Ethics And Business Are Two Sides Of One Coin In Digital Era

By: Bhautik Sheth - Founder – iVIPANAN Digital Marketing Services, Surat

When we always discuss about different functions of management like Marketing, Finance, Operations, Human Resource, etc. we try to define the strategy to avoid any loophole in the process. The strategic processes and sub processes decides the wellbeing of any business. Though the major focus of any business remains on profit-making and increasing the market share, everything becomes sustainable if organization is keeping a strong belief in ethics; and we must not ignore the fact that the businesses have become more approachable and transparency has increased too! Thanks to the digital revolution in India which has forced not only the giant companies to adopt the digital platform but small and medium scale businesses have also started to adopt the digital platform gradually.
In your direct absence on internet, your website and social media accounts speak on your behalf. The message passed in the virtual world has normally no evidence to agree or disagree with it and hence the ethical approach of any business becomes vital to keep the digital platform clean and transparent. The human resource of any business represents the morality, quality of work and team work of that business. While the same manpower connects with hundreds and thousands of stake holders on social media, the moral values, quality of work and team work is communicated with them. The positivity or negativity of all the communicated messages evaluates the ethical approach of the business. One should also not ignore the responsibility of every individual working under one roof towards the customers and other associates. The code of conduct and human resource policy majorly affects the behavior of the employees and it shapes it either upward or downward. Let us also not forget that it also helps in creating the organizational climate which ultimately affects the objective of the business.
The internet has literally changed the facets of every industry and hence it has also raised many challenges in front of the leaders. The types of leadership are changing along with the changing time and the role of the leader has also become dynamic. The ethical approach of the leader nurture the team for better execution and it also make them accountable towards the work execution and result expectation. Leaders also inspire the team to adopt diversity in the business and motivate them to develop new verticals of the business. This has changed the way Indian market has evolved in last couple of years and hence more startups are coming on the surface. Thanks once again to the internet that many individuals and organizations have accepted this either as a challenge or an opportunity to dive into the startups ocean. But over the period of time, the same story repeats with the startups as well and it all can confine to how ethical the startup is!
So how can a business remain ethical in the challenging era of internet and technology? There are few points which a business can adopt to keep the pace with ethical requirement of the business.

• The strong HR policy and code of conduct is a must. It keeps the control on the human resource of the organization.
• Accurate and updated internet and social media policy. Organizations must have a control over professional activities of the employees on social media and on other platforms on internet.
• The great Customer Relationship Management policy and strong communication channel to avoid the conflict.
• The strong leadership to nurture the morality and values in the team.
• Healthy work culture and team work to support the innovation and develop the sense of responsibility among the employees.

Let us not ignore the need of ethics in the business because the ethical approach of the business reflects the amount of hard work put forward by the employees. While it is very important to create the clean brand image in the physical market, it is now more important to create the cleaner image in the virtual market as well. Customer is a God but even you need to guide your God in the right direction – and that too, ethically!

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