iNSPIRE the Youths: WYFEB

Ethics is often referred to as a grey area, especially when we talk about it in correlation with business. However in interaction with about 60 dynamic youths representing various walks of life it was put forth that ethics though is an abstract concept, should be put forth as Blank and White area.

Though it is often said that ethics is ingrained in DNA of we Nepalese, business fraternity of our country is still progressing in terms of ethics practices and beliefs. We still encounter many cases in which many business organizations follow unethical means to attain their business goals. In such a scenario, World Forum for Ethics in Business satellite conference was organized here in Nepal, and as a part of the same, World Youth Forum for Ethics in Business was also organized on Jan 15 and 16, in Hotel Annapurna. During the event trainer from WFEB instilled on the dynamic participants, the values of ethical leadership and ethical practices in business . It was promising two days with renowned ethical business proponent and trainer Mr. Christoph Glaser and Mrs. Ranjita Kulkarni.

After two days of intensive workshop from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, I came to summarize following learning and highlights from the conference.

World Youth Forum for Business Ethics in Nepal -Nepal Chapter

1)      Formal and Informal authority

So as to convince bunch of followers, a leader should not only be convinced about formal roles and responsibility but also emphasize in strengthening informal authority. While most of the hard core skills are needed to be successful in getting the job done, soft skills on the contrary will enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the task being done under your domain. With informal authority comes relevance to trustworthiness, dependability etc. Imaging the status of some politically appointed chairs of institution that have fallen down in informal authority. As such the means to gain respectful informal authority is to act ethical.

2)      Lead with smile :) 

Smile is as natural gift to human beings. It is the most influential way of communicating with others. Most people find it difficult to smile because they are never relaxed and are often haunted by dogma of fear, frustration and restlessness. Be ethical and fair enough in your practices and then you unravel the illustrious origination of smile.

3)      The dynamics of teamwork

Being a team player is not as easy as it seems. In a team there are people from different walks of life who have many learning and experiences. As such when we develop a bonding within a team we come to realize: differences in opinion, differences in learning and so on. People’s level of patience, confidence, trust-worthiness etc varies. Moreover when most of the member in the team is enthusiast and dynamic, getting convinced with a team leader can be difficulty. However if a team player is visually ethical and fair enough in his profession, his/her teamwork will easily accept this/her supremacy in the team.

4)      Ethics as a concrete concept

Throughout the two days conference I was pondering about why they people were talking about a concept which is so abstract and vague to describe.  Your perception of ethics has high chance to be in conflict with that of mine. What might be ethical to you might seem apparently unethical to me. Let’s come to a case: say that a business is operating in a society following all the legal criteria, but still some of the negative repercussions of the business are not guided by the law. As such in such case the debate of ethics can be really conflicting.

However the concluding answer to ethical dilemma was put forth by chairman of WFEB-Nepal chapter, TirthaMan Shakya. He opined of ethics as something which regardless of the legal conditions, when acceptable by the society, will be ethical and promising.

5)      Nepal as origination of Ethical values

Down the lane of thousands of years, Nepal has been origination of ethical beliefs and practices that has been advocated by Hindu saints and yogis, Buddhism preaching’s and practices. This mountain country is the origination of Hinduism and Buddhism principles which advocates for ethics in not only business practices but overall in Human values and principles.

6)      Downside of being unethical

We forge to practice unethically in want of being too rich in a short period of time. But in contrary we don’t notice that along with the pleasures coming from unethical practices, we keep on being victim of different miseries that become fatal in days to come. Tension of being interrogated by police, loosing friends, high blood pressure, frustration etc come as a gift to unethical practices. So the result is you lose your smile and pleasure and thus become poorer than before. Ponder about the importance of wealth that makes you socially out-casted.

7)      Mantra for Sustainable business: Be ethical

With the advancement of the management thoughts and practices, business started to identify the presence of the society in which they were operating. Of late the concept of giving back to the society i.e Corporate Social Responsibility has started being relevant and thus prevalent. The concept of CSR is one way or another, a reflection of the companies to start to adhere to ethical practices. For those companies that tend to curve the rules and want to be successful overnight should understand that being unethical is a momentary business and a way forward to dig your own grave. Think of these businesses: Enron, Union Carbide Corporation (Bhopal disaster) etc

8)      Zero tolerance to unethical practices

The best thing to start to adhere to ethical practices: start to talk.  Talk about what is ethics to you, why the concept of ethics in you is different that of your friends, how we can promote ethical practices and beliefs in us, and so on. It may be difficult to convince those old people about ethical values and beliefs but we can of course try it convincing to Youths. Convince the youth of your age the power of ethical values and practices and by doing so we ensure a path to regain the prosperity and fame of our country very soon.

9)      Foundation of ethical practices: Yoga and Spiritualism

Positivity fosters when we are relaxed. The roots to relaxation are yoga and spiritualism. When soul becomes full of positive vibes, we drift apart from unethical practices. As such all the ill-byproducts coming out from unethical practices disappear and you enjoy the beauty of life.

Way forward:

The most basic thing is keep the ball rolling. WYFEB will keep talking about the ethical practices in the country and how can we strengthen it in days to come. We have realized that not only the future of the country rests on our hand but also we are a driving force of present. As such in days to come we will be strengthening the network of youths who believe that ethical practices can be realized in our lifetime and our beautiful country can attain the status of Peaceful-Prosperous Nepal.  Fate and prosperity of Nepal rests in the hand of us Nepalese.