Trust Across America™

TRUST ACROSS AMERICA™ RELEASES FIRST FINDINGS FROM ITS STUDY OF TRUSTWORTHY BUSINESS PRACTICES IN PUBLIC COMPANIES

While there may be a continuing and complex trust crisis in America, our research shows that there is a direct relationship between business performance and trustworthy behavior. And while a universal definition of trust may not exist, it’s not really a problem,—it’s just the way things are. We love to put precise metrics in place that describe and explain, in linear and causal terms, things like human behavior. But reality doesn’t always cooperate. And because what can’t be measured also gets overlooked, trust, which is absolutely critical in business relationships, needs measuring.

A 2008 paper written by the Economist Intelligence Unit entitled “The Role of Trust in Business Collaboration” concluded with the following statement:

“Even though best-practice corporate governance has been on the corporate radar for some time now, it seems that the trust element of governance, despite being so closely linked to ethics, has yet to become a business standard.”

We believe that many important concepts cannot be reduced to a single metric, and that is certainly true for trust. However, what can be defined and measured are various contributory components of trustworthy behavior in business—factors that we can all agree are definitely somewhere in the trust neighborhood. And when these factors are evaluated and aggregated, there are some encouraging results about companies that somehow seem to be “doing the right thing.” We may not be able to precisely measure trust; but that doesn’t mean we can’t rate it, test it, evaluate it, and above all—manage it. What we have recently done is removed the ‘yet’ out of the Economist’s description.

In 2007 we set a goal of developing a rigorous approach to better understanding and evaluating trustworthy business practices. We began laying a foundation for a trust ecosystem, and Trust Across America™ (TAA) was hatched. Through our professional relationships, LinkedIn group, and our radio show, we have spoken to dozens of academic and corporate experts and consultants across the wide range of specialized silos relating to organizational trust- ethics, integrity, reputation, ESG, CSR, accounting, and sustainability to get their feedback on this elusive concept of trust. From this collaborative effort, we have developed a methodology that we think approximates the most holistic and comprehensive definition and measurement of trustworthy corporate behavior to date. We named it FACTS™. It allows us to provide meaning, definition and measurement to both the business and behavioral side of trust.

FACTS™ is an acronym. It stands for:

Financial strength and stability
Accounting controls
Corporate governance and community impact
Treatment of Stakeholders and Transparency
Sustainability

We ran the FACTS model again historical public data for thousands of public companies from 1998-2009, and eliminated those that did not have complete data. In essence, our methodology analyzes hundreds of data points from three independent providers, and with equal weighting, arrives at a cumulative FACTS™ trust score for almost 2000 of the largest publicly traded companies. Currently, thirty nine companies reach the Gold Standard of 50 points or more in each of the FACTS data categories.

Some other noteworthy findings from this study:

•The company with the highest trust ranking (across sixteen sectors) is in the same industry as BP Global. We find this somewhat timely since it is a goal of TAA to have the most trustworthy companies share their best practices.

•The companies with the highest scores in all data categories come from six different industry groups, so no single industry dominates in the “trust” category.

•The retail sector has the highest average trust rating of the sixteen.

•When we rank the 1954 companies, the top 10% are almost evenly split between large and small (over and under $2 billion market cap).

•Only two hundred companies in the database scored above a “50″ in sustainability efforts.

Over the next few weeks we will be populating the Trust Across America website Link to Website with the following material:

-An alphabetical listing of the names of all 1954 companies for which we have complete data.
-An alphabetical listing of the top 10% of all companies.
-Company specific and industry reports that will allow C-Suite executives to anticipate “surprises”, manage risk, and better protect their company’s reputation; provide a workable framework for enhancing organizational trust and reputation; and provide meaning, definition and measurement to both the business and behavioral side of trust..
-Reports for consumers and other professionals.
-Additional resources for public companies that wish to delve deeper into internal and external behavioral assessments.

We will also begin conversations with the media (both print and broadcast) about our findings and will start to contact some of the top companies for interviews and further involvement. Our mission is to highlight companies that are “doing the right thing”, refocus media attention away from the negative, and provide opportunities for companies to share best practices.

I look forward to your comments and feedback. The best initial method to communicate is via email: barbara@trustacrossamerica.com

Barbara Kimmel, Executive Director Read more…

Following his appearance on Trust Across America radio Link to Show I decided to spend a bit more time talking to Todd about the important work he is doing on business trust and integrity.

