Collective Responsibility

Ask yourself: “What do you or your organisation do when a social issue like obesity or marketing to children, is raised?” The typical knee jerk reaction is to point the finger: At other brands; at industry; at parents; at schools; at politicians; at anyone other than yourself.

If ethics is about exercising good judgement for the greater good, then it follows that if we all act responsibly then this collective responsibility will generate behaviour and actions that address issues such as these.

If there is something – however small – that an organisation, brand or individual can do, then it is our civic duty to do so. Passing the buck is not acceptable. And ignorance, in this multi media age, is not excusable.

Being responsible is more than a CSR page in the annual report. And more than donating to charity. It is about questioning your morals and values, and embedding them in your actions. For a business, that also means immersing your supply chain in these values. And codifying these so that your staff actually know what is deemed ethically appropriate for the business.

For an individual, it’s about retaining your own inherent morals and ethics, even and especially at work. Because individual decisions can be employer-focused and still ethically sound. And where they’re not, the organisation must address this.

Whatever way you look at it, acting responsibly is ultimately about doing good. And in times of recession and consumer disillusionment, doing good, is now good for business too.

So the bottom line is… the bottom line. Because no man is an island. Even in Ireland.

Ethics in a recession – an impractical ideal?

Let’s be blunt here, and start the way I hope (these blogs) to continue:

In the minds of most Irish consumers, it’s the unethical activities of business and politicians that has created this current recession.

It therefore follows that consumers are cynical about business and brands’ activities, intentions and marketing. So whilst the consumer movement towards ethics has been growing steadily over the years, the recession has actually been a catalyst to push this issue forward.

Brands therefore need to re-engage with consumers with a new and appropriate message. Messages that evoke values like transparency, honesty, respect, fairness, citizenship and accountability will resonate with this disillusioned audience.

Because it is a modern day truism that "doing good is good for business". The brands that can embed ethically-based values and conduct their business responsibly will reap the rewards that ethical behaviour sows: customer loyalty and lower attrition rates; employee commitment and greater productivity; shareholder interest; reputation capital and competitive advantage.

Every brand and business has the ability to be more responsible, what they have lacked this far is the appetite. But with increasing stakeholder power, and consumer willingness to act according to their conscience (think Fairtrade, organic and green) ethics is not an ideal but a reality that should be on every brand’s agenda.