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How Would You Like a Business to Behave?
professorhojo asks: "These days on the 'net, it seems like a company can go from being regarded as a Good Citizen to Evildoer in a matter of hours (witness Yahoo!'s willingness to time and time again reinterpret their own privacy policy as it suits them and their advertisers). I am at the helm of a new software company and I want us to stand apart from the rest with rock solid ethics, and policies that put the user first, that won't change or waver at the behest of advertising money. What I want to know from you is simple:what are the essential things a company has to promise and stick to? More importantly, what things have companies done, which have made you do a double-take and totally reconsider doing business with them? Why am I asking this? Well, I believe that in the future, the ethics of a company will greatly impact on their bottom line. What's good for our customers is good for us, and customers will be drawn to us BECAUSE of it." It sounds good, but reality has a tendency of getting in the way of good ethics. What suggestions would you make to keep difficult choices from compromising the ethics you would like your company to embody?
"Don't be evil."
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However, the founder of the Computer Game Developers' Conference, Chris Crawford, wanted to CGDC to be a non-profit organization. But their treasurer wanted a for-profit corporation, he convinced the other members of the board that this was the way to go. Eventually the board members kicked Crawford out, took his stock and sold the conference for $3 million, giving Crawford only a small piece of what the others got.
I had second thoughts when I read this in the book "Chris Crawford on Game Design." All it takes is the other people in your company to decide your ethical ways of doing things are compromising profit. If this happens your screwed.
But by all means don't let something like this stop you from trying, I'm sure there are ways to prevent take overs, I just don't know what they are.
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One of the most important commodity you'll have to maintain is trust. This is not simply not changing your policies repeatedly; it is a combination of factors:
Privacy
Your customer's data is important information. Almost every type of company imaginable now takes andvantage of it, and shares it with others. This includes, but is not limited to: banks, phone, cable, utility and insurance companies, subscription-based services, etc. It's scary just how many companies will "opt you in" to their marketing schemes, some of which they no longer control once it leaves the company.
It is important that you protect your customer's data, both from fraud and industrial espianage... as well as from your own company. It's pretty straightforward: Think about what your company will do with the data, then ask yourself if you would trust your own personal information to your own company. If the answer is no, you might want to make some policy changes.
Customer Service
The United States is an interesting place. Customer service seems to be a far greater deal than it is elsewhere, according to all of my international friends and relatives. Because of this, your customer-facing employees can win you evangelist customers, or sink your company just with words over the phone. Here's a couple of tips:
Communication
Your actual policies aren't all that important. You will discover which ones will work, and which ones won't, based on customer response. But you must stick with those policies. From a customer perspective, what you tell them you will do is your policy. If you break your policy for a customer, you'd better be damn sure that they know that they shouldn't expect it in the future. It's even safer to not break your policies at all... but that is sometimes necessary to appease a disgruntled customer. But also bear in mind that this customer might not be in the right. If this is the case, it's not necessarily y
There are people out there in business who aren't complete sleazeballs, who understand that spamming (either via email or fax) is not an ethical way to grow a business, that 'human resources' means more than just hiring and firing. Find them and hire them. Listen to them, and let their ethical lead create an honest workplace.
While we're at it, resist the lure of VC funds for as long as you can. VCs are (almost-universally) ethically-suspect, not-very-smart people who have too much money and lots of friends at the golf course. As soon as they get a hook into your company, the rot will set in - even if it's only you having to BS them at board meetings.
Just be yourself. I'll figure out for myself an appropriate level of trust and respect. I mean, I don't really understand your question. What people want is usually pretty obvious. It's also impossible to give everyone everything they want and remain in business. Figuring out the balance between those two is what management is there to do. It's not something you can sum up in a neat formula.
When your company is down on its luck, it's easy to say things like, "oh, our customers would really love to hear about all of these great offers we have for them," as opposed to, "let's not spam these people who trusted us not to inundate them with crap."
It's probably a fair guess that most companies don't start making ethically questionable decisions like the above example unless they would otherwise go out of business. What you really need to ask yourself is whether or not you are prepared to let your company go under rather than letting go of your ethical standards. It's not an easy question to answer.
