11 November 2010 | Matt Galvin
The Right Thing
by Sally Bibb
Wiley, £14.99
4 out of 5
The book provides all you need to know about ethics in business. It takes the reader through everything – from providing a framework of how to manage ethical issues to characteristics of an ethical CEO.
The author cites examples from her own personal experience and from the worldwide ‘Ethics in the Workplace’ survey she conducted
in 2010.
Does it succeed? Yes it does, and I would recommend the book to those who are either new to business ethics or are experiencing an ethical issue and do not have a code of conduct and require support.
Where it falls short for the procurement community is the omission of a reference to ethical behaviour in the supply chain and its associated risks. Given the number of high profile exposés of major brands in recent years, I was expecting a section on how to manage risk in the supply chain or a reference to the Ethical Trading Initiative base code. With a clear focus on ethical issues such as harassment and bullying, rather than workers’ rights and the illegal use of finite natural resources, it is clear that the book wasn’t written with procurement professionals in mind.
However, what the book achieves over its 214 easy-to-read pages is to provide a comprehensive reference on ethics in business for the modern professional. The findings from the author’s survey clearly support her mantra that doing the right thing could save an organisation’s reputation as well as enhancing it.
Matt Galvin, responsible procurement, Greater London Authority group
