THE
example of little things is infectious. Often they set in motion curious
reactions. One such instance is the story of an American maker of
locomotives. He was about to close a large contract with a foreign
government. He had stopped over in London before proceeding on to his
destination. He was not too happy about the negotiations since it had been
decided, at the insistence of the customer, to substitute an inferior
grade of steel in order to keep the cost down to a minimum. It seemed the
only way in which his firm could secure the contract.
Leaving his London hotel one morning, he noticed in a shop window some
material that he thought would make an attractive sports suit. After he
had purchased the goods, a London friend gave him the name of a tailor.
The American was impressed by the establishment. He was even more
impressed when he met the proprietor.
But when the tailor had taken one look at the cloth, to the amazement of
the American, he refused to make the suit. He would not put his label on a
suit of clothes made of shoddy material. Neither did he respond to the
suggestion that since the cloth had already been purchased, the label
could be left oft in this instance. A tailor could not continue to retain
the respect of his employees it he expended their honest labor on
dishonest material.
With the bolt of cloth under his arm, the maker of locomotives left the
tailor's shop, not angry, but thoughtful. The nameplate on a locomotive,
or the label on a suit of clothes, earned respect by the quality of honest
labor and honest materials. Unwittingly, the tailor had set him on the
right course, as certainly as if he had picked him up physically from one
path and set him down upon another.
The first chapter in the "Book of Wisdom” Thomas Jefferson declared, is
honesty; and more recently, a well-known editor urged the need for
re-establishing the teaching of common honesty in the schools. On the
other hand, a school superintendent supporting the affirmative in a debate
on the question, "Is Honesty Declining?" placed the responsibility
squarely on the shoulders of business. Boys and girls leaving school, he
contended, took with them definite standards of honesty and fair play only
to be disillusioned by the practices prevailing in places where they
worked. "One girl went to work for a dress shop—an exclusive one. As apart
of her indoctrination, she was taught three prices for every garment: a
top price to be asked first, a middle price, and finally, a minimum.
Another lad, when briefed for his part-time work in a grocery store, was
told: "Don't be too particular about weights—that is, don't give anything
away"
If honesty is not to decline, then home, school, church, trade
association, and Rotary club must be alert constantly to combat new
tendencies—or fresh manifestations of old tendencies—to chisel and to
defraud.
Years ago, Rotary was very active world-wide in the effort to check
bribery and secret commissions. A past president of Rotary International
represented this interest at an international economic conference of the
League of Nations. Many countries enacted legislation to check these
evils. "Bribery and secret commissions" —the very words have a musty and
antique flavor.
Yet in spite of all these efforts, who can say that bribery and secret
commissions are a thing of the past? During and since the war, black
markets grew and flourished all over the world. The same gangster elements
that furnished the bootleggers during the prohibition era in the United
States now appeared as black marketers; the same people who patronized
them once, were customers again; and the same principle of clandestine
corruption was again manifest.
More recently a similar situation was denounced at a district conference
of Rotary:
"We should ask ourselves: 'During recent years when members of all
professions were exposed to considerable temptations, have Rotarians
succumbed less to these temptations than non-Rotarians?' In all the
professions, right from the jeweler to the apple grower, you find,
wherever a temptation offered itself, a high price on the back market or
an opportunity to pass off inferior quality for superior or the like, the
temptation was always succumbed to.
It is a question of character. The trouble is that we look outward and not
inwards when it comes to charges of immorality. There are lots of people
who, not out of personal greed, but just on account of the fear of being
pointed out as simpletons, follow the general line. And to all such people
who think that one honest trader, one lawyer who refuses to take dishonest
briefs is not going to improve matters, the ancient wisdom of China gives
the answer. There is a Chinese proverb which says: 'It is better to light
a small candle than to sit cursing the darkness.' "
The same question might be asked with different reference in all the
countries which suffered from rising prices and shortages artificially
induced.
Could this widespread practice have been checked by vigorous action on the
part of trade associations? Or could a strong protest rising from every
Rotary club in the world, backed by the example of every Rotarian and his
family, have influenced the purchasers and dealers alike to choose the
path of strict honesty? Here was an opportunity for vocational service to
show its metal and prove its sincerity lest it be classed with those who,
in the words of Butler's Hudibras—
Compound for sins they are inclined to,
By damning those they have no mind to.
The opportunity is still open. The path is plainly marked.
Bribery and secret commissions? There is nothing old-fashioned about them
at all. They have simply donned modern clothes.
A whiskey salesman sat at a table and ordered a drink. The proprietor
followed the waiter and whispered to him: "What did that whiskey salesman
order?"
"He ordered one Scotch;' said the waiter.
The proprietor then placed three jiggers of rum on the waiter's tray
alongside the Scotch, and said: "Tell him that's exactly the way I had to
buy it!"
What happens one day in a seller's market may recur in reverse order
another day when goods become abundant and tie-in sales are replaced by
secret rebates, discounts, and presents to buyers.
Laws against bribery and secret commissions are not enough, though they
may help to arouse the public conscience. Only the clear, outspoken, and
continuous influence of business leaders can be effective, and then only
if the leaders have a vital awareness of just what constitutes bribery.
Too often perception is dimmed by reverence for what is done. A
court-martial was held in the North African desert to determine the guilt
of an Air Force officer charged with accepting bribes from a contractor
who had purchased the waste products from the camp.
The most important evidence for the prosecution came from the contractor
himself, who admitted without embarrassment that he had paid certain
additional sums to secure the right quantity and quality of "swill,” but
he repudiated indignantly the suggestion that he had received something
quite different from swill—a few tins of bully beef, perhaps, cigarettes,
or, most important of all tea, coffee, or sugar.
