The Inc. Network

Tweet

Your marketing challenge is to pitch whatever makes you unique. Ask clients to critique your current services -- perhaps they'll offer testimonials. Survey potential clients about the services they need, and modify your menu based on that feedback. Keep tabs on all your placements -- they may someday be in a position to hire for the companies they work for. And remember, says BankTemps' Garvis, to advertise your most valuable assets -- your recruiters. His recruiters are former bankers themselves, the idea being to give BankTemps' clients greater confidence in the company's matchmaking abilities.

The biggest industry worry is labor legislation, notably regarding workers' compensation and health-care issues. Some CEOs predict a shakeout in the temporary-placement market as the Clinton administration's national health-care plan rolls out. But that uncertainty, says Prafke, is a great reason to hold free seminars to educate your clients and employees. Twice a year Prafke invites labor officials and businesspeople to Humanix to speak on hot topics (such as job discrimination and wrongful discharge) and to field questions. It's great public relations and cheap, too. The half-day seminars each cost Humanix $800, including doughnuts for 150 attendees, and the printing and mailing of brochures. But that's not all. "When we held our first seminar, in 1989, we had 42 attendees. The following quarter we had $50,000 in new business," says Prafke.

New Year's Resolution
Striving for the highest ethical standards is basically the mission of our young company. Are there resources that will prepare us for the problems we'll face along the way? Is there a descriptive phrase for businesses that make ethics the cornerstone of their existence?

Gwen Holtsclaw

President

Cheer Ltd.

Fayetteville, N.C.

You're one of a growing number of managers who understand that being ethical is good business. The Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College, in Waltham, Mass., can quantify the trend: today 15% to 20% of large U.S. corporations have "ethics officers." That percentage has risen markedly, the center claims, since 1988.

As an enlightened CEO, your first job is to rid yourself and your employees of any ideas that business associates who lie, cheat, and steal have an edge, coaches Andrew Singer, editor of Ethikos , a Mamaroneck, N.Y., journal devoted to business ethics and compliance issues. When in doubt, bear in mind the standard that Scott Cook, the founder of software developer Intuit, in Menlo Park, Calif., sets for himself: "If what I'm doing isn't something that I and my children can be proud of, I'm not sure I should be doing it."

Any introduction to business-ethics theory should involve case studies. Here, Kirk Hanson, business-ethics professor at Stanford Business School, shares his reading list. At the top is Manuel Velasquez's Business Ethics: Concepts and Cases (Prentice Hall, 1992, $34.67), the most popular text available. LaRue Hosmer's The Ethics of Management (Irwin Professional, 800-634-3966, 1991, $28.95) is a good mix of theory and application. And Mary Scott and Howard Rothman's Companies with a Conscience (Birch Lane Press, 800-447-2665, 1992, $19.95) profiles 12 socially conscious and profitable organizations.

Now you'll need help putting theory into practice. Craig Cox, managing editor of Business Ethics magazine (612-962-4700, six issues yearly, $25 for new subscribers), suggests James O'Toole's The Executive's Compass (Oxford University Press, 1993, $19.95), which charts an ethical decision-making course for CEOs. A lighter and more literate hands-on guide to resolving tough business challenges is Laura Nash's Good Intentions Aside (HBS Press, 617-495-6192, 1993, $14.95). Using interviews with corporate brass, Nash shows how managers can use new problem-solving techniques to help workers make sound ethical choices in any situation. Finally, The Soul of a Business (Bantam, 1993, $21.95), by Tom Chappell, president of Tom's of Maine, a maker of all-natural personal-care products in Kennebunk, Maine, proves that you can meet the traditional goals of commerce without checking your values at the door.

To help with the design and implementation of your own corporate ethics program, try publications and video-based training tools offered by the Ethics Resource Center (202-737-2258) or on-site leadership training from the Josephson Institute of Ethics (310-306-1868). Shake hands with peers at the business-ethics summit that independent research group the Conference Board will hold in May in New York City. (Call 212-759-0900 for more information.) And get involved with local colleges that offer roundtable discussions on applied corporate ethics.

Our experts couldn't come up with a buzzword to describe companies like yours. "Ethics should pervade everything you do," said one. "Let's hope everyone sets out to build a credible company." Still, we'll open up the query to readers. Send us your suggestions; we'll print the best of them.

-- Reported by Karen E. Carney and Stephanie Gruner.

 PREV  1 | 2