Vigilance

Last week I mentioned in my blog entry that HP was involved with selling printers, albeit indirectly, to Iran. I considered this a real breach of business ethics and oh yeah, against the law. I have been an HP corporate and private client for many years and I was offended enough that I sent a note to HP CEO Mark Hurd expressing my outrage. I didn’t expect a reply and I did not receive one.

But, the company has recently announced that it is closing that particular channel. I’m not crazy with the idea that they feel that they’ve done nothing wrong but they were complying in order to ‘go beyond the letter of the law’. Its seems like they were caught with their hands in the cookie jar. I just wonder how many other companies are doing the same without being caught.

Have we learned nothing in business? We move effortlessly from the savings and loan debacle 20 years ago to Enron and WorldCom a decade ago to the era of subprime mortgages, Bernie Madoff, and corporate bailouts. Now, even Larry Flynt wants a bailout for the porn industry. Maybe we are finally hitting rock bottom.

Oh, we cry, complain, pass laws and say once again that corporate malfeasance will stop. But it won’t. I am getting more and more cynical. Is there any honesty left? How do we stop it, short of building bigger jails? Or perhaps finally filling the ones we already have. And perhaps most importantly, is there a role for procurement and supply chain professionals in the future cleanup? Should we expand our role in uncovering ethical questions in the supply chain?

Your comments are appreciated.