Why do ethics matter? | Shefali Roy | TEDxOxbridge
Summary
TLDRThe speaker addresses the importance of ethics and compliance in the workplace, using personal anecdotes and real-world examples to illustrate the challenges of maintaining ethical standards in various industries. They discuss the impact of unethical behavior on individuals and organizations, the role of personal values in decision-making, and the necessity of integrating ethics into corporate culture. The talk concludes with a call to action for individuals to bring their own ethics to their workplaces and to be agents of change within their organizations.
Takeaways
- 🗣️ The speaker emphasizes the importance of ethics and compliance in professional settings, highlighting the need for individuals to maintain their moral values even when faced with organizational pressures.
- 🚶♂️ The 'dot' analogy is used to illustrate the constraints speakers face, symbolizing the limitations in movement and expression that can also apply to ethical decision-making in certain corporate cultures.
- 🏢 The talk touches on the challenges of working for unethical organizations, prompting the audience to consider their personal values and how they align with the ethics of the companies they work for.
- 💼 The speaker's experience in compliance is shared to provide real-world examples of the dilemmas faced in maintaining ethical standards within various industries.
- 📈 The script mentions several high-profile scandals (Panama Papers, Fox News, FIFA, Wells Fargo, Uber, Tesco) to underscore the consequences of unethical behavior at the organizational level.
- 🌍 The global impact of unethical business practices is discussed, with examples ranging from money laundering to the Bangladesh factory collapse, showing how such actions can have far-reaching effects.
- 💡 The necessity of personal ethics in the workplace is stressed, with the speaker urging the audience to consider how they would handle situations where their values conflict with organizational demands.
- 🏛️ The concept of 'tone at the top' is introduced, suggesting that leadership plays a critical role in setting the ethical standards for an organization.
- 🤔 The audience is encouraged to reflect on their own ethical decision-making, pondering how they would respond to ethical challenges in their professional lives.
- 🌟 The speaker concludes by advocating for personal integrity and the importance of being the change one wishes to see in the world, particularly within the context of business ethics.
Q & A
What was the speaker's initial restriction when they started speaking?
-The speaker was initially restricted to stand in a designated 'dot' and was not allowed to move around as they usually do during public speaking.
Why did the speaker decide to comply with the 'stand in the dot' rule despite their usual speaking style?
-The speaker decided to comply because they were discussing ethics and compliance, and they felt it was hypocritical to not follow the rules in a setting where they were advocating for adherence to standards.
What is the main topic the speaker is addressing in their talk?
-The main topic the speaker is addressing is the importance of ethics in personal and professional life, particularly in the context of working for organizations that may engage in unethical practices.
What challenges does the speaker face in their role in compliance?
-The speaker faces challenges such as being disliked within organizations, being called a 'handbrake' or 'stop sign', and having to enforce rules that others may not like, which can lead to a lonely role.
What was the unusual job offer the speaker received in Geneva and why did they refuse it?
-The speaker was offered a job to help clients launder money in Geneva, which was attractive due to the high pay. They refused it because it was against their ethical values and could lead to legal consequences.
What are some real-life examples of ethical breaches mentioned in the script?
-Some real-life examples mentioned include the Panama Papers, sexual harassment scandals at Fox News, bribery scandals in FIFA, Wells Fargo creating fake accounts, and Tesco overstatement of accounts.
Why does the speaker emphasize the importance of ethics in business?
-The speaker emphasizes the importance of ethics because unethical behavior can lead to severe consequences, such as the Bangladesh factory collapse that resulted in over 1,100 deaths due to corruption and unethical practices.
What is the speaker's view on the teaching of ethics in business schools?
-The speaker believes that ethics are not sufficiently taught in business schools, as they experienced a lack of ethics sessions in their Executive MBA program, suggesting that individuals must discern their ethics from their personal backgrounds.
How does the speaker suggest integrating ethics into an organization?
-The speaker suggests that individuals should bring their own ethical standards to the organization and be the change they want to see, especially if the leadership does not demonstrate a strong ethical tone.
What is the speaker's advice for individuals working in organizations with ethical issues?
-The speaker advises individuals to reconcile their personal values with the organization's practices, consider the impact of unethical behavior, and if necessary, be the catalyst for change within the company.
