Hot tempered corporate leaders a threat to society
The CEO of a major Thai multinational company is famous for his temper tantrums. He throws phones at executives, takes legal action against valid opposition and bawls "then finds a way around it" when told something can't be done. Whether the "way around"
Wayward corporate leaders are a threat to society and the welfare of the companies they control. Addressing a recent Thai Institute of Directors seminar, Teeranun Srihong, president of KBank, stressed the importance of “tone from the top”.
“If a fish rots from its head, the entire body will be rotten...[In all this] the CEO must be the primary custodian of the culture.”
In a 2012 article, Lawrence Serewicz examines the difference between being a “good corporate citizen” and a “good person”.
“One can see this in [how] some organisations that claim to uphold corporate social responsibility [redefine] that social responsibility, that common good, to one which fits their [own] interests.”
The strategy is to covertly reduce compliance with the law and to “resist” the regulators so that the company itself ends up determining the common good.
“In that scenario, the public interest, protecting people from death [say], becomes subordinated to the company’s interest.”
In Thailand this is all very easy to put into practice.
Serewicz stresses the importance of moral education, though the combined influences of the “church”, school and family are in sad decline globally.
As shown by research, international MBA students widely hold that business runs on amorality, honesty gets punished and ethical behaviour is synonymous with company loyalty.
The onus is on the corporations to set and uphold the appropriate moral benchmarks while the regulators should be positioned to show their teeth when necessary.
“The good company is one [that] understands how its behaviour affects the wider society...and acts appropriately to mitigate any negative consequences of its actions...”
Employees are expected to act as good citizens first and good corporate citizens second. After all, higher ethical standards do not have to result in lower earnings. In the long run, gambling on integrity to meet business goals is a mug’s game.
But first and foremost, the road to corporate sustainability and public trust hinges on the ethical mind-set and behaviour of the CEO.
John Shepherd
Bangkok
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