CHAPTER 5
Ethics
Providing Service
The formula statement for ethics is “Be of service.” “Generosity is the best policy” is a good summation of the meaning of ethics. In practice, this can mean, for example, the simple matter of willingly sharing the blame for failures, especially when coupled with the preeminence of team spirit. An example of poor practice is that, in one American firm, a creative scientist was punished for being oriented more toward product integrity than toward costs. True, as a result of his orientation, the company did experience a drop in its stock price. But the blame was leveled firmly at the creative scientist, not at the CEO, even though the CEO is accountable for the entire firm.
Being of service also means seeing things ...
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