Ethical leadership as a driver of business
The uncertainty about our behaviour, triggered by highly disturbing changes such as the current Corona pandemic or environmental disasters such as floods, cyclones, droughts and bushfires on an unprecedented scale, has arrived in society, politics and now also in business. But what place is given to ethics in this context?
Political parties, environmental institutions and, in the meantime, companies that make sustainability their business model, advocate ecological behaviour and call for common sense in the use of resources. With all this laudable commitment to a better world, it is worth taking a closer look. Because at the heart of the matter is the question of whether we are on the right track with the right content and whether we are fighting the symptoms rather than the causes.
Perhaps we should not only focus on sustainability with a focus on the environment, but address morality or even better ethics. At the heart of the matter is the balancing of particular interests of individuals, companies and political bodies against the responsibility for a world worth living in and the benefits for society. At the latest then we are talking about the responsibility of politicians, educators and leaders.
Responsibility as a key factor
Today's world is characterized by an increasing interconnectedness of economic and cultural spaces across borders. Ongoing globalization and digitalization increase the complexity, risks, volatility and speed of the decisive cycles. As a result of this development, the demands on managers, employees and organizations are increasing and they are increasingly confronted with diverse ethical challenges.
In order not to fail due to complexity and uncertainty, we will need managers in the future who have an overview of the big picture and understand the connections in terms of cause and effect, managers who recognize trends and are able to align their organization accordingly. Leadership competence in the sense of holistic, value-oriented management requires new thinking, which presupposes that one is able to discard "old" patterns, truths and beliefs.
The universal discipline - Ethical Leadership Ethical leadership is becoming a success factor for companies and part of future competence for managers. Managers who want their organizations to hold their own in the global competition for market share in the future are well advised not to focus on financial results in isolation, but consistently on the benefits for their customers and those of their most important stakeholders, such as society as a whole.
The keyword is holistic, value-oriented corporate management. It combines those entrepreneurial disciplines that lead to a long-term orientation towards value and meaning. The valuable companies of the future will not be those that earn the most money and pay the highest dividends, but those that create the greatest benefit for society and future generations. The Swiss Excellence Forum invests in this topic out of the conviction that ethical behaviour in business is a prerequisite for sustainable success. The Swiss Ethics Award honours special ethical achievements in business.
The world of tomorrow
History teaches us that the great upheavals in society were ushered in by discoveries and innovations such as seafaring, the generation of electricity, the invention of the combustion engine or, at the end of last century, the internet. Today, we are at the beginning of the age of artificial intelligence (AI), which involves the automation of intelligent behaviour and machine learning. This triggers the greatest fears in society, but on the other hand is associated with inestimable opportunities for the future of humanity. Once again, we are faced with the challenge of how to exploit the opportunities while dealing responsibly with the associated risks. In the following interview, we asked Dr. Marc Holitscher from Microsoft Switzerland as an expert on the topic of AI.
