150+ Multinational Corporations have Major Offices in Bangalore, India. If you work for one of them, (or would like to) then a visit to Bangalore would be a great addition to your resume.
Most of the American businesswomen I’ve talked to after returning from Bangalore last year had lots of questions and concerns, especially if they weren’t veteran travelers or had never been to India. It can be a bit of a culture shock. But it’s also a very warm, friendly and unforgettable city.
I read a great article in the Financial Times – The problem is not with MBA programs themselves, but the reward mechanisms that people use after they graduate from these programs. The problem is that the systems set up often reward dishonesty.
Blaming MBA programmes for encouraging the behaviour that has led to the current economic crisis is a popular pastime. But from the perspective of neuroscience, such criticism is misplaced, as are most of the attempts at reforming the programmes. It would be better to help students pursue their natural inclinations rather than vainly trying to thwart them.
We fault MBAs for their short-term focus, greed and unethical behaviour, but how could they be otherwise? An MBA education is not designed for those with an abiding love of scholarship in the field, nor for those focused on the betterment of mankind. Students enroll to enhance their ability to make money and we must expect them to behave in line with that goal.
- Charles S. Jacobs, Financial Times
I think Jacobs has hit on a key point. If you read this article after having read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, you come to the conclusion that the problem is not with making money, it’s with using dishonesty as a tactic in making money.
Studies have also found that once our basic needs are met, there is no correlation between the possession of wealth and happiness.
We will never eliminate greed from human nature, nor dissuade those that follow a course of study to make money from trying to make money. But we can make the case for behaviour that benefits the individual and society.
We can teach how to better anticipate the consequences of our actions, how ethical behaviour is more profitable and how balancing the drive for profit with a love of the work itself will lead to greater happiness.
Rather than trying to prevent people from doing what they’re going to do anyway, we need to teach them how to achieve their goals by helping us achieve ours.
Money brings controversy to almost any situation. Being able to handle financial situations with grace is the most challenging area of ethics and etiquette for a businessperson.
Have you noticed that most organizations try to isolate the whole idea of money from employees whenever possible, just to avoid the conversation? The problem with this approach is that it avoids the whole conversation and many people who are managers or entrepreneurs are dealing with financial issues for the first time.
In an ideal world, being honest and fair with money would be the only requirement, but there are some special situations that seem to make us uncomfortable without some guidance.
Dealing with Big Spenders.
We all know that bribery is a crime, and the appearance of it is anathema. In many industries, there are guidelines against receiving large gifts or being invited to expensive events. Be sure to comply with whatever legal or ethical guidelines are established.
If something falls outside the legal realm and is an etiquette question – as an example – a vendor or client invites you to an expensive dinner or sends you a huge fruit basket, just thank them and enjoy it.
Don’t feel inclined to reciprocate their generosity or have their gift influence a purchasing decision. A vendor will get the hint if you make decisions objectively and will probably start giving you better objective information and/or stop inviting you to expensive events.
In situations where the people you do business with are intending to “go dutch” on a dinner or outing that is beyond your budget, feel free to suggest a less expensive alternative (breakfast rather than dinner, for example.) It’s better to be seen as an honest, practical business person than as a big spender!
Fundraisers and Charities
If you’re passionate about causes, it’s fine to let people know that you’re participating in an event and request contributions, as long as the people you ask don’t feel pressured and have the opportunity to gracefully decline.
This is where Facebook or email might be a great medium because people can respond if they choose to, but don’t have to personally give you an answer.
Paying for Advice
Most of us have friends who are accountants, attorneys, car dealers, or (heaven forbid!) aviation marketing consultants. If you want an opinion, ask for a consultation at the regular hourly rate. If your friend insists on giving an opinion or providing a service for free, you should take him to dinner or send a box of candy as a gesture of thanks.
Collecting from a Client
Collecting from clients, especially when they’re friends, is the worst part of being an entrepreneur for many of us. If you’re on the other end of this, PLEASE pay your bills in a timely way or be proactive about communicating your intentions. If you’re the one doing the collecting, it’s best to have a series of reminders, preferably from an automated system, so that reminding someone of an oversight isn’t seen as a personal attack. Have a process, and follow it, even with friends who are also clients. You show them the same quality of professionalism when you do work for them – you don’t slack off because “they’ll understand that you’re just so busy right now” and try to get by with less than your best effort because your friend will understand. If you do your best work for them, you should show them the same level of professionalism when you collect from them.
I think it was meant to be overheard – the “guest” (I think) was insisting on paying the bill for lunch while the “host” (I think) was protesting.
“You’ve done me a favor by answering my questions.” The “guest” insisted. “I’ll pick up the tab.”
