As part of a long-term research project, I have identified five competitive strategies common to organizations that are successful and ethical on a sustained basis. None of these strategies considered alone guarantees ethical success. I will be sharing these through a series of posts. Here is the fourth strategy.
Define the value of your ethics.
If you are committed to ethics, you probably believe that the company’s ethical stance provides a benefit to its customers. It is not enough to just hope that your customers will notice this. It is up to you to define that benefit and make it apparent to your customers. For example, if you take the extra time to ensure that your products or services fit the customer’s needs, make this effort a part of what distinguishes you in the market place. Nordstrom has made a simple ethical commitment a cornerstone of its reputation. That commitment is to treat customers making a return the same as customers making a new purchase. The benefit to customers need not be something earth shaking; it just needs to be something customers will recognize.
Mark Pastin 