Outlines
🗣️ The Challenge of Speaking Within Boundaries
The speaker humorously recounts their initial encounter with the event's rules, which restricted their natural tendency to move around while speaking. They were told to stand within a designated 'dot' and not deviate from it, a metaphor for the constraints they often face in discussing ethics and compliance. The speaker sets the stage for a talk that promises to be both engaging and challenging, touching on personal ethics, morality, and the complexities of working within or against unethical organizational practices. They acknowledge the audience's potential fatigue with the topic after a long day but assure them of an attempt to make the discussion lighter.
🔍 Ethics in the Corporate World
The speaker delves into the practical aspects of ethics and compliance in the workplace. They discuss the importance of ethics in guiding personal behavior and how it translates into corporate settings through codes of conduct and policies. The speaker uses real-world examples such as the Panama Papers, Fox News scandals, FIFA's corruption issues, Wells Fargo's fraudulent accounts, and Tesco's accounting irregularities to illustrate the consequences of ethical breaches. They emphasize the significance of ethics in daily business operations and the impact of leadership's ethical stance on organizational culture.
🏭 The Ripple Effects of Ethical Lapses
This section of the talk focuses on the broader implications of unethical decisions within organizations, particularly in global supply chains. The speaker references the Bangladesh factory collapse, which resulted in over 1,100 deaths due to corruption and disregard for safety standards. They challenge the audience to consider the personal and organizational ethical responsibilities when such tragedies occur and how to reconcile individual values with the actions of the companies they work for or with.
🚨 Navigating Ethical Dilemmas in High-Stakes Situations
The speaker explores the complexities of ethical decision-making in high-pressure scenarios, such as the hypothetical situation where an executive must decide whether to pay a bribe to prevent a kidnapping. They discuss the gray areas of ethics, where actions that may be considered illegal or unethical in one context might be necessary for safety in another. The speaker encourages the audience to reflect on their personal ethical spectrum and how they would integrate their values into their professional lives, especially when faced with systemic issues within an organization.
🌟 Be the Change: Ethics as a Personal Responsibility
In the concluding part of the talk, the speaker emphasizes the importance of personal ethics and the role of individuals in shaping the ethical landscape of their organizations. They challenge the audience to consider how they can be agents of change, advocating for ethical practices from within. The speaker also reflects on the lack of formal ethics education in business schools and the need for individuals to develop their ethical frameworks independently. They end with a call to action, encouraging the audience to not only adhere to their own ethical standards but also to influence the ethical culture of their workplaces.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Ethics
💡Compliance
💡Nefarious
💡Policies and Procedures
💡Tone at the Top
💡Unconscious Bias
💡Whistleblowing
💡Regulation
💡Crisis Management
💡Bribery
Highlights
The speaker humorously describes the restriction of movement within a 'dot' during a speaking engagement, setting a light-hearted tone for a serious topic.
Ethics is defined as moral behaviors and principles governing a person's actions, with implications for personal and organizational conduct.
The speaker discusses the challenges of working for unethical organizations and the personal dilemmas it presents.
Compliance is portrayed as a tough job that often involves being the bearer of bad news within an organization.
Anecdotes from the speaker's experience in compliance, including being labeled as a 'handbrake' or 'stop sign', illustrate the role's challenges.
The importance of ethics and compliance in daily life and business is emphasized, with a call to consider their role in decision-making.
The speaker recounts a job offer involving money laundering, highlighting the ethical conflicts that can arise in professional settings.
The Panama Papers are mentioned as an example of legal but ethically questionable activities, sparking a discussion on morality in business.
The speaker critiques the handling of sexual harassment scandals at Fox News, pointing out the financial settlements involved.
FIFA's ethics issues are discussed, including the sacking of their entire ethics office, raising questions about the organization's commitment to reform.
Wells Fargo's creation of fake accounts for profit is cited as an example of unethical practices within a major bank.
The speaker reflects on the 2007 financial crisis, questioning the ethics of banking practices and the resulting bonuses.
Uber's ethical challenges, including harassment allegations and data privacy issues, are highlighted as current examples in the tech industry.
