The Sunday Mail
ISSUES of ethics and integrity dominate social conversations as corruption festers.
It is now not uncommon for businesses, be they those run by sole traders or by big retailers, not to pay for goods or services received. Dishonesty is a terrible trait, and it now seems to be running through the veins of both local businesses and businessmen.
It is simply immoral and unethical to cheat others. Businesspeople need to be honest in whatever they do.
An analysis of seven different psychological studies in America found that “upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class individuals”. A series of experiments showed that upper-class individuals were more likely to break traffic laws, take valued goods from others, lie in a negotiation, and cheat to increase their chances of winning a prize.
And this doesn’t even begin to examine the many, many significant cases of fraudulent behaviour in the banking industry.
Or private equity firms that cheat their investors over 50 percent of the time. Or the many unscrupulous corporate tax avoidance strategies.
Numerous reputable sources have concluded that lower-class individuals tend to be more generous and trusting and helpful compared to the upper class. As people gain in wealth, they depend less on others, and thus they have less reason to understand the feelings and needs of the less fortunate.
The poor are better at interpersonal relationships because they need other people. In addition, careful studies have determined that money pushes people further to the right, making them less egalitarian, and less willing, as a practical consequence, to provide broad educational opportunities to all members of society.
One neuro-imaging analysis even suggested that the super-wealthy view photos of impoverished people as things rather than as human beings.
They react to the poor not with sympathy, but with contempt. It, however, becomes worrying if such behavour spreads throughout society. There currently exists many cases where individuals receive goods from a supplier and fail to pay within the stipulated time. Not only will they fail to pay, but they will also become elusive.
Pursuing the debt becomes cumbersome. It is very important to draft agreements before doing any transaction; it should be clear how payment for the services will be settled.
If the transactions are of a bigger scale, one should consider engaging a lawyer to draft the agreements. But there are also issues of courtesy. Business does not always go as planned, if one had promised to own up a certain obligation within a certain period of time and subsequently realises that it is no longer possible to honour the obligation within the agreed time frame, it is prudent to communicate with the supplier and explain the situation in advance.
It is naive to wait for the supplier to follow up the payment. One definitely needs to be professional and transparent. Integrity is very important in every business.
There is a school of thought that is convinced that a business can only grow at the expense of others. It is not always the case. There are businesses that have built their wealth by not paying creditors and defaulting on bank loans.
This cannot be regarded as doing business, but cheating. Some businesses even go as far as evading taxes. This is criminal.
The mega salaries saga that sparked outrage in Zimbabwe is a clear testimony of how the rich cheat the poor. The CEO of a company might demand a high payout, hefty benefits, a top-of-the-range vehicle and yet workers are poorly paid. They might not even be getting their salaries.
Wealth needs to be distributed evenly. Ethics and morals should be considered as sacrosanct. People need to learn to make a decent living. Also, they need to be selfless.
If you have workers in your company, pay them; if business is not performing well, engage and explain to them. Do not remain silent yet you know that your workers expect a pay cheque from you. It is wrong. A lot of employers are taking advantage of the current desperate search for jobs by the unemployed.
The integral role of workers in a company cannot be overemphasised. Workers create wealth and they need to be paid.In an interesting 2012 paper titled Higher Social Class Predicts Increased Unethical Behaviour, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the authors, Paul Piff, Daniel Stancato, Stephanie Côté, Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, and Dacher Keltner empirically examined the relationship between relative wealth, propensity to engage in unethical behaviour, and attitude about greed.
Piff and others reviewed the relevant literature and hypothesized, based on a landslide of evidence, that affluent people, relative to low-income people, will be more likely to engage in and condone unethical behaviour and value greed.
Greed is a very terrible thing to have. Always consider the welfare of others when you do business.
If you are getting money by not paying creditors, you are also destroying the business of your creditor.
How will your creditor fund his operations if you do not pay them? Let us develop a culture of paying for services rendered to us. If you are supplied with water, electricity or anything, ensure you pay to enable sustainability of those organisations.
Stop cheating and aspire to have the highest level of ethics and integrity.Taurai Changwa is an articled accountant, ACCA finalist, and MD of SAFIC Consultancy. He writes in his personal capacity and can be contacted at [email protected], Facebook page SAFIC Consultancy, and WhatsApp number 0772374784
