Ethics are Back in Business!!

Bill Clinton authors a book on 'Giving', while Bill Gates steps down as Chairman of Microsoft to take on full time philanthropy! Toyota turns to producing cleaner, greener vehicles, while British Petroleum champions 'sustainability'.

Is it a new business trend, or has the era of responsible commerce finally arrived?

The numbers from worldwide ethical consumption confirms the beginning of an era of Ethical Economies where businesses, governments and consumers are working closely to conduct commerce based on conscience and care-where economies and businesses are driven by three key growth engines of Ethical, Ecological and Sustainability.

In UK alone last year over 10% of household spending went towards ethically certified products and services. The ethical consumption industry in UK stands at about 32.3 billion pounds a year. Today an average household spends about 664 pounds on ethical products which has doubled in last five years - an emerging trend that corporations and businesses are witnessing across the US, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

No wonder then concepts like Fair Trade practices, Green Products, Sustainable Resources and Ethical Manufacturing are becoming pivotal points of all corporate boardroom strategic meetings. As rising ethical consumerism waves are set in motion through the World Wide Web and social networks, businesses are being guided to conduct responsible commerce.

But are businesses really ready for this change?

The world over, all progressive corporations have realized that being perceived as an ethical business is not about Green-wash marketing campaigns and lip service. The consumers and media want to see promises in action wherein corporations demonstrate internalization of ethical philosophy and practices across all business processes.

A major reason why global ethical frontrunners like Marks & Spencer, Gap, Intel, and Nike, among others, share Corporate Sustainability reports on various organizational efforts is to ensure ethics in action. The spectrum covers mission critical initiatives like ethical sourcing, ethical health of partners and vendors, minimization of carbon footprints, reports on ethical working conditions and human rights, among other things.

In fact, this transparency has brought about a paradigm shift in the way businesses are run. It has given birth to collaborative commerce wherein both consumers and media help organizations stay on the path of conducting businesses ethically and more responsibly.

Where is Sri Lanka on this Global Ethical Map?

With South Asian countries emerging as a prominent global hub for outsourcing essential commodities like apparel, tea, spices, and now IT Enabled Services among other things in the last decade, the pressures to ship ethically compliant products and services to the EU and US region have increased dramatically.

For all regional economies competing for the same set of buyers on scale and cost, the dynamics have suddenly changed. As every country, industry and supplier from the region has now realized that ethical compliance is a business, and is a competency that cannot be purchased or built overnight.