Tesco's accounting scandal, where they overstated profits, is mentioned to illustrate the impact of unethical corporate behavior.
The speaker argues for the integration of personal ethics into organizational culture, suggesting that individuals can influence change.
The tragic collapse of a factory in Bangladesh is used to illustrate the real-world consequences of unethical business practices.
The speaker concludes by encouraging the audience to bring their own ethical standards to their workplaces and to be agents of change.
Transcripts
I was told I have to stand in the dot
when I came in here earlier they said
you have to come down these stairs and
you do your thing and then you should go
up those stairs
and I tend as a speaker when I train or
when I do public speaking to walk around
a bit and move my hands a lot and so I
said I can't move out of the dot I was
like no you can't and then I got a look
which was you're talking about ethics
and compliance so I can't you just
comply and just you know just stand in
the dots so I'm going to stand in the
dot thank you very much for inviting me
to speak I know you've had a long day
and ethics I think is the last thing
perhaps that you want to talk about at
this really sort of a lovely day of
interesting talks variation of
conversation and I'm going to ask you
things about what is your personal
ethics how do you value morality how do
you think about your value system when
you work for work for an organization
that's unethical when you work for an
organization that does things in a
nefarious way and so it's a bit heavy
for a Sunday night so we're going to try
and make it a bit lighter so that you
you enjoy it a bit but I am are going to
ask you some questions and I want you to
think about certain things in a certain
way as I was introduced I've worked
across the world and I've worked in
various sectors and industries and I've
had a lot of fun doing it and I've been
in compliance for a very long time for
those of you who are looking for jobs in
a couple of weeks and months for those
of you are in business school I think
our friends from Judge are here as well
and various academics and students and
sort of audience members around around
town it is something that affects you
every day actually in your life in your
work in how you interact with your
colleagues with your friends and and as
a job it's a very tough job I wouldn't
say it's easy I wouldn't say it's
something that I would encourage you all
to do because it questions you a loss it
sometimes puts you in a corner no one
likes you in an organization I've been
called a handbrake I've been called a
stop sign I wouldn't put that on your CV
I put that once on my CV and they didn't
like it very much but I thought but
that's what I've been called that's my
job title it wasn't a pleasant day but
that was what it was so it's a sort of
feel that not every
like sand not every thinks about but it
happens all the time in business and so
what we're going to do is relate ethics
and relate compliance and governance to
your lives and to your business lives
as it happened the next couple of years
in months and and however long you have
your career I once went for a job and I
thought I'll tell you this as an
anecdote many many moons ago after I
worked at Goldman's I was asked
interview for a job in Geneva and I was
flown over there and it was fantastic
and it was a really lovely small little
Swiss bank and they said to me listen we
would love for you to come here and show
our clients how to loan the money and I
said I think you mean anti-money
rangering and he said no I would love
for you to show our clients how to loan
the money because they have a ton of it
and they don't appear tax and no one
wants to know about it and so I'm going
to ask you to help them launder it and
you know I'll tell you I'll tell you
very honestly I was going to be paid a
lot of money a lot of money to do this
job and I thought at the time if I did
it if I took it I would never have to
work again after I turned 13 and so it
was an incredibly attractive offer
and I never of course I never took it
but I taught at the time there's a huge
pot of money right here and then this
jail and you know it's tough to top gig
but I I don't look good in orange
and as I said these days orange is not
the new black but it was at a time and I
thought it can't be that this is how
it's done
it can't be that this is how we think
about business and ethics so easily and
so effortlessly as breaching ethics or
breaching laws and making people loan
the money it can't be this easy but you
know what it is and so a handful of the
stories I tell you today are things that
either happened to me or some of my
friends who are in industry similar to
mine or in rules or rule a jobs that are
similar to mine but it happens all the
time and so when you go out in the world
and you think about your jobs if you
guys start your own companies if you are
working for people if you're cofounders
if you're going to employ people think
about that think about how does ethics
factor into your decision making into
your organizations into how you build
your teams into how you recruit when you
hear of incredible start-up thinking
well she might not get any money because
she's brown she's Indian you know she's
a techie she's a data scientist and no
VC on the planet is going to give you
money if you've got to fill in 148
applications and no one's giving you any
money for those things
how does ethics and morality and