--One more thing:
o DON'T force your employees to work >8.5 hours a day. Hire enough people to spread the work around.
o If anyone has to work over 8.5 hours, PAY OVERTIME.
o And remember to hire *good* middle management who will actually stick up for, and defend, their employees - NOT mistreat them.
o Promote from within wherever possible, and give good raises if someone has to go from hourly to salary.
o DON'T take advantage of salaried workers. The tendency is to overwork them. Make sure all their hard work is appreciated.
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== WolfriderV6 == I'm willing to admit that *I just might* be wrong... Are you??
The #1 thing that pisses me off about many companies is their disregard for the customer when they discontinue products. One month they are hyping the product as the optimal solution to your problems, the next month, they kill the product, drop support for it, remove all references to the product from their web site, and pretend it never existed.
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That's a huge one for me - I just did overtime for the last 4 weeks while we were running one of the courses the charity I work for runs.
I'm not getting paid for it, just some extra time off over christmas - however I'm more than happy to do it because all through the time I've been thanked for doing the work, and generally enjoyed myself.
Another big one is to make sure your employees are happy doing what they're doing - and more importantly, if they're *not* happy, listen to that fact, and try to let them do more of what they do enjoy.
Speaking as one who has been in business for some time, I'd say if you think being ethical is going to help you get ahead in business you are engaging in wishful thinking.
What is right is not always expedient.
What is expedient is not always what is right.
Honesty starts with yourself: exactly how much are you willing to compromise on your beliefs? Which ones are really important?
If the answer to the first is zero and the second is all of them, then you either are purer than virtually anyone else in business or you haven't really figured out where you want to draw the line. If you don't decide in advance then you'll probably end up letting circumstances draw the line for you.
In the end, the main check is this: what would be the result if the thing I am about to do were made public? In a sense, ethical behavior can help reduce certain downsides from recklessly unethical behavior. On the other hand, in extreme circumstances, if expedience is your only guide then you will take the Faustian bargain: either your company continues with tainted ethics, or it dies and the people workig for it are let go. This is hard because, selfishness aside, people depend on you and if you are sensitive you will feel this as a moral obligation, and you will have a hard time teasing out what is purely selfish and what you are doing for your people.
Integrity is the one ethical virtue which is a true business asset.
Integrity in the business sense is when your deeds reflect your words. This can be a competitive advantage. But it's harder, because it means knowing when (and how) to say no.
But in the end, the full spectrum of ethics doesn't do much for your business. You must choose the ethical way because it is what you believe in, because of your self-regard, the desire to preserve your own character.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
I would take issue to the oft-quoted (even in this discussion) statement "The customer is always right".
.0001 point microfont on the bottom says "by cashing this check you agree to join this plan that is going to cost you and arm, leg, and the gonad of your choice, for a cost orders of magnitude greater than this check is worth."
The customer is not always right. However, the customer always thinks he is right.
If you blindly follow your customer's whims you will end up with a car designed by Homer Simpson that nobody wants.
If you LISTEN to your customers, and then THINK about what they said, however, you will end up with a product that they will want to buy.
However, the tricky bit is dealing with a customer that you disagree with - you must show tact in how you blow them off.
Case in point: I used to be a regular customer of the Super8 motel chain when I travelled. I would stay there preferentially to other chains. (you may note the use of the past tense in those statements).
One day I received one of those "fake check" mails from them - what looks like a real check, but in
Those sorts of things piss me off. I found the name of the CEO of the company, and sent him a nice letter explaining that I felt such advertising was unacceptable, and that while I was sure that they didn't really MEAN to do that, they should look into the company that they hired to do this and re-evaluate their position.
In short, I gave them every possible out to use to say "OOPS! Sorry!". I was NOT accusitory in the letter.
I seriously injured my jaw on the floor upon reading their response. It wasn't a polite-but-bland "YourConcernsAreImportantToUsThankYou" form response. It was not a "You are right, the responsible individuals have been sacked" reponse.
It was a "Shut up! You Suck! We aren't doing anything wrong! This is NOT misleading! IS NOT! NEENER NEENER NEENER! We are making money doing this, HOW DARE YOU CRITICIZE US!" response.
Needless to say, they lost my business, and I take every opportunity to pass this story along to others.
In summary - listen to your customers - they may not always BE right, but they always THINK they are right. If you don't THINK they are right, then DON'T just blow them off.
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