What should business ethics mean for consumers?

In a free column in Forbes, Ian Ayres and Barry Nalebuff (both professors at Yale Law School and Yale School of Management) ask: What do we make of the fact that most people's actions aren't consistent with what they consider to be ethical behavior? Ayres and Nalebuff think this is a result of their not having thought much about the issue. The most worrisome result is that this inconsistency causes some people to try even harder to find an ethical justification for their actions. And that leads to the worst possible approach to ethics, in which your actions determine your ethical reckoning. The reasoning goes as follows: "I am an ethical person. Hence, if I did something, it must be ethical. Let me find the ethical justification for it." Better to allow the possibility that you made a mistake but will do better in the future.

Bigger fish to fry

(Cross posted from my java.net blog)

A few years ago I became the Development Manager for a small InfiniBand software startup. I had been a Team Lead for some time, but this was the first time that I was "the Boss" rather then being the "First among peers". It was a hard transition for me, and I quickly overwhelmed myself and pissed-off my developers by trying to micro-manage them. There is some question as to whether or not developers can be managed at all, but I assure you that we cannot be successfully micro-managed.

I'm not sure if I ever really got the hang of the role (the company died when InfiniBand stalled), but I did learn a lot about what works and what doesn't. Much of the credit goes to my wife Teri (the teacher) for giving me the following advice:

"Developers are problem solvers. Don't tell them what to do, tell them what the problems are."

This amazingly simple advice saved me. We are problem solvers. We aren't drones. Give us a problem to solve, and we'll be delighted to come up with a hundred ways of fixing things, and some of those solutions might even be practical.

The downside is that not all of us are particularly adept at identifying which problem we should work on. For me, the most important problem to solve is the one that I am most interested in solving a the moment. Intellectual challenge and novelty always get prioritized higher then mundane things like those nasty little exceptions that get logged in the middle of the night.

I think that the Java community and open-source developers in general are having problems in identifying which problems to work on. There seems to be a huge duplication of effort, and while folks may not be reinventing the wheel, there do seem to be an awful lot of enhancements to the wheel underway (Java.net alone is hosting more then 1000 projects). A lot of great work is being done. A lot of great ideas are being pursued. But I can't help feeling like I am running as fast as I can just to stay where I am.

I could list examples, but folks are passionate about their causes and being negative doesn't really help much. Why ruin a good beer by crying in it? The Java/Open Source ecosystem is a heck of a lot better place to work and play then the "rival" ecosystem that I escaped from, and I sure don't want to go back.

I am just a blogger. I haven't written any great books, and I haven't contributed any great software. I'm just a guy with opinions, and one of my opinions is that we need some new visions to guide us. As my father might have said: "We need bigger fish to fry".

Give us the right problems to solve, and we'll do marvelous things. Leave us to decide what to do on our own and we'll probably be arguing about the EJB 99.99 spec in the year 2027 (by which time Java developers will have eleven hundred and seven MVC frameworks to choose from). If we tackle the right problems we'll be forced to make infrastructure decisions and get on with it.

All this speculation begs the question: "Who should tell us what the important problems are that we should be working on?" I think I'll follow my wife's advice and pose that question as a problem for my readers to solve.

Ethical conduct pays off !

In recent research performed by the Institute of BE - an organization which is promoting corporate ethical best practices, it was found that companies displaying a "clear commitment to ethical conduct" almost invariably outperform companies that do not display ethical conduct. The Director of the Institute of BE, Philippa Foster Black, stated: "Not only is ethical behavior in the B. world the right and principled thing to do, but it has been proven that ethical behavior pays off in financial returns." These findings deserve to be considered as an important tool for companies striving for long-term prospects and growth.



The following 7 Principles of B. Integrity are a good starting off place to consider. By integrating each of these principles within a company environment, a major step towards a responsible enterprise can be made.



Principle 1: Recognize that customers/clients want to do B. with a company they can trust; when trust is at the core of a company, it is easy to recognize. Trust defined is assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of a B.



Principle 2: For continuous improvement of a company, the leader of an organization must be willing to open up to ideas for betterment. Ask for opinions and feedback from both customers and team members and your company will continue to grow.



Principle 3: Regardless of the circumstances, do everything in your power to gain the trust of past customer's and clients, particularly if something has gone awry. Do what you can to reclaim any lost B. by honoring all commitments and obligations.



Principle 4: Re-evaluate all print materials including small B. advertising, brochures and other B. documents making sure they are clear, precise and professional; most important make sure they do not misrepresent or misinterpret.



Principle 5: Remain involved in community-related issues and activities thereby demonstrating that your B. is a responsible community contributor. In other words, stay involved.



Principle 6: Take a hands-on approach in regard to accounting and record keeping, not only as a means of gaining a better feel for the progress of your company, but as a resource for any "questionable " activities; gaining control of accounting and record keeping allows you to end any dubious activities promptly.



Principle 7: Treat others with the utmost of respect. Regardless of differences, positions, titles, ages, or other types of distinctions, always treat others with professional respect and courtesy.