He was a man of character, and he was genuinely shocked at the idea that
he would have paid a bribe for something he was not entitled to, though in
the ordinary course of business, one paid reasonable bribes to see that
business was done properly.
At least such a point of view has the merit of being clear and definite
even though it might seem reprehensible in other parts of the world. But
frequently polite terms, "customs of the trade" or "pressures from
business associates" confuse a man, so that he does not know bribery when
he sees it.
Two tests are available, both common-sense, both synonymous with that
"sense of community" which spells Rotary. The first is publicity. If there
is any doubt, for instance, whether a personal gift or a rebate or a
price-cut is strictly fair to all concerned, let all concerned know that
it is being made. An employer, or a competitor, will be grateful for the
information, and the recipient should be flattered to have it known that
he is getting this recognition. If the test of publicity arouses
embarrassment, then the second and determining test can be applied; that
is, whether the gift or other favor tends to raise or lower the level of
service by this business or profession.
The Rotarian who applies these tests and still finds himself in a gray
zone as to what is really the honest course, can seek the council of the
vocational service committee of his club or raise the question in his
trade association. From the exploration of such gray zones, real progress
in raising standards of practice can often result.
"Honesty Is the Best Policy" is an opinion that is credited to various
writers. Emerson went even further. "Men suffer all their lives from the
foolish supposition that they can be cheated. The thief steals from
himself. The swindler swindles himself'.' Honesty is efficient. Dishonesty
is laborious, hesitant, and wasteful. This view is emphasized by a curious
coincidence in the dictionary definition of chiseler: "(i) one who
chisels, (a) a child—Ireland'.' The coincidence of the Irish meaning
points to the essential naivete in all chiseling. Mature people just do
not do it.
Surely there is no necessary conflict between idealism and good business.
As expanding production fills the gap of previous shortages, many
Rotarians may find themselves in the happy position of being able to
choose between the alternatives suggested in the following instances:
A manufacturer put on a special sales drive, and his dealers stocked up.
Then without warning; the advertised price on the article was reduced ten
per cent. One large dealer reported that he was not even notified. The
stores had to wriggle out of the difficulty as best they could. They had
bought something at a high price on which they were forced to absorb a ten
per cent loss even before they attempted to sell it. Perhaps the
manufacturer did not have the price-cut in mind when he, caused the stores
to increase their inventories. But the dealers said he did.
This incident wrecked more goodwill than heavy expense in advertising
could restore in many a month. Contrast with it the policy of another
manufacturer in the same field:
He had moved up production to a point where he was able to cut $20 from
the selling-price of a certain model.
Dealers were requested to report the number of machines they had on hand,
and checks were sent to them covering the amount of possible loss owing to
the price-cut—actual money, not credit on more merchandise.
Is it any wonder that this manufacturer has a loyal and enthusiastic
dealer organization?
Is the customer always right? Most men in business have occasion to ponder
this slogan at one time or another. A famous department store made a
survey which disclosed that there were 75 complaints in every 10,000
transactions. Consideration was also given to the possibility that many
customers did not complain but went elsewhere in future giving the store a
bad name among their friends. When salespeople in the store were asked:
"Do you believe that it is your job to protect the customer against the
store, or the store against the customer?" 99 per cent of them gave the
wrong answer.
When it comes to complaints, however, a suspicion sometimes arises whether
this slogan is actually true as well as profitable policy. Who is to say
whether the customer is really justified in any particular complaint? One
Rotarian found an answer that worked satisfactorily. Here it is, in his
own words:
"About ten years ago we conceived the idea of allowing our customers to
adjust their own complaints. Previous to that time, it had been a poker
game. When a customer had a complaint, he would often ask for about twice
as much as he expected to get. We would either try to get out of the
matter entirely or offer him a quarter of what he asked, and after much
wrangling, we would finally agree on some figure.
"By our new methods of making adjustments, the poker playing is
eliminated. It is up to the customer to be honest, as we stipulate in
making the adjustment that he treat us as he would like to be treated it
he were in our place.
"Previous to adopting this policy our adjustments from all causes had run
as high as one-and-a-half-percent of our sales. The first year after our
new policy went into effect, adjustments dropped to three-quarters of one
per cent and have been as low as one-twentieth of one per cent'.'
Is honesty declining? Or, has the business man of today succeeded in
removing some of the stigma which once attached to his calling? Was a past
president of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland correct
when he said:
"Until comparatively recent years, the man of business was despised. The
only reason was the thought, right or wrong, that meanness, dishonesty,
roguery, and often trickery, entered into business transactions. This has
only been changed since business men have attempted to put into practice
the Golden Rule.”
In the growth of confidence, frankness, and consideration between
customers, suppliers, and competitors that has replaced the spirit of
"dog-eat-dog" and "caveat emptor',' the Rotarian can gain much
encouragement for his efforts to promote honest practices in business or
profession. Dishonesty is naive and ignorant. It can be exposed as such by
the success of persistent and resolute example. Perhaps the experience of
the salesman who refused to allow an unearned discount is typical. He was
invited to pick up the long-distance phone and check with his home office
because a very large contract was at stake. But he steadfastly refused.
Nothing could persuade him to even question the established policy of his
firm.
Suddenly the buyer changed his mind and signed the contract, saying: "A
concern that can afford to be so stiff-necked about its own way of doing
business, must have a product that can stand on its own merits."
What attitude should be taken towards tipping and seasonal gifts to buyers
when they are customary?
