Business and Ethics — How Far Would You Go?

I recently read an article about the American PR guru who, in the 1990s, was employed by a business consortium to create a climate change denial agenda. No doubt the fee made him rich, and he did the job so well that the arguments he created are still very active today.

Now, people reading this blog will doubtless have varying opinions on the value of the arguments around this issue. What struck me, though, was that the various employees interviewed, who’d participated in creating the campaign, were very evasive about what they actually felt about it. The focus seemed to be more on pride in what a thorough job they’d done than on whether they should have done it at all.

Is It All “Just Business”?

This very much reflects the traditional idea of business — the purpose is to make money, and you leave your morals behind at the door. According to this view, even legality is a grey area (the only relevant Commandment is the 11th — “Thou shalt not get found out”), and we’re still seeing the consequences of this attitude in issues such as the Grenfell scandal.

This has been changing, though, especially among smaller businesses. It goes along with the growing emphasis on bringing a personal level into business (“people buy people”). One consequence is that owners are thinking of their business in much more personal terms — and, as people, they have their own concerns and values they want expressed in how the business works.

Of course, it isn’t all purely altruistic. Customers want to feel the companies they’re buying from are trying to do the right thing, with moral values built into their structure. Sometimes this is genuinely the owners’ morality; sometimes they’re doing the right thing for dubious reasons; sometimes they’re faking it (as in the many cases of “greenwashing”).

It doesn’t always work. Even in the case of the most disingenuous fakes, though, the significant thing is the amount of market pressure to show a sense of moral values.

What Are My Limits?

I can’t really imagine separating myself from my beliefs and writing something I find fundamentally wrong. Needless to say, I have been asked, on a few occasions, to write for a client whose services I can’t really get behind — but these have been harmless enough. If adults choose to spend their money in a way I find ridiculous, fair enough.

I do certainly have red lines, though. I know more than most that words have real power, and what I write could conceivably change someone’s opinion — even, just possibly, their worldview. How could I bear to think I may have changed someone’s views to a position I consider immoral?

I’ve fortunately never been asked to write something that’s fundamentally against my beliefs, but I can certainly imagine briefs that I wouldn’t ever accept. Promoting the sales of weapons, for instance. Arguing for the legalisation of fox hunting. And yes, trying to persuade people that climate change is a hoax.

What Are Your Limits?

I’d instinctively assume that every business owner has their own red lines, even if they’re extremely different from mine — perhaps even opposite. But are there still people in business who simply take the attitude that “a job’s a job” and don’t worry about any wider implications? If so, the chances are they’ll soon be found out, in the current climate.

So I’d advise any business owner to think hard about their ethical position — and, whatever it might be, build it into the fabric of your business. You might lose a customer or two, but the chances are that others will find you more attractive than companies that are “just business”.