unconscious bias work in that situation
what happens to you as an individual
your development your culture how do you
integrate that into your organization's
and ethics actually is all part of that
so we'll talk a little bit about that
and I thought the first thing you'll do
is say what is ethics it's a very simple
definition it's the moral behaviors that
governed it's the moral principles that
govern a person's behavior and it sounds
so simple and so when you translate it
into your corporations it things like
rights and wrongs it's things like
values it seems like codes of conduct or
standards it's the thing which I hate
calling which is policies and procedures
whenever you hear policies and
procedures it makes my skin crawl
because it's just such a boring name for
something that's so valuable to an
organization but that's what it was so
when your compliance team or when you
get and you start a new job and they say
to you can you please your compliance
training the amount of groans I hear
unbelievable I've had some people say to
me in an organization if you do my
compliance
train for me I'd really appreciate it
and I said but you know I wrote it for
you to do because you're a new employee
and you're someone who has to understand
the values of our organization so it is
something that happens all the time when
you join a new company in any facet
whether you're in pharmaceuticals or
technology or finance or or any sort of
industry you will be doing this you will
be making sure that you do ethics
training you do compliance training and
you have a governance program and so
therefore why does ethics matter why is
it important and I have heard in the
last couple of weeks and these are
things that I pulled up from slides and
and newspaper articles and I thought
I'll show you something like this the
Panama papers all of you have heard of
the Panama papers the Panama papers you
know arguably one could say well they
were perfectly legal they didn't do
anything wrong
arguably and then other people say but
you evaded tax and uilleann you know you
had all these shell accounts and all
these shell companies and so you didn't
pay a bazillion tax amounts of tax that
you were meant to pay but it's perfectly
legal of what they did they didn't do
anything wrong but morally a lot of
people have so many things to say about
it so many things to argue about it and
you have things like Fox for those of
you who are in media or keeping up in
media Fox News was having heaps of
scandals with women being sexually
harassed and they were it was perennial
so - every second week there was
something coming out and then a handful
of the men who were unfortunately
harassing these women were asked to that
girl and I read some really bizarre stat
the other day which said that about 75
million dollars was paid out to settle
all these cases and off the 75 million
20 million was paid to the women and 55
was paid to the men who harassed them
that's a bit of a weird stat I mean it
seems to be the opposite way around but
that's what happened
that's kind of weird FIFA for those of
you who are football fanatics FIFA was
in number of bribery scandals across the
world mr. Blatter was asked to leave
because he was apparently part and
parcel of it but what was most
interesting is about earlier this year
FIFA hired an independent Ethics
counselor they hire chief compliance
officer they had a board many many board
meetings and internal audit teams
looking at bribery and corruption in the
organization they had a new CEO and a
couple of weeks ago if not months ago he
sacked the entire ethics office and so
an entire office that was designed and
hired to clean up an organization has
just been sacked so one could argue I
mean are they ever going to clean up the
act are they ever going to do something
that's different then you have people
like Wells Fargo's so Wells Fargo's an
American bank and it turned out that
they've been creating multiple in
hundreds and hundreds of thousands of
fake accounts so that the sales people
could beef up their Commission's to get
more money to take home and to our
friends who bank with Wells Fargo in in
America and when all this came out the
first thing they did was run home to
find out if theirs was a fake account if
someone had stolen money from their
account and moved it to one of these
fake accounts but that's the other thing
to think about when it affects you it's
very different than if it affects
someone out over there because it's your
bank account it's your hard-earned cash
that someone's stealing
it's your hard-earned cash as someone's
actually mirroring into a different
account but that happened a lot and
here's the other interesting thing the
head of the retail bank who was in
charge of this was paid a lot of money
as a bonus and under public pressure she
was asked to return it but she was paid
it so we look at back to 2007 during the
financial crisis where bankers
I mean apologize to anybody who's in
banking I was in banking sight I can see
it I think they were paid millions and
millions of bonus for for cat for
causing the financial crisis and I'm
being very facetious but there is a
cause and effect here so that's kind of
worrying and I look at something like
uber we use it every day I love it I
love over I love using the product but
for those of you who are keeping up with
what's going on in Silicon Valley and
keeping up with technology
uber has had a horrible year this year
whether it's you know an engineer say