Barbara: Todd, tell us about your background.

Todd: I am an Associate Professor for the DeVos Graduate School of Management, Northwood University. I am the Lead Faculty for the Leadership Curriculum. I hold a Ph.D. in Human Communication and an M.S. in Educational Psychology from Indiana University in Bloomington, an M.A. in Interpersonal Communication from Auburn University and a Bachelor’s from Morehead State University in Morehead, KY. I was a professor of organizational psychology at North Carolina State University and IU before leaving academics for the corporate arena. After 5 years at Rockwell Avionics, I joined Daimler Chrysler as the executive responsible for Organizational and Executive Development. I left after nearly nine years in the corporate world to form my own consulting and speaking business, IMPACT Development and Consulting.

Barbara: You have developed something called the Leadership Integrity Quotient (LQI). Can you tell us what prompted you to do this and what it is?

Todd: I was prompted by Bernie Madoff and Rod Blagojevich. J Actually, that’s not far from true. I received a call from the producers of the Neil Cavuto show on Fox News who wanted to know my opinion on how Rod Blagojevich could possibly see himself as an innocent victim. In the middle of the interview, Cavuto asked about Blagojevich’s intelligence to which I replied that I had no idea about his IQ but I knew he had a low Integrity Quotient. As I reflected on my own comment later I realized that this was a concept that had been stewing in my mind for awhile.

The LQI is conceptually the degree to which a leader is recognized as having integrity. In other words, how well do we trust this leader? I chose the word “integrity” rather than “trust” because trust is something of a complicated concept whereas integrity is, more-or-less, do I believe you will do what you way you are going to do, when you say you are going to do it, and with the right intent in mind.

Barbara: So this concept is not just about the large public figures?

Todd: Not at all. I had noticed over the last few years that many of my students and executive coaching clients seemed to have the notion that there is such a thing as “part-time” integrity. In other words, if I mostly act in a trustworthy manner, then I should be trusted. That’s not how it works. You either have integrity or you don’t and if you violate your integrity, you lose your ability to be an effective leader until things are made right. It takes a long time.

Barbara: Isn’t “integrity” an internal trait? Integrity isn’t about my public persona only is it?

Todd: You are absolutely correct. You don’t know if I have integrity…only I know that. However, as a leader, whether I see myself as having integrity or not is almost a moot point. The impact of a leader on his or her followers is through the understanding and perception of the followers. So even if I have the greatest intent in the world, if my followers don’t see that and interpret my behaviors in a different way, I have an integrity issue.

Barbara: Your LIQ-Test addresses nine dimensions in three categories. What are those?

Todd: The first of these is what I call “Behaviors Exhibited Toward Others.” This category addresses three different kinds of trust. First, consistency…do you always do what you say you are going to do? Second, capability…are you able to deliver what you have promised to deliver. Finally, transparency…are you actually doing what you have stated you are going to do. Or, more importantly, are your actions verifiable…can we see them?

The second category is “Attitudes Felt Toward Others.” While this category is not externally visible per se, it is our attitude toward others that drives our behaviors. So here we have first trust, as in do you trust the people who follow you. If you are doing things that make your followers feel you don’t trust them, it is difficult to expect them to trust you. Second is “Caring.” Does it actually matter to you how your followers are impacted? And finally, “Openness.” It is difficult to trust somebody that we never see and who is inaccessible. Openness refers to our willingness to have contact with our subordinates.

The third category is “Values Held by Self.” Values are core to the decision-making process and as a result, define in large part who we are. These dimensions are pretty straightforward. First, are you honest? If you intentionally deceive your followers, even on the smallest matter, you call into question your honesty. Second, are you accountable? Do you take responsibility for outcomes or do you excuse your role or behavior. Third, are you self-aware. This is an interesting dimension because leaders that are not interested in knowing about themselves are often avoiding their own issues of integrity.

Barbara: Do you believe that leaders have less integrity today than they had in the past?

Todd: Probably not. For one thing, the media has created a situation where there are very few closed doors compared to the past. We not only have more channels of information, but the information is more public than in the past. I do believe there are pressures that leaders face today that are more intense than in the past. For example, publicly held companies today don’t just have to turn a profit…they have to meet or beat the expectations about their profit. It’s easy to have integrity when we are not being challenged. The true test of character is when we are under the gun.

