issue 1 - Roland Berger

p food for thought
ethics and management
to contribute to their communities and uphold
human rights. The Ethics Standard of
Excellence is intended to ensure that all
employees are provided with comprehensive
training and health care coverage, as
well as a humane work environment, fair
compensation and environmentally sound
operations. “The ICCA wants to express
these principles in terms of balance-sheet
items to show companies the impact of
their behavior,” says Steiner, who since
June has also been advising the United
States government on cultural and ethical
matters. The professor recommends that
companies create an ethics board to introduce
the code of conduct in order to ensure
that employees are qualified and in compliance
with standards.
“Credibility and growth”
Roland Berger, founder and chairman of the supervisory board of Roland Berger Strategy
Consultants, believes that ethical behavior is absolutely essential for companies today.
His advice: The more credible a company’s actions are, the greater its growth opportunities.
THINK: ACT Mr. Berger, when it comes to
corporate decision-making, is it possible
to act in a consistently ethical manner, or
does that conflict with the profitability
principle?
ROLAND BERGER One can act ethically, and
one must do so. Companies today are closely
Roland Berger, consulting company founder
scrutinized in terms of what they do, how
they do it—and often also where they do it.
Issues that relate to subjects such as quality,
product safety, employee relations, corporate
commitment and environmental considerations—anywhere
in the world, as it happens
—are openly discussed and analyzed without
individual companies really having any influence
over the respective evaluation criteria.
The more a company displays ethics and
credibility, the greater its opportunities for
growth are.
So are ethics indispensable?
Absolutely! If customers or employees are not
happy with what they find at a company,
they may very well vote with their feet. Those
consequences will be quickly reflected in the
company’s performance on the stock market.
That’s tremendous leverage.
In your opinion, what are the pillars
of corporate ethics?
First of all, a company needs a set of values
that it stands for and advocates. However,
most corporate visions and mission statements
are market- and not value-related.
Second, it needs a clear statement on how it
plans to achieve its objectives. This statement
will also determine which procedures it will
pursue or exclude. Third, there must be principles
in place that govern internal processes
and their interactions. Fourth, you need
clearly delineated responsibilities. Rules and
individual obligations should be monitored.
Companies often lack this culture of responsibility—meaning
you don’t have to look far to
see why there is a lack of credibility.
Management’s reputation is affected by a
few, highly visible cases. Can ethical management
remedy this type of situation?
In many countries, there have been some very
clear cases of management failure that, in the
public eye, have been more influential than
the proper ethical behavior displayed by the
vast majority of companies out there. It takes
consistently unimpeachable behavior as well
as openness and communication to survive
this type of situation. Ethics is not just about
having values, it’s also about conveying
them, both within the company and to the
public. That way, should a company find
itself dealing with a crisis, it will have a
credible base from which it can believably
defend its actions.
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think: act