there's been sort of repeated harassment
and and abuse in in the company or
they've had a driver being a
used by the CEO and that's been recorded
or they have all these actually these
these technology sort of data points
within their software to track where you
are or they've got another sort of
technology software inbuilt into the app
that masks where how to get around the
bid all their data points I mean that's
kind of crazy and that's happened
repeatedly only this year it's a sixty
billion dollar company and they're quite
a few people I know who would love to
work for them I'm pretty sure in this
room but again would you work for a
company like this would you work for a
Wells would you want to work for someone
like FIFA if this is the type of
organization in leadership they have and
finally very close to home we've got
Tesco Tesco was fined 100 whatever
twenty nine million dollars for
overstating accounts by three hundred
twenty-six million pounds I'm sorry and
you know you guys when you when you look
at when you look at regulation you hear
of this thing called sarbanes-oxley and
you hear of Accounting Standards and you
hear of non conflicts of interest and
the independence of an auditor you
haven't overstated by ten bucks three
hundred and twenty six million pounds
and that's not a decimal just flying
around somewhere that's a lot of money
so again this is all tone at the top and
ethical considerations of an
organization how do you think about it
what does it mean how do you how do you
integrate ethics and compliance into
your organization's the other thing I
learned when I was thinking about this
talk is whenever you hear scandal in the
headline that's not a good day that's a
bad day that's that's not a good thing
when you hear the words cover up that's
not a good day
but in my world in compliance it's my
job to kind of help fix these and that's
really tough I've had situations or
friends of mine have had situations
where they've been told you will need to
bury something you'll need to bury a
problem because we just don't want to
think about it why because it's going to
hit my bottom line but this is going to
cause problems going to cause problems
maybe for my staff for my suppliers for
my customers for my team well you have
to bury it because if I don't hit my
numbers this quarter it doesn't matter
about this ethics issue it doesn't
matter at all I was doing I'm at I study
a
Executive MBA side Business School and
we're in the process of finishing
actually thank goodness but one of the
things we realized is over the year and
a half that we've been there we haven't
had at all a session on ethics and so
you'd hope you're not taught that you
know you're not taught ethics in school
you're not taught it at a business
school or your universities and so you
have to sort of discern what your ethics
and what your values are from your
friends your family your parents your
siblings your culture and you integrate
that into your organization because for
sure an organization is not going to do
it and so we had to do an exercise
recently reiterated in terms of what's
important in an organization whereas
ethics fall and you'll see tons of
surveys actually about this compliance
governance ethics internal audit having
codes of conduct is almost at the bottom
and the first thing that gets cold in an
organization when times are tough is
guess what me so I don't think that's
bad
but I don't think that's great because
it says that the tone at the top really
doesn't care it's really not important
we don't want to change the organization
we don't want to change our culture so
therefore as an individual how do you
reconcile your personal values and your
ethics with an organization that doesn't
want to that's a really tough thing to
think about you could be working for you
know a Wells Fargo you could be working
for uber and this is what they're doing
if they're systemic for example
systematic and harassment of female
engineers which is not the case but if
it was would you be able to stand by and
let that be okay if you're the team that
has to clean it up how would you clean
that up that's a really tough thing to
think about so one of the things I
wanted to ask you is you know why does
ethics matter a couple of years ago you
might have heard for those of you who
work in fashion or work in in textiles a
couple of years ago there was a factory
in Bangladesh that collapsed it was a
high-rise building was about seven or
eight floors and it was full of women
and men and I think to some degree
children or well young young people so
includes and in the textile
manufacturing industry sewing gone
and for people like a Primark and
Benetton and all these sort of high
street companies and obviously you go to
its Vietnam and Bangladesh and India and
Mexico and all these other sort of
emerging market economies which are
supplying for because of as you know
cheap labor so the building collapsed
about 1,100 people died and when we look
at the investigation of what happened it
turned out that the building was built
on a pond a pond the construction
materials that were used were subpar the
time taken to construction was a lot
shorter than it should have been for a
building such as that there were three
extra floors to the building that should
not have been there and all the
structural engineering and the auditing
done to check the safety of the building
had been bypassed so you read between
the lines and you can get what I'm