Barbara: Is it possible for a leader to rebuild trust?
Yes, but it must be authentic and enormously transparent. Leaders who are suffering from a real or perceived violation of integrity have to make it their main priority to recover. It’s difficult because of the issue of authenticity. If you violate my trust, then when you are trying to make it right I don’t know whether you “mean it” or not. I have to see repeated action over a prolonged period of time to become comfortable again with trusting you. Many leaders simply don’t have the patience for that and as a result, suffer the consequences for a long time.

Barbara: Any final comments?

Todd: There is an impression today that there are no leaders that can be trusted. This is unfortunate, but understandable. If you are in a leadership position, your commitment to honesty and trustworthiness has an effect that goes well beyond you as an individual. Your attention to issues of integrity, and your willingness to be transparent and open with your followers can help bring some level of confidence back to our perception of leaders in general.

Barbara: Please provide your contact information:

Todd: Website: www.DrToddThomas.com
Blog: www.LeadershipMattersNow.com

Do you have any questions or comments about this interview?

TRUST ACROSS AMERICA™ MONTHLY UPDATE JULY 2010

A close family member likes to remind me that “Slow and steady wins the race”…as long as you are heading in the right direction. Our VISION is slowly and steadily reaching its lofty goal as our trust ecosystem continues to expand, and collaboratively we elevate the discussion and develop solutions for building a more trustworthy world.

Over the past month we have spent much of our time finalizing our study on trustworthy business practices in public companies. Look for a major announcement in August and a special newsletter explaining our methodology and some of our observations.

Our core programs continue to grow:

• Our LinkedIn Group called Trust Across America launched in mid-April. It’s a place for discussion, dialogue and debate on trustworthy behavior in business. Most of our members are thought leaders from academia, consulting and corporate America in the fields of ethics, trust, reputation, leadership, integrity, CSR, ESG, sustainability and impact investing. If you have not already done so, please join the group and take a minute to introduce yourself. Please invite a professional colleague to join the group as well.

• The Trust Across America Blog for July includes interviews with Brian Moriarty from the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics; Jeffrey Seglin, the NY Times Ethics Columnist; Karen Mishra, a Michigan State Professor who, along with her husband Aneil, has spent the past twenty years studying trust; and Tony Simons a leadership and management professor at Cornell, and an expert in business trust and integrity. I also wrote a few pieces on how companies can damage their reputation through poor marketing and customer service, and you can follow my fender bender saga navigating the auto insurance industry. Our blog index has grown to almost forty covering trustworthy behavior in business from various viewpoints including ethics, trust, reputation, integrity, sustainability, ESG, CSR and leadership. Click on link

• Trust Across America Radio Show: We had a surprise visit from Jeffrey Hollender of Seventh Generation on July 21. We continue to be honored by the outstanding thought leaders who have appeared, and will be appearing on the show. All past shows are archived, so you can listen at your convenience: Click on Show Link
Our guests for the month of August, all leading experts in various aspects of organizational trustworthiness, include: (August 4) Steve Farber, the President of Extreme Leadership and author of Greater than Yourself; Paula Marshall the CEO of Bama Companies, a Malcolm Baldrige Award Winner and author of Finding the Soul of Big Business; (August 11) Fran Maier, the founder of Match.com and the President of TRUSTe that currently certifies the privacy practices of over 3,000 websites; Traci Fenton, the Founder and CEO of WorldBlu, Inc., whose mission is championing the growth of democratic companies worldwide. WorldBlu publishes the annual WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces™; (August 18) Bob Schoultz, Director of the Master of Science Program in Global Leadership at the University of San Diego; Art Stewart, a consultant, educator, and purveyor of a strategic framework – the ‘New Responsibility Paradigm’; (August 25) Nick Andrews, Managing Director North America for the Centre for Sustainability and Excellence; and Karen Mishra, a clinical professor in the Broad College of Business at Michigan State University. Karen’s research focuses on how organizations build trust with employees through internal communication.

