"It is probably true that business corrupts
everything it touches", said Eric
Hoffer, an American social writer. Does it mean
that no one should touch business? The answer is: an unequivocal "No", for that is not
what it means. All that it says is: Don't get
corrupted by business. Now, the natural fallout of
this is another question: Who should not get corrupted? Obviously: the leader, for it
is the leader who heads a business - the organization created to carry out
whatever business it undertakes - and steers it
through for success.
It otherwise means that business leaders must be conscious not to get corrupted,
for it drives away `trust' from businesses. Secondly, "Our market system
depends critically on trust." Trust is the bedrock
of business organizations - all transactions ultimately rest on personal, emotional,
and social trust. Which is why, it is often said
that it is not desirable to carry out business in an atmosphere of `no trust'. It is indeed
said that in the absence of trust and cooperation between businessmen, the state
would collapse soon. Yet, human beings, as
Roderick Kramer observed, are naturally
predisposed to trust. This propensity to trust
indeed makes each one of us vulnerable to: all pervasive abuse. |
