The Importance of Upholding Good Ethical Behaviour as a Business

Though I only moved into UBC barely over a week ago, my brief time as a student at the Sauder School of Business has already taught me an unforgettable life lesson. However this lesson was learned not through class but through personal experience.  In less than 7 days since the start of classes, I’ve already learned the importance of the role that ethics plays in a business.

Businesses live and die by their reputations, and reputations can be heavily influenced by ethics. For 5 years in a row, Microsoft has made its way into the Ethisphere Institute’s top 5 most ethical companies (Lauchlan, 2017). Being a BUCS (combined computer science and business degree) student myself, I’ve paid special attention to the company as I hope to see myself potentially working there in 4 years. Microsoft’s appealing employer status is a direct result of their positive internal ethics such as their generous employee salaries, their progressive approaches to technological innovation and artificial intelligence, as well as their positive stance on climate change (Lauchlan, 2017)

Positive ethics can lead to a successful brand image, making the company more appealing. Likewise however, ethics can also just as easily soil a reputation as well. As a new student at UBC I was blown-away at how intense the discrimination towards Sauder was. It was already hard enough meeting new people without having to deal with the campus-wide discrimination towards Sauder students, or rather “Sauder Snakes.” During introductions I would frequently get expressions of disgust and revulsion after I Introduced which faculty I belonged to to other fellow students.  The discrimination got even worse on Imagine Day- imagine my shock when 7000+ students collectively made snake noises towards my faculty after it was introduced- after that, I started following in the steps of a fellow Sauderite that I had met earlier that day: now, whenever I meet other students I leave out the fact that I am part of Sauder  and only introduce myself as a computer science student.

The idea that Sauder students are “narcissistic and fake” (Psychorecycled, 2016) stems from several past instances of poor ethical conduct by Sauder students such as the Rape Chant Scandal from 2013 (Rosenfield, 2013) and more recently, viral satirical posts on the Facebook group “UBC Confessions”. As opposed to Microsoft which is held in high regard largely because of its ethical behaviour, Sauder as a “brand” is now commonly associated with the word “snake.” As a Sauder student I have witnessed the reputational repercussions that can stem from bad ethical behaviour for myself- though classes have barely started, I have already been taught a lesson on the importance of upholding good ethics in a business.