“But I invited you to lunch!” insisted the host. (Who was probably aware that it’s customary for the host to pay, but wasn’t clear on how to go about it in face of opposition. So he wanted to be on record with anyone who would listen that he was t least trying to do the right thing.)
The whole conversation put an awkward ending on what could have been a pleasant meal. Everyone (including the server) was embarrassed and unclear about how to proceed.
There’s a real simple way of preventing this problem that a friend from Europe taught me.
I wish that I head learned it years ago, but here it is now -
When you invite a client to lunch, it is best to:
Use a restaurant you’re familiar with – that way you know what to expect in terms of food, service and price, and the servers know you and are familiar with your habits and preferences. (For example – we like to linger over dinner and conversation with friends or guests and don’t like to be bothered too much.)
Call or visit the restaurant ahead of time and leave instructions for handling the bill when you make the reservation. (You can leave your credit card number, and ask them to add the customary 20% tip to the total.) That way the bill never arrives at the table, you never have an awkward conversation interrupting the business you’re discussing, and if your guest asks the server about the bill, he or she will be informed “it’s been taken care of.”
This seems like such a small thing, but it communicates a lot to a potential client. It says that you think ahead, that you take care of details, that you care about your clients and that you want their experience to be smooth and free of snags and surprises.
If you’ll forgive a post that has NOTHING to do with ethics or etiquette, this was just too beautiful not to share!
Enjoy!
http://www.jonschmidt.com Hi…Jon Schmidt here. This arrangement is dedicated to my 7 year old daughter Sarah, who loves the song by Taylor Swift. Because of a common rhythm element between the tunes, I decided I could mish/mash the two. …
The world’s culture and technology support a level of transparency that is unprecedented. This has positive and negative effects, but here are two “good news” ethics and etiquette stories pulled from this week’s headlines:
First, President Barack Obama spoke to a group of university students in Turkey yesterday in an unscripted, town-hall style conversation. Although I personally disagree with everything this president has done about the economy, I think this was an absolutely brilliant move. He was invited as an honored guest. He acted like an honored guest, and he was treated as an honored guest. This is a huge departure in style and substance from visits of previous U.S. Presidents, who spoke from behind plexiglass and podiums and still had shoes thrown at them! If you’ve ever spent any time in a Muslim country, you know that hospitality is a big deal. The students were respectful but very candid and asked some awkward questions. Obama was also very respectful and candid and responded in kind.
The bigger deal is this – one of these Turkish students commented afterward that if the President of the United States was not too big and important to come to them and answer their questions, (which Obama also does on his website and facebook pages) they should expect the same courtesy from their own leaders. I’m sure many young (and not so young) people in many parts of the world feel the same way. Their generation is growing up to expect this level of transparency. That makes it much more difficult for oligarchs to hang on to power without being answerable to and meeting the needs of their people.
The second story - ebay published its quarterly earnings reports first on Twitter last week, to provide additional transparency to shareholders who could not attend their meetings. According to PRWeek:
Ebay blogger Richard Brewer-Hay wrote that he was worried when he had to approach his legal team for the first time to talk about best practices and couldn’t find other companies who were using these social media tactics for their earnings announcements. But his fears were unfounded.
“I was worried I would be forced to cease this innovative way of reporting company information to our constituents,” Brewer-Hay wrote. “Thankfully that was not the case. Rather, it was mutually agreed that we could take this opportunity to set up a best practices approach to live-blogging and reporting company information via the Web – beyond traditional conference call and press release.”
Shareholders, regulators and others will come to expect this level of transparency and immediacy from corporations – making it that much harder for corporations to conceal things and delay information they don’t want released.
So, two excellent examples of people using these social and technological changes to do some good, for a change! There are good people out there!
Corporate America has a history of egalitarianism, “flattened” organizations, open-door policies of chief execs, and invented the “business casual” mode of dress.
I understand and agree with most of that, I have to say that I’m not sure that the use of first names when first meeting people is a good thing. Especially when a very young person meets a much older or senior person in an organization.
I was charmed in India and Europe by the idea that people use last names, even for people that they’ve worked with for quite some time. The formality was not stiff or awkward, and the courtesy really seemed to add a lot to meetings and introductions. Of course, people always have the option to request that people use their first name, but even that little gesture is charming, in a way. It indicates that you’ve moved to a certain level of trust in the relationship.
You can’t replicate that in a society where your banker, your doctor, and customer service people who call you out of the blue on the phone call you by your first name as a a matter of course.
I realize that manners change with the times, but my opinion hasn’t. (And I’m not THAT old – I grew up in the 70’s.)
I read a great article in the Financial Times – The problem is not with MBA programs themselves, but the reward mechanisms that people use after they graduate from these programs. The problem is that the systems set up often reward dishonesty.
financial situations with grace is the most challenging area of ethics and etiquette for a businessperson.
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