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Show "Are Business Dealings Amoral? ethics be fairly compared with those of politicians, lawyers or doctors? That is the question now lieing asked by lawmakers and As Americas Puritan ghost rises from its Bicentennial grave to eye modem progress, business people join the parade of sinners to come under its critical scrutiny. And yet. . .shouldn't the old ghost let business pass by with his eyes closed? Can executives judges, said Dr. Sterling Sessions, dean of Weber State College of Business arid former international businessman. Laws will lie coming up soon regarding slush fluids and other bribery-related practices, Sessions predicted. He speculated an ethical code of conduct will soon lie established for business people. In a speech delivered to members of the World Trade Association recently. Sessions defined traditional brilierv as an attempt to change the behavior of someone illegally, and added it usually is a corrupting act. But is this traditional definition still applicable today? he asked. The definition blurs when applied to practical business situation. Ed White, now owner of Whitco, an export management company, spent fifteen years as international sales manager for Deseret Pharmaceutical Corp. What is the distinction lietween bribing someone, and siinplv entertaining him, taking him out to dinner, msE (UJvaCQ a show? Cl Its Presidential Hopeful Seeks to Legalize Freedom good business to service your customers. Its good sales technique to do a little extra for potential customers. So where do you draw' the line? White asked. Gulf Oil executives w'ere recently removed from high positions for allegedly participating in a slush fund that doled out over $12 million to politicians. Apparently in that case, no question about the definition of unethical conduct existed in the minds of corporate directors. And yet, according to Sessions, 48 per cent of executives polled by Dun's llevieic recently said they would pay money to foreign officials to facilitate an order if it were a commonplace practice. If a new part had to go through customs, the inspector might say, We w'ont get to that for another three weeks, waiting for the company owner to offer a lionus for his working extra hard to get through paperwork faster. It may seen unethical to perpetuate this practice, Bettinger speculated, but is it any less unethical to have to lay off employees liecause you refuse to comply with the system that would get your machine fixed? PART OF THE SYSTEM In Mid Eastern countries, says Bettinger, a practice called Baksheesh has lieen part of the social system ever since the culture liegan. In these countries a job seeker will pay his employer for the opportunity to work. Then he pays his employer a percentage of the bribes he extracts. Thats how' thev make monev. Its how the system works, said Bettinger. Bettinger said brilierv is not nearly as pervasive as its extensive media coverage would have us lielieve. The giant companies, dealing with large foreign government contracts, are the ones committing indiscretions," Smaller Bettinger claimed. companies are out there working hard, performing a valuable service to our lialance of trade. I think one result of these investigations of liriliery practices will lie an exoneration of small businesses. They arc on page 12) suf-(ctmtinued EXTENT How does one know if it a commonplace practice? The extent of briberv has sealwavs liecn a cret. Who do you ask alxiut is well-guard- ed brilierv? Your neighlior? Your competitor? asked Sessions. presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party , made the longest risit to Utah of any presidential candidate in history. Roger L. MacBride, Utah audiences this week were captivated with the likes of a presidential candidate they have never seen before. Siding with liberals in his view of civil liberties and with conservatives in the realm of economics, presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party, Roger L. Mac-Bridbrought to Utah the political slogan Legalize Free- e, dom. It is time for people to be free, he declared. It is time we lessen the burden of regulatory oppression for everyone. It is time Americans began liv- ing their lives the wav they want to live them. MacBride likened the Libertarian platform to American Revolutionaries who fought to individual rights preserve freedom and dignity. "They did it with guns, be said, were trying to do it by ballot." On a record-lon- g campaign the first state Utah, trip through to list the Liliertarian party on its ballot, MacBride introduced the Libertarian philosophy new' to many Utahns. And press coverage befitting a major contender for the race trailed him throughout the state. MAJOR PARTY He explained the Libertarian Party plans to soon become the third major political party, in the nation. Unlike the American Party faction, now split into the American Independent Party and the American Party, Libertarians hold a united stand. This will lie the first time Americans are offered a real alternative to crumbling Democrat-Republica- n power structure. Voting for either Ford oi Humphrey is like voting for Twiddle Dee or Twiddle Dum. There is little difference in their Imsic ideological reliefs. Both 1 more want the same thing government! he exclaimed. MacBride admitted the skepticism of Dont waste your vote on a third party candidate poses a major liarrier to his election. But he is serious about winning and conversely said, Whv waste vour vote on either the Democrat or Republican candidate? The differences perceived between the two are not as great as they appear to lie. Asked if he considered a Gentlemens Agreement with other lesser minority parties, the American Party in particular, MacBride answ ered, If we are going to instill a new attitude of individual freedom, were not going to get it through seedy agreements with tired, worn-oparties. The Liliertarian Party denounces invasion of civil and economic liberties by government at all levels. The party ut (cimtinued on page 6) exporters Experienced that prevaspeculate, however, lent brilierv may lie limited to specific geographic areas and particular kinds of transactions. They claim Latin American and Mid Eastern countries, and Korea and Indonesia are most saturated with what Americans w'ould term unethical business transactions. Cass Bettinger, assistant vice president of Commercial Security Bank and chairman of the World Trade Association, claimed that transactions with foreign governments are more vulnerable to unethical demands. Civil service employees in Latin America, for example, are often underpaid. They have developed an effective system for extracting every possible extra dime. By incorporating an immense amount of paperwork into every move, thev slow down everything. Every step requires signatures, stamps. In order to get something done in a reasonable amount of time, the w'orker requires a bonus, Bettinger explained. If a companys machine breaks, getting it fixed could require a major handouts every step of the way. under-the-tab- le About Town Business unite! An enormous opportunity to lobby summons interests endeared to commercial enterprise. Accepting neither 5A nor 2A zoning proposals in toto. City Commissioners recently opted to rewrite the entire zoning ordinance for Central Salt Lake City. Should business care to declare its strength through organized lobby efforts, it might well wield massive influence in winning favorable concessions. But efforts could snag on the opposite allegiances of Commissioner Jennings Phillips and Mayor Ted Wilson. While Phillips favors commercial development of the area knowing full well developers could probably force the Issue to court and win Wilson leans toward the residents point of viw. And all the while Commissioners suffer the threat of election defeat should they side with either camp. Results are likely to lie a miserable compromise not much lietter than status quo. But while the opportunity exists, business would lie wise to lobby in opposition to well organized citizen councils. Chances are yet good that Willis Ritter will lie unseated as Chief. Judge of the Third (ctmtinued on page 5) |
