Blind Corporate Ethics

Let's take a trip to fantasy-land.

Pretend that you live in a South American country ... Brazil for instance, maybe you've got a run-of-the-mill little house in a city - Rio de Janeiro perhaps.

And you work for a fictitious company that sells timber. Let's call it, umm, I dunno ... how about Rio Timber. Yeah, that works.

Anyway, Rio Timber sells vast quantities of timber around the world, in fact, they're so successful at this that they are one of the world leaders in their chosen business. What makes them so great is that they have a vertical integrated business model - that means they invest in the whole process of timber sales.

For instance: they harvest the timber, they mill it, they sell the waste product chippings, they even refine the timber into better products.

Rio Timber is a good company to work for.

They're aware that the world needs their product. God knows, timber is a valuable resource for many things. Houses, furnishings, cricket bats ... matches.

Anyway, Rio Timber was targeted early on in their business for their terrible record of social and environmental sustainability. It wasn't that the workers didn't care - it was just that nobody knew who was accountable.

Eventually the big wigs cottoned on - they were accountable. And in the newly globalised world they were even more accountable. The new media would make sure of that. Corporate governence watchdogs had even jailed perpetrators, which suggested that in the coming decade these decision-makers would be held personally and legally accountable - their present-day decisions would now shadow their entire careers. Such a thing once seemed so implausible, until management began to realise the groundswell of support for global change. The average punter in the street knew the world needed Rio Timber's products - they also knew they wanted them processed in an ethical way. They didn't want rampant growth at all cost.

The company got smart.

They took note of the wide spread habitat destruction, the failed regeneration, the disgruntled employees - and they made a commitment. Those who made harvesting decisions needed better education and they needed to be held accountable for their actions.

It was a new dawn for the timber industry - Rio Timber knew that generations to come would be impacted by their actions. At first their share price dived ... the analysts wanted more product shifted, higher margins - at a lower cost.

The workers, however, wanted a good job. They wanted clean waterways for their children to enjoy. Access to their favourite campsites maintained - they wanted a lifestyle worth preserving. As it turns out, the rest of the world wanted that too.

And Rio Timber provided it.


Sorry, but it's time to wake up guys ... you're in a fantasy.