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Diverse Ethics - Atul Shah - Wisdom Blog

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AVOIDING BOTTOM LINE FALLACY

There often is an obsession with the bottom line among business leaders. And this is usually described in financial terms - profit is the sole purpose of business, many argue. However, research is showing that this bottom line is not singular but plural - finance, environment and society are all important to performance, and businesses need to recognise their interdependence with the wider society and world.

Very few businesses do this currently - profit is the top-most priority, and money is the primary focus. What this does is to force the organisation to be mechanistic in its thinking and behaviour, as opposed to sensitive and inclusive. We should therefore not be too surprised by the lack of diversity in Boardrooms today. Leaders do not want different cultures, ethics or values to influence the management as they want to retain this singular focus.

However, we know that this behaviour is unsustainable. It produces negative impacts on society through the promotion of greed and exploitation, on the environment through waste and destruction and ultimately on the employees through stress and work which is devoid of meaning and purpose. Such organisations think that everything is a machine, including people and all you need to do to make it work is pull the right levers.

So in embedding diversity, there needs to be an understanding of differing world views and an appreciation and respect for them. Also there needs to be a desire to raise personal and organisational consciousness such that conduct is more inclusive and holistic. The organisation should not cocoon itself from the world, but want to be an active and integrated participant. In creating the space for diversity, thinking needs to shift. Then the actions will be sustainable.

Article added on 3rd February 2012 at 9:34am