Week 12

The "What's a Business For?" article from this week’s study section was very interesting.

The author Charles Handy explained why virtue and integrity are so vital to an economy. He said, “Markets rely on rules and laws, but those rules and laws in turn depend on truth and trust. Conceal truth or erode trust, and the game becomes so unreliable that no one will want to play. The markets will empty and share prices will collapse, as ordinary people find other places to put their money – into their houses, maybe, or under their beds. The great virtue of capitalism – that it provides a way for the savings of society to be used for the creation of wealth–will have been eroded. So we will be left to rely increasingly on governments for the creation of our wealth, something that they have always been conspicuously bad at doing.”

Charles Handy said this about the “real justification” for the existence of businesses. “The purpose of a business, in other words, is not to make a profit, full stop. It is to make a profit so that the business can do something more or better. That “something” becomes the real justification for the business.”

Two solutions proposed by Handy that I agree with are first, more honesty and reality in the reporting of results would help. In my opinion, honesty is always the best policy. When business are honest in their dealings, reports and earnings consumers will trust them and that will help the economy.

Another solution that Handy proposed was when he said, “The ancient Hippocratic oath that many doctors swear on graduation includes an injunction to do no harm. Today’s anti-globalization protesters claim that global businesses not only do harm, but that the harm outweighs the good. If those charges are to be rebutted, and if business is to restore its reputation as the friend, not the enemy, of progress around the world, then the leaders of those companies need to bind themselves with an equivalent oath. Doing no harm goes beyond meeting the legal requirements regarding the environment, conditions of employment, community relations, and ethics. The law always lags behind best practice. Business needs to take the lead in areas such as environmental and social sustainability instead of forever letting itself be pushed onto the defensive.” I agree with this as well. Business need to take the lead in bringing good to the world.

What did you learn from this week’s readings and videos?

I liked listening to Elder Gay’s talk this week in our study materials. He said speaking of when him & his wife were students, “Life and financial means have changed dramatically for my wife and me since that time. But I do not remember being any less happy in those days of extremely limited means than in our current days of much greater abundance. In fact, in those early days, ingrained in me is one of the most powerful lessons I ever learned about money. I’ve carried it throughout my entire life, and it is this: beyond making ends meet, whether you have little or much of this world’s goods, will never be a fundamental determining factor of personal peace and happiness, but rather it is your attitude towards wealth that will be critical.”

I also like how he closed his talk, He said, “May you understand in the deepest pit of your soul that you are prepared from the foundations of the world to lift this world. May you understand the great resources that business out in your hand to go to the rescue. This isn’t just some other thing that you're doing in your life. This is about real people and real lives. Don’t look to yourselves in all that you do. I can tell you in all that I have learned, there is nothing more important than understanding business is about service, and about rescue.”