Thinking about Leadership Character and
Responsibilities For Control Systems:
3 Questions
• Am I comfortable with the likely consequences of this action?
• Am I meeting my duties and respecting others’ rights?
• Am I meeting my commitments and my company’s commitments?
rdeshpande@hbs.edu
LP 2011
Consequences of Actions
Stakeholders
Likely Impact: Short-Term Likely Impact: Long-Term
Stakeholder 1 (Customers)
Stakeholder 2 (Employees)
Stakeholder 3 (Suppliers,
Employees of Suppliers;
i.e., B2B supply chain)
rdeshpande@hbs.edu
LP 2011
Thinking about Responsibilities:
3 Questions
• Am I comfortable with the likely consequences of this action?
• Am I meeting my duties and respecting others’ rights?
• Am I meeting my commitments and my company’s commitments?
rdeshpande@hbs.edu
LP 2011
Thinking about Responsibilities:
“Duty of Fairness”
• Types of “Fairness”?
• “Procedural Fairness” (equal treatment under defined rules)
• “Distributive Fairness” (fair allocation of rewards/benefits)
• Fairness for Whom?
• Customers? Employees? Customers’ Employees (B2B Supply
Chain)? Suppliers? Suppliers’ Employees (B2B Supply Chain)?
Investors?
rdeshpande@hbs.edu
LP 2011
Thinking about Responsibilities:
3 Questions
• Am I comfortable with the likely consequences of this action?
• Am I meeting my duties and respecting others’ rights?
• Am I meeting my commitments and my company’s commitments?
rdeshpande@hbs.edu
LP 2011
Responsibilities :
8 Principles for Action Commitments
• Fiduciary Principle: act in the best interests of your company and your investors
• Property Principle: respect property and the rights of those who own it
• Reliability principle: keep promises, agreements, contracts, and other commitments
• Transparency principle: conduct business in a truthful and open manner
• Dignity principle: respect the dignity of all people
• Fairness principle: deal fairly with all parties
• Citizenship principle: act as a responsible member of your community
• Responsiveness principle: be responsive to the legitimate claims and concerns of others
rdeshpande@hbs.edu
Adapted from the Global Business Standards Codex, Paine, Deshpande, Margolis, Bettcher, HBR Dec 2005
LP 2011
Control – Systems and Processes:
The Dilemma
A single universal code of conduct (business standards)
applied globally or situational business ethics following the
“when in Rome”* notion.
*When I go to Rome, I also fast on Saturday: when here, I do not. If you
go to any church, observe local custom…” fourth century Ambrose,
bishop of Milan, quoted in Peter Brown, Augustine of Hippo: A
Biography (Berkeley, CA: Univ. of Calif. Press, 2000), 77-78.
Research reported in “When in Rome: A Global Leader’s Guide to
Managing Business Conduct,” Harvard Business Review Online, August
2011 (forthcoming), Rohit Deshpandé, Joshua Margolis, and Lynn Paine.
rdeshpande@hbs.edu
LP 2011