Why Good Ethics Are Now Big Business—And How To Embrace Them

Was 2020 the year that “purpose” went mainstream? It’s been an increasingly popular buzzword in big business for a few years now, following on from sustainability, ethics and, before that, Corporate Social Responsibility, but all have suffered from the same problem: a strong whiff of insincerity. 

As with greenwashing, that glow of ethical warmth all too often turns out to be a glossy veneer, beneath which lies the proverbial can of worms: the legacy systems that refuse to be cleaned up; the company culture that fails to match the honest-sounding words on its website; and, of course, the bottom line, which prioritises shareholders’ profits over good behaviour. 

Yet, as the world’s businesses were forced to suddenly change gear at the start of the pandemic, the public’s gaze shifted from the shiny glamour of consumerism towards social and economic injustices laid bare by struggling economies. 

And they were unforgiving. Those companies who treated their staff appallingly, sacking them without scruples and filching grants from governments, have been called out and castigated, though the long-term effects on their reputations are yet to be seen. 

Robert Ordever, Managing Director of workplace culture expert O.C. Tanner Europe predicts that trouble lies ahead for such firms. “When things go awry, there are those companies that are quick to ditch their values, seeing them as a ‘nice to have’ in the good times rather than as a necessity at all times. Such companies ultimately bring about their own downfall by revealing their true colours.”

For many businesses, “buy more things” is a harder sell to customers sitting at home in their pyjamas (home entertainment and delivery brands, such as Amazon and Apple, excepted). Marketing has had to concentrate on comforting its traumatised audience instead. And so “purpose” has found its place, for now. 

But taking an ethical stand isn’t as easy as it seems. Where the lines are drawn, how seemingly impossible ethical dilemmas are solved, and how to reconcile commerce and altruism are among the issues that arise for companies who decide to pursue “purpose” as part of their business. And social media is an absolutely ruthless place when they get it wrong—remember Pepsi’s controversial protest ad with Kendall Jenner a few years ago? 

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Read more: forbes