Like constructing a tall building, the foundation has to be strong. One of the core cornerstones of a business is its corporate values. Because you are the owner of the business, you have a strong influence on your company’s values. I will start by sharing a personal story to illustrate.
I used to teach in MBA classes for the University of Strathclyde’s Business School, U.K. in the Far East and one of my mature graduated students invited me to help his company consolidate its growth. At that time, he just quit his job as a regional senior manager of HP to join this fast-growing company. The company started very small with a few technicians making components for big multinational companies and in less than 10 years, it was listed in the stock exchange. The multinational companies were expanding very fast and he rode on the wind of growth. The business grew phenomenally – transforming itself from a small business that everybody knew everybody into one that many people didn’t know many people in the company because of size. Working relationships became complicated and there were inter-unit conflicts. That was when I was invited to facilitate a management retreat in Langkawi, Malaysia.
With my facilitation, they managed to sort out a number of key issues but one thing I would remember for a long time. The Chairman who started and listed his company was there with a geomancer, whom he introduced as his personal adviser. The Chairman interrupted the meeting from time to time based on the advice given by his trusted geomancer. One of the things the retreat came up with was a set of corporate core values to guide the company’s decision-making. Interestingly, the geomancer advised the Chairman that 6 was an unlucky number and it was hence reduced to 5 – and the 6th value that was dropped by the Chairman was “Integrity”. He argued that it is difficult to do business with integrity – it hindered rather than helped his business.
Among other things, he cited the example of intentionally mixing rejected or faulty items with the good ones and delivered them to his customers so long as the percentage of rejects was kept within the contractual limit. He told his management team to take advantage of the provision given in the contract so that the company could make more money. Legally he was right but morally he was wrong according to the spirit of the contract. There were other practices that he would stretch to the limit to test the law. I could sense that some of his senior managers were not too comfortable but had to follow his direction.
A few years later, I read in the front page of local newspapers that the Chairman was charged in court for corruption, and eventually after a long-drawn court saga, he was jailed for many years because of many charges and the amounts were big. His listed company went into trouble and finally it was delisted. It was the demise of a fast-growing company that went down just as fast as it shot up!
One of my former MBA students who was a senior member of the government tax authority in Singapore, in fact, he was the Deputy Commissioner before his retirement told me that: “People who like to cheat, will not only cheat once”!
Values? Integrity? It depends on you really…. Do you want to build your business long-term or just make hay when the sun shines?! For certain cultures, bribery is a way of life – and there are permissible limits. When I worked in Shell the Business Principles were very strict and many of us followed them. My company Capelle had offices in China and Malaysia since the 90’s, and I have enough experience doing businesses in countries that have a different set of rules and cultures. I have travelled extensively in my younger days facilitating business strategy and operations for different companies in different countries. I have gone through many experiences and learned many lessons. Some of which I would probably share at some point later.
The choice is yours. You determine the kind of values you want to uphold, and the character of your company. It is best to be clear even in the beginning of the business so that as your business grows, you can educate your people or your helpers.
Values are not something I can TELL you to adopt or for that matter from others. It has to come from your own conviction. I can only point out the mine fields that lie ahead and others will probably confuse you with theirs. I do trust that you will make the right choice for your company!
Owner Managed Business 