• Consultant’s Collaborative Our Consultant’s Collaborative is growing. It is another opportunity for experts to highlight and share their knowledge with visitors to our site, as well as serving as a centralized internal and external resource for consulting, media and program referrals. We hope to expand the Collaborative to include professionals with expertise in Organizational Trust, Leadership, Ethics, Integrity, Reputation, Accountability, Sustainability, CSR, ESG, Governance/GRC and Impact Investing. Special programs are being developed for those who participate through enhanced listings. Click for Consultants Page

• Reading Room Looking for a book on organizational trust? Our Reading Room should be your first stop. Books are written by experts from corporate America, academia and consulting. We added several new titles for August. Click Here to Go to the Reading Room

We hope you will choose to get involved and stay involved in some of the following ways. Trust Across America is a collaborative effort. We cannot do this alone.

• Join our Linkedin group called Trust Across America. We have also started a group on Facebook by the same name but have not quite figured out what we will do with it!

• Be a guest on our radio show.Refer a colleague to appear on the show. Please have them send an email to
Barbara@trustacrossamerica.com with their expertise and contact information.

• Link your blog to our site – Follow the format on the existing blogs at the link below and send it back in an email-we will add your blog within a few days.

• Be listed in the Consultants Collaborative- Please email me for more information on various listing options. (Barbara@trustacrossamerica.com)

• Suggest a book for our Reading Room

• Collaborate in some way we have not yet considered.

Thank you for your interest in Trust Across America. We look forward to continuing to build our trust ecosystem and in providing valuable resources to both individuals and companies. Please feel free to forward this newsletter to others who may be interested.

Barbara Brooks Kimmel, Executive Director
www.trustacrossamerica.com
Copyright © 2010 Next Decade, Inc.

Barbara: Tony, tell us a bit about your background, qualifications and expertise. Please provide the title of any books you have written.

Tony: As the president of Integrity Dividend LLC, I teach people, teams and organizations how to boost their bottom line through integrity. I speak, train and consult. I have been a professor of leadership and management at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration since 1993, when I earned my doctorate from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Organizational Behavior. Before that, I worked as a psychiatric counselor and as a sales and sales management training consultant. I have published over 30 articles and book chapters for scholars and managers, and most recently published a book for managers based on 13 years of research – titled, The Integrity Dividend: Leading by the Power of Your Word (Jossey Bass, 2008). Link to The Integrity Dividend

I have trained executives and managers in negotiation and leadership since 1991.

Barbara: Trust Across America’s mission is to rebuild trustworthy behavior in North America, starting with public companies. How would you generally define trustworthy behavior?

Tony: In the broadest sense, I would think about ability, benevolence, and integrity, as per Mayer et al.’s (1995) classic article. My own work, however, focuses in on the aspect of integrity which is word-action alignment: consistently fulfilling promises and demonstrating by actions the same values one talks about. How good is your word? Is it impeccable? This one element is really hard to achieve, and it has huge, measurable impact on effectiveness. There are other things that are important, but perhaps nothing else works without this one ingredient.

Barbara: Are trustworthy behavior and integrity synonymous?

Tony: It depends how precisely you want to speak about the ideas. By some definitions, yes. By my definition, I would say that integrity (or more specifically, “behavioral integrity”) is a necessary element of trustworthiness, which is a broader notion.

Barbara: Can you provide some examples of public companies that are doing this well?

Tony: Johnson and Johnson comes to mind, for how well they managed the Tylenol scare. Marriott seems to be a company that consistently delivers on its brand promise. I once returned something to LL Bean under really bizarre circumstances, but they honored their money-back satisfaction guarantee even when they had every opportunity not to – the dress was delivered okay, but then my dog chewed on the package and then it got run over by a truck when a bee flew into the cab… The operator laughed at the story, but there was never any question about whether they would honor their guarantee.

Barbara: Why are high trust organizations more efficient?

Tony: Three main reasons – first, they engage their employees’ hearts better, which means their employees try harder and go the extra mile. Second, people understand each others’ intent and requests better, because they do not need to second-guess each other. Third, they can focus their attention on getting the job done, rather than jockeying for political advantage.

Barbara: Is the “trust” climate in corporate America improving or worsening? What actions will turn things around?

Tony: There are forces working in both directions, but mostly it is worsening. The economic struggles and the prevalence of layoffs tend to pit people against each other, and they raise fear levels, which are antithetical to trust. Bigger wealth disparities between the C-suite and the line workers reduce trust, and the recent corporate scandals do not help either. On the positive side, more and more people are recognizing the importance of trust – as witnessed by this blog!

