household as Rs 23,712 per month for a family of four. Take a village of 25 families with a household income of Rs 12,000 per month; these 25 families require Rs 3.6 million per year or with the cost of a Lamborghini can survive for 33 years.

Taking another example, a small town with 25 middle income families each earning Rs 25,000 per household could live for 16 years on the cost of the same vehicle! Is the government going to persist with promoting this kind of extravagance however small its ministers claim it to be and of no consequence to the larger economy? In the meantime young professional Sonya must be applauded for her efforts to bring sanity and decorum to business and professions, and trust she’ll have the courage of her conviction to move forward in life. We hope there would be more young Sri Lanka professionals like her.




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