You have to be super specific. There are certain businesses, where I am told, its impossible to run it by the book. A hotel for example – if the health inspector decides its cockroach infested (even if its not) you have to end up paying him. Sure you can say you wont bribe etc, but then you need to figure where your definition of ethics kick in.

There is a far deeper meaning for it as well – ethics when it comes to governance? or is it just better employee benefits (and taking care of them)? or is it towards the environment? At some point the sad point about india is that you will have to make some tradeoffs, whether you call it “business as usual” or ethics is a different story.

I remember a case where we were trying to involve a large workforce from Rural India and govt rule states that the minute you have any number of employees beyond 19 you have to provide for PF (Provident Fund). The truth is that, folks from rural areas dont look at this as compensation at all, they think its some form of tax, so you cannot take it from their salary, it becomes an additional expense on the company. In thin margin markets, that could make the difference between making or breaking it. (They circumvented the situation by forming self-help groups and contracting them rather than having all of them as employees)

Now there are certain things that are an absolute No No, like swindling money from the accounts into personal account – evading taxes etc. But its absolutely upto you to set those boundaries and live up to it.

There is a reason why the Tata Group is better reputed than the reliance group – what differentiates them is their threshold for ethics – both are absolutely legal businesses though.

Blog: http://www.vijayanand.name/
Article: http://www.vijayanand.name/2013/06/ask-vijay-what-does-ethics-mean-in-the-context-of-startups/

Contributor

Recently Published

Key Takeaway: Animals, including birds and whales, have been questioned about their artistic abilities. Some argue that art is about emotion, representation, or intention, while others believe it comes from reinforcement. However, not all animal creations are considered art. Some, like Humpback whales and Pigcasso, are trained to express their creativity, while others, like puffer […]

Top Picks

Key Takeaway: Researchers have used mathematical models to simulate the spread of farming, focusing on human contact as the driving force. They adapted predator-prey models to simulate the overlap of farming and foraging communities. The study found that direct human contact, whether friendly or hostile, played a central role in the expansion of farming. Small-scale […]
Key Takeaway: President Donald Trump’s executive order titled “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship” accused the previous administration of stifling free expression by working with social media companies to curb misinformation and label misleading content. However, recent research suggests that less regulation can actually make the internet a less free place for speech, […]
Key Takeaway: Recent research published in Science has revealed that the brain uses multiple learning mechanisms simultaneously, revealing the complexity behind brain wiring. Neurons communicate through electric signals called synapses, which form complex networks of connections that transmit information. The traditional theory of synaptic plasticity assumes uniformity between neurons, but the new study found that […]
Key Takeaway: A new study published in Nature Astronomy claims that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected atmospheric signals on K2-18b, a distant world 124 light-years from Earth. The researchers found traces of molecules often associated with biological activity on Earth, including dimethyl sulphide (DMS). The scientists are 99.7% confident in the presence […]

Trending

I highly recommend reading the McKinsey Global Institute’s new report, “Reskilling China: Transforming The World’s Largest Workforce Into Lifelong Learners”, which focuses on the country’s biggest employment challenge, re-training its workforce and the adoption of practices such as lifelong learning to address the growing digital transformation of its productive fabric. How to transform the country […]

Join our Newsletter

Get our monthly recap with the latest news, articles and resources.

Login

Welcome to Empirics

We are glad you have decided to join our mission of gathering the collective knowledge of Asia!
Join Empirics