Conscious Consience

Executive Summary

"How right could business be?" who would decide this? "Being right" has always been used in subjective terms. Moreover there are individuals who can prove the existence of ethics in the most unethical of business practices. In recent years media around the world have shown a rapid increase in interest in the ethical aspects of the corporate world. We speak with unprecedented fervor about the need to observe corporate ethics in a generation which might be considered as the pinnacle of economic immaturity. The genetic manipulation of animals and plants and the cloning of animals caused heated arguments about the question whether technology can be allowed to intervene in the design of life itself. According to many the patenting of live organisms is fundamentally wrong. Mad cows and plagued pigs have been taken as signs that our bio-industry has lost all sense of moral direction. In the medical sphere, technological progress confronts people with hitherto unknown moral dilemmas: Is abortion defensible in the case of severely handicapped fetuses? Should everything that is technologically possible actually be done? Are we investing too much in spectacular medical high-tech and too little in relatively dull, but nonetheless essential, forms of daycare? And so on. Computers lead to their own moral questions, ranging from privacy-infringements to the shamelessly aggressive and sexist character of many computer games. And these are only a few of the many examples of the moral issues around technology which in recent years have become the topic of extensive public debate. Moreover with the advent of this century we were at the threshold of both the WTO regime as well as the heights of information technology. Companies vociferously corroborate the paradigms set out by the Intellectual Property Rights so as to protect their ideas yet these same companies use intensive IT tools to delve deep into the lives of their employees which violates their right to privacy.

Introduction:

A decade after the historic victory of the free market economy over its communist counterpart it would be a fallacy to think that we have reached Ð''the end of history'. As the clash of Ð''Seattle Man' and Ð''Hindustani Man' and numerous protests against a rather one-sided model of global capitalism have shown no system, be it political or economic, can survive in the long run if it lacks the legitimacy of those involved. Thus, thrown back on it and lacking a true rival, the free market economy is more than ever forced to legitimate itself from the inside. People today are not only questioning the impact of an ever faster and globalizing economy but also the impact of economic growth on the social and natural environment in which we live. The unsolved problem of a deteriorating natural environment, constant pressure to rationalize the world of labor and to work more and longer hours and the hectic pace of a market-oriented lifestyle are leading many to question whether economic Ð''progress' is really improving our quality of life. Have we perhaps lost the sense of proportion and the feeling for the pre-eminent values in (business) life? Contemporary critics are not alone in finding it increasingly difficult to escape this conclusion.

Corporate Social Responsibility a Farce: There has been a sudden surge of interest in the CSR amongst all existential companies. CSR has been a mandatory part of our countries corporate laws for decades but to most it was nothing more than an atrophied appendage in the obligatory responsibilities that were to be thrust on the corporate houses. But suddenly even those companies that bear the stigma of ignoring their social obligations have briskly moved into the bandwagon of being philanthropic. The question that arises is whether these companies have suddenly discovered their path to redemption or it's a strategy to survive the downward spiral of prices, market depletion and the consequent erosion in profit margins. Most companies that today are the epitomes of business ethics and CSR have abused their very consumers before the economy had opened up to the world. We stand in an age where even ethics, corporate governance etc. are used as baits to attract both consumers as well as potential employees.

Information technology sounded the death knell for conscionable business practices:

Do we have any company where the pre-eminence of the malevolence glass ceiling has ever been questioned? There are many who advocate the existence of glass ceiling and there are others who denounce it. But, the debatable issue here is not whether it exists or not. The concern is whether it is right or wrong? In today's scenario where women are equally trained and skilled it will be definitely wrong to stop or hinder their advent. But if her ascend is not at par with the organizational interest the dilemma arises. BPOs have the highest percentage of women working for them but the cost incurred by the company on providing security to the night shift workers is enormous. Moreover the liability increases many folds due to unwanted media attention. When the security and the social system can not be changed, the only feasible option left seems to be to go for the male counterparts. Certain situations in the industrial setup such as blast furnace, machine garages etc are not considered playable for lady engineers, and their physical limitations do bound their presence. Now business cannot be altered to suite a few and hence an unofficial filter is put to screen them to stick to the suitable environment. This is often named as the glass ceiling.

With most of our legislators being both economic and social illiterates could we assume companies to opt for conscientious business practices?

A recent statement by a reputed politician after the cola pesticide episode "even mother's milk has pesticides" reflects the deepest assemblage the elected representatives have with the corporate giants. To justify their support for these corporate they are ready to make such public statements. In a country where a rupee rolled from the centre reaches the target only as a five penny, expecting a sudden change in moral values is foolish. Now to sustain a successful business guided by principles is very difficult if not impossible. From getting a loan sanctioned to getting a bill cleared each and every step has to move through this unscrupulous channel. To fight against this is always a loosing game. Even if one has to change this socio-political system one has to be a part of the system. After all-filth can never be cleaned without getting your hands dirty.

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