Did Enron, World Com and financial frauds ruin your holidays? I hope not. I pray your holidays are happy, realizing, of course, that many have less to be happy about with layoffs, company bankruptcies and the like. Clearly, for some it will be a year not missed, as we move into 2006. But if we let this year end without making some resolutions for next year, we'll have learned little. What is one to think about or do in light of financial setbacks, leadership failures, outright fraud and unscrupulous business practices? The Dean of Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, one of the nations leading institutions of business learning, was asked these very questions. "The old truths have not changed", he said, "and have not been repealed by any notion of a new economy". He reiterated that the practice of attracting and retaining customers; charging a fair price that represents good value; attracting and retaining committed employees and continuing to earn the communities respect and support, is as necessary today as it has always been for any company to be successful. What an enlightened view. What he said in November 2002 is exactly what would have been said when I entered the business world some 45 years ago. The old truths have not changed, for larger corporations or for small businesses. Each generation of entrepreneurs, while progressively advancing with new technology, new products and new ideas, must continue to do so within the fabric of the fundamental truths outlined above. There is no new economy, no new ethics, no new morality, and no new finance. Those who suggest otherwise are the same ones who led us into the Silicon Valley debacle and the ruinous collapse of the energy trading business and the fraudulent financing disasters. But let us not think for a minute that these excesses are unique to the largest businesses, for they are not. Many small businesses experienced the same failure of business ethics and financial fraud as the larger corporations that made the front pages across the nation. So what is the entrepreneur to do? You must integrate all the new ideas with the historic truths of business. You must recognize that business is more competitive, highly challenging, faster paced and requires more data to come to the best business decisions, but never at the expense of ignoring the basics of good business practices. You must adapt to this challenging business environment while preserving the old truths Now is the time to step up, to assume leadership. To outwardly and publicly state that, in addition to being appalled by the excesses, you are going to do more than merely complain. Broach the subject at your association meetings, the Rotary or whatever service club you belong to or wherever a forum takes place. Let us not sit by benignly angered but quiet. State openly to your customers, your suppliers, your competitors and political groups in your area, that you are angry and are going to do something about it. Restate your belief in the basic facts of business stated above and announce that those are the basis of your business practices. The entrepreneur today, regardless of his business, his size or his experience, must exercise leadership for the best results. Today is not the time to dwell on the unfortunate actions of the past year but rather to revisit the fundamentals of the more distant past: the marketplace sets the price, customers have choices, a man's word is his bond, hard work wins out, be competitive, strive for good quality, honesty and integrity are important concepts. All of these ideas have been around a long time and none are obsolete. Next year, starting now, rededicate your business to these basic truths of the past. And the future will be a better 2003. December 2002 |
