Coke Cleans Up African Water

Chris McDonald - one of my favorite bloggers - just posted a story entitled, "Coke, CSR, and Water." (See The Business Ethics Blog) In it, he poses a challenging question about whether doing something out of self interest (i.e. opening the African market to selling more Coke) is an ethical approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) if the increased market also presents a threat to health. Whew! Admittedly, McDonald sees both sides of the coin (as he always seems to, by the way).

His challenge raises the issue in corporate ethics that goes deeper than helping some African nations. The question that I believe needs asking at Coke - and every other corporation including my own - is, "What do our actions say about our true and deeply held beliefs?"

I worked on strategic planning with a trade association of distributors of alcoholic beverages and was constantly blocked on trying to get them to look at the broader, longer-term issues. Even when asked in a totally self-serving way, the questions about whether the future may contain some threats to their livelihood and hold some opportunities to look at alternatives to distributing alcohol were simply not open for discussion. Their actions told me that their true belief was that distributing alcohol was the only business to be in. (A bigger problem may be that they are focusing on their product, not their business, but that's for another discussion).

Corporate Social Responsibility is not merely about how we spend corporate dollars or what programs we can create to help others. It is, at its core, about who we are and what we are doing in relation to the rest of the world - starting with our internal and external customers, and then going out to our stakeholders, local and global communities.

McDonald's confusion about Coke's CSR, I would submit, comes not from the dilemma of trading the good of clean water for access to more sugar in poor African communities, but from the bigger question about how products with potential dangers can be recreated so that they pose no threat. Or about how balance can be built in to their sale and use. Or about how consumers are educated about moderation.

Coke is not a villian here, but they may very well be missing an opportunity to make a much bigger contribution to society as a whole - even while serving the interests of their stockholders.

Cell Phone Ethics

What in the world have cell phones got to do with ethics?

If you start with a simple definition of ethics - our choice of behavior based on our beliefs - then how we choose to act in any realm demonstrates our true and deeply held beliefs. So, if I choose to talk on my cell phone while purchasing my Happy Meal at McDonalds, I am demonstrating a belief that the person waiting on me is nothing more than a paid servant who does not deserve my attention or respect.

Ouch!

Hard words, but think about it. This is truly what ethics is about - putting into action what you really believe.

Now, back to cell phones. What would you surmise about your true beliefs if you are the cell phone user in the following all-too-common examples?

1. You are talking loudly on a cell phone in a public place.
2. You take a call while out to eat with a companion.
3. You are talking on the phone while waiting on a customer.
4. You take a call during a pre-arranged appointment or a scheduled meeting.
5. You leave the ringer on during a performance, worship session or seminar.

Draw the line at judging others for their cell phone behavior. They may very well be acting in perfect accordance with their beliefs, or there really may be an overriding reason for their departure from their usual behavior.

But DO judge your own behavior. Is the belief you are broadcasting really the one you want to be known for?

Ethics permeates every action, every word. SWiM(TM) Starting With Me is a reminder that each of us has personal responsibility for shaping the ethics of our workplace, our relationships, our society, our politics, etc. Why not start right now - with your own cell phone usage?

John Kerry and the Ethics of Humor

For those of you who think ethics is either an academic exercise before the fact or a finger-pointing event after the fact, John Kerry's recent "botched humor" tells a different story.

What are the ethics of humor?

Ethics can be broadly defined as the choice of behavior based on one's beliefs. What we say with humor is often what we really believe. I don't pretend to know Kerry's inner thoughts, but I suggest his "botched humor" reveals some disturbing beliefs about our armed forces - and of course, that's the charge many are leveling at him.

What about you and I? What does our humor reveal? Sarcasm is a thinly veiled criticism wrapped in humor so that we can toss it off with, "Oh, it was just a joke." Ethnic or gender related jokes are funny because there's a part of us that either believe their basic premise, or, worse yet, believe it's okay to demean others.

Humor is a great gift, but used without conscious thought, it can hurt and destroy. In the public sector it is more visible, but no less harmful.

This is a tough lesson to learn, especially for those of us who are more outgoing and tend to talk off the top of our heads. I'm still working to bring my humor under a tighter rein. I challenge all of us to be able to say, "Starting WIth Me, humor will not be used as a weapon." - SWiM™