Barbara: Any final thoughts?

Tony: For any who heard my radio show/podcast, I want to acknowledge a broken promise: The promise-keeping guy phoned in 15 minutes late, which broke my commitment to Barbara and Jordan. As a result, I have damaged my own credibility with all of you. I can rebuild credibility by making and keeping a series of promises… but it will take several to bring me back even to a starting place of neutrality, and a few more to build trust. This experience shows how important it is to deliver on your word, and it also shows (by the Kimmel’s grace) the slow and necessary process of rebuilding. Acknowledge the break, fix the damage, and then make very sure it does not happen again…and keep working at it. It is a process we all need to master, as it is necessary for managing trust. Aren’t you glad I arranged this demonstration?

Note from Barbara: As fate would have it, Jordan Kimmel was scheduled to appear as a guest on another radio show later that same day. He forgot all about the commitment and called in late. As I told Tony, all mistakes are being blamed on the tropical weather we are experiencing this summer in the Northeast! Tony, we forgive you and look forward to getting to know you better.

Barbara: Please provide contact information for readers.

http://integritydividend.com

tony.simons@integritydividend.com
607-342-1091

Do you have any questions for Tony about trust and integrity? Leave them here and he will respond quickly.

Today I received a “Dear Barbara” email from the Marketing Manager of a company I have never heard of. The first sentence read “I know you have been anxiously waiting to see the full program for the (Blah Blah Blah University and Conference) and it’s finally here!

Nicole whoever you are, next time you think it’s okay to address me by my first name, and tell me that I have been anxiously awaiting your email when I have never heard of you or your company, remember that I have the power to put all future spam from your organization on “block”. That’s one great feature of the internet.

And may I humbly suggest that before your next email promotion, study the definitions of the words trust, authenticity and integrity.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Karen Mishra who provided some insightful commentary on trust in business.

Barbara: Tell us a bit about your background, qualifications and expertise. If you have written a book, please provide the title.

Karen: I am a professor at Michigan State University where I teach marketing and entrepreneurship and I provide marketing leadership for the School of Human Resources and Labor Relations. I have been doing research on trust for 20 years with my co-author, fellow professor, and husband, Aneil Mishra. We recently wrote Trust is Everything: Become the Leader Others will Follow and we are now writing our second book, “Trustworthy Leadership: Psychology and Practice” due next year to be published by Routledge Press.

Link to Trust is Everything

Barbara: Trust Across America’s mission is to rebuild trustworthy behavior in America, starting with public companies. How would you generally define trustworthy behavior?

Karen: People trust others who are reliable, open, competent, and compassionate. In our research of companies and individuals, we define this as the ROCC of Trust. This is behavior that is both ethical and transparent. Leaders who are authentic, courageous, and humble are more likely to behave in a trustworthy fashion.

Barbara: What are some of the specific components of trustworthy behavior in your opinion?

Karen: In our ROCC of trust behaviors, reliability and competence are the most visible behaviors for others to evaluate and can be the first steps towards building trust. However, you need openness and compassion to build deeper relationships and to create lasting change.

Barbara: We all know that the erosion of trust is a big problem in corporate America. What are companies doing to combat this, and is it enough?

Karen: There are some companies that are working hard to be trustworthy who wind up on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to work for. These companies dedicate themselves to being good citizens to their employees, customers, and communities. Unfortunately, most individual citizens recognize that there is a problem with trust in corporate America which often companies themselves don’t recognize. There are many reasons for this, including when companies downsize in an unfair manner, treating their customers poorly, or when they fail to conduct themselves in a safe and responsible fashion. I don’t think enough companies are actively working to ensure that they are behaving in a trustworthy manner.

Barbara: Is the “trust” climate in corporate America improving or worsening? What actions will turn things around?

Karen: The trust climate is not getting better. As just one example, I think many Americans can see how trust does not work in their favor. The banks which received generous bailouts have yet to use that money in ways that help their customers. I think this is a huge failure on their part to repair lost trust and has diminished trust in the banking system overall. The only thing that will turn this around is when banks realize that they rely on customers to stay in business and be profitable.

Barbara: Can you provide a few examples of companies that are doing the “right” thing in your opinion? What steps are being taken by these companies?

Karen: As a great example, Ted Castle, Owner of Rhino Foods has a history of opening the books of his privately held firm in order to encourage his employees to work smarter and share in the profits. Most recently, he has decided to hire refugees from Bosnia and Africa into his company where he is helping them to learn English and is providing them with job skills in order to help them assimilate. He feels like this is what he is meant to do to be a good citizen. It builds trust with these new employees and current employees to know that he cares enough about others to share his opportunities with others.

Barbara: Anything else you would like to add?

Karen: Trust is such an important concept for corporate America to understand, embrace, and promote starting with building trust with their employees. If they do not first build trusting relationships with their employees, they will not be able to build trusting relationships with customers or other stakeholders. Employees share important information with other stakeholders and can be great advocates for their business if they are treated well and if they are trusted by their managers. Trust has to be built through open communication between a manager and his/her employees and work out from there.

Barbara: Karen, thank you so much for taking the time to complete this interview with me. Please provide your contact information.

Dr. Karen Mishra
Clinical Professor
Broad College of Business
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
mishrak@msu.edu
www.totaltrust.wordpress.com
517-802-8702

Do you have any comments or questions for Karen?

Last weekend I blogged about a recent fender bender and the trustworthy behavior that was exhibited by all parties up to that point.

http://www.trustacrossamerica.com/blog/?p=172 Read First Blog

It’s now five days later and I am waiting for the insurance adjuster to examine the car. I have learned a few life lessons about auto insurance that I would like to pass along.

1. Auto insurers want to pay you the least possible, even if you had no fault or blame in the accident (as was the case here). One of the ways they do this (without necessarily telling you) is by slipping after market or reconditioned parts on your automobile. Don’t settle for this. It’s not trustworthy behavior.

2. Right now this accident is a third party claim, meaning that the guilty party’s insurance company is trying to settle directly with me instead of the claim being processed through my insurer. At first this sounds like a good idea. But here is the catch. Should I get “fed up” with how this third party insurer does business, and alternatively choose to put the claim through my own company, I must wait for my insurer to reclaim my deductible from the other party’s insurance company. And from what I’ve been told by my insurer, there is NO TIME LIMIT for repayment. In fact, I could wait for the $500.00 for years. Remember, the other party in this accident assumed full responsibility. Where is the consumer law that limits the amount of time one must wait to recover a deductible? Doesn’t seem like trustworthy behavior to me.

3. Finally, I’m going to let you in on a little secret that your insurance company hopes you never learn. It’s a two word term called “diminished value”. Diminished value is essentially the difference between what your automobile was worth before the accident and what it is worth after repairs. You know that online CARFAX report that shows up when you go to trade in or sell your car? Well, that little fender bender that was not my fault, may have devalued my low mileage, expensive SUV up to 20%, even if it is repaired back to its original state. Can a consumer collect for diminished value? Well, it depends where you live and who you ask. Am I eligible to collect? What do you think? Where’s the trust? Where’s the love?

Barbara: Tell us a bit about your background, qualifications and expertise. If you have written a book, please provide the title.

Jeffrey: For many years, I was an editor at Inc. magazine when it was still based in Boston. When I was executive editor, I noticed that a curious thing occurred with the letters we received from readers. Whenever we would run a story that highlighted how an entrepreneur had cut some corners or played fast and loose with the truth to get ahead, we would get letters from readers who objected to us featuring such behavior on our pages. We’d run some of those letters and then in the next issue we’d get letters from other readers who took those who had a problem with the practices we features to task and claimed it was how you had to behave to succeed and grow a company. We found something fascinating there and that led to my writing of several features that focused on ethical issues company owners faced.

Shortly after several of these features ran, I was offered a year-long fellowship at the Center for the Study of Values in Public Life at Harvard University. I had done my graduate work at Harvard Divinity School years earlier. I spent the year of my fellowship there running a seminar on ethical decision-making in business (largely attended by business and divinity students) and completing my book, The Good, the Bad, and Your Business: Choosing Right When Ethical Dilemmas Pull You Apart. As I began the fellowship in September 1998, I also started writing a monthly business ethics column called “The Right Thing” for The New York Times. A collection of those columns appeared in book form as The Right Thing: Conscience, Profit