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By Gil
Fried
I am an Orthodox Jew. I wear a
Yarmulke on my head, and you might have seen it — and me — at many of the
IAAM conferences and workshops over the years. It’s part of my uniform. It
reminds me that I have to report to a higher authority (even higher than
Hebrew National Hot Dogs), and that if I act in an inappropriate manner,
I’ll be shaming my religion and myself.
Even though I come from a long line of famous rabbis, I’m not a rabbi. That
fact doesn’t minimize the number of people who see my religious accoutrement
and call me “rabbi.” They think that since I have the garb, I should be or
act a certain way. Such a misnomer has produced many clichés over the years:
“Beauty is only skin deep;” “You can’t judge a book by its cover;” and the
less popular “A wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Just because someone has the garb or the cloak of authority doesn’t mean
he’ll act in an appropriate manner. When someone presents himself as
something he isn’t, we in legal circles call that a fraud.
Don’t get me wrong; there are times that we have to tell little white lies.
How many of us have ever been asked if our partners look fat in a given
outfit, and we say that they look fine? Sometimes we might mean our answer,
while other times we’re trying to give a response we know they want to hear.
My concern — and the focus of my perspective — is, where do we draw the
line? If we’re willing to tell a little white lie about an outfit, are we
willing to tell a little white lie regarding our earnings or expenses? Many
executives have tripped over this line, and it’s impacting our entire
business climate.
Ethics as Law
Sarbanes-Oxley was passed to ensure compliance with ethical demands. The fed
federal government didn’t see corporate self regulation so they took the
“bull” by the horns and demanded more accurate reporting, developing ethical
guidelines and practices, encouraging corporations to appoint Chief
Governance Officers (CGO) and even protecting whistle-blowers who report
corporate wrongdoing.
 The
hope with any law is that it will change actions. When our country wasn’t
integrating minorities the feds passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to try
and change past practices. Similar efforts were taken in 1992 with the
passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). While these laws have
had some very positive changes, they sometimes have been window dressing and
unable to eliminate discrimination.
Sarbanes-Oxley has had a similar impact. Some companies are still producing
“bull”: From 2003 to 2005, nearly 2,000 publicly traded companies were
forced to restate past financial reports. Roughly 15% of these companies
were repeat offenders, and 72 companies restated their results twice — in
2005 alone. Some companies have restated their numbers three or four times
during this period. While some companies might make mistakes, there are a
number of companies, and more being discovered almost daily, who are
intentionally misstating their numbers.
Ethics as Values
What does this have to do with facility management? We are executives in a
position of trust. We are cloaked with significant authority and
responsibility. People count on us for their livelihood, and many more count
on us with their lives.
Are we willing to cut corners? If not caught, what would we be willing to
do? Would we be willing to manipulate the terms of a contract or back out of
our obligations? Is our handshake our true bond or just a way to conceal our
true intent? I would like to see more ethics covered at the IAAM
conferences.
I would like us to self-police. I hope that at one point, our membership
will be one of the hallmarks for others to consider when dealing with our
facilities. I would love for others to think that those who are IAAM members
stand for something much more than just quality facility management, but
quality people you can trust.
Imagine how the industry would be if we all knew that there would be no
shenanigans at an event settlement. I hope my imagination isn’t running
wild, but I also hope that my colleagues will take the initiative to develop
ethical programs and voluntary standards before new laws come into play
forcing us to act a certain way.
We work in a beautiful profession; let’s make sure we’re as beautiful on the
inside as we are on the outside.
Gil Fried is chair, management
department, at the University of New Haven (CT). Professor Fried is teaching
an online MBA class this summer called The Righteous Manager, focused on
ethical conduct for executives. |
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