saying which is people were bribed along
the way to make this happen faster so
that all these people could get into the
building to design and so all these
clothes for the high street so when I
think about ethics and I think about
cause and effect and responsible and and
repercussions corruption and bribery and
illegal activity and unethical behavior
caused 1,100 people to die it's not just
oh you know orange is not the new black
it's not just that it's people can die
because of it and when you are an
organization that might have to employ
people in Bangladesh to make your
clothes and you do an audit of your
labor practices and your team says well
they're cheap labor
you know India and Bangladesh have 1.2
billion people China has 2 billion
people so what if 1,100 people collapse
in a building and it's your job to clean
it up it's your job to think about well
how do you reconcile your moral values
and your ethical values with a company
or an organization that doesn't and how
do you integrate that into solving the
world's problems how does that have an
impact so ethics matters I don't have an
answer for you today as to what and how
it looks for you because your ethical
spectrum is very different to mine but
when you join an organization when you
go into the world and whether you start
or end or you're in an employee and
organization these are things that come
up and so you have to by some default
bring your own ethical standards to the
organization that you work for and you
might be surrounded by people who don't
think like you and don't have the same
moral compass that you have but you
still have to hold your own I've had
occasions when you know the Geneva
occasion is such a wonderful one for me
because I just thought if I'll never
have to work again forever but it's at
it come it is against every single value
I hold as a human being everything and
so I didn't want to do it and there's no
way I was going to do it but those are
things that I think about in my job
every day and so you know people say oh
compliance must be so lonely as a role
or governance must be so lonely on being
the person who says to someone or you
can't do this must be such an awful job
and I think for those of you who
actually work in banking I'm almost
certain that you hate your compliance
teams because they tell you what you
can't do but it's not in certain
industries we tell you what we can't do
because that's the law and then some
other ones it's something that you have
to do so I just thought I thought I'll
give you an example and just quickly
want me to think about something and you
work for an organization you've done
you've been an ethics your whole career
you good at it you love it you love what
you do you love the team's you work with
and you work with people that are great
and fine you're learning a lot and you
like the company you like the mission
that it has you like its values so far
so good so far everything is going well
and you think is great so I'm going to
ask you for a show of hands how many of
you would work for this company now
quite a few quite a few that's really
great it's the NHS not because you're
not going to pay we paid a lot of money
but this is what happened very recently
at NHS a lot of data there was a data
leak those thousands of people have been
put to
put at risk thousands of people the data
as they put at risk the person who's
responsible disappeared for 28 hours to
48 hours the minister was nowhere to be
seen and now you have to clean up and
that's a really tough gang so think
about that think about how that works
for you and then finally I want to just
ponder this bribery is a perfectly
acceptable business expense and in some
occasions it is a friend of mine many
many years ago was the crisis manager he
used to be of head of crisis and and
global threats for an oil and gas
company and he said to me we used to
train our employees on kidnapping
because when they were in sort of very
well
nefarious locations there was a threat
of kidnapping and so once they recorded
a border and I'm often say which country
in which border but they recorded a
border and someone at the border said to
them if you don't pay us a hundred
thousand dollars we're going to kidnap
this executive now in that instance you
know what you're not going to call your
compliance officer you're not going to
wait wait a minute let me just speed
dial the compliance lady or the
compliance guy who sits in New York or
London and see if I'm authorized to make
this $100 thousand or whatever bribe
that I have to pay you're going to do it
but it is a bribe it is an illegal
payment you do it and so therefore
there's this huge sliding scale of
ethics and morality and what's good and
what's bad and when is it okay and when
is it not okay but it affects you
whether you know it or not every day in
your life and so I'm leaving thought for
you is when you think about an
organization when you think about your
companies where you stop them or whether
you're part of them figure out how to
integrate it into your company bring
your own ethics and bring your own
morals to the company because that's
vitally important and most importantly
if you figure out that tone at the top
is non-existent be the change you want
to see because you don't do it no one's
going to do it and that's really really
important to think about and you're not
going to learn that in business school
by the way so be those people thank you
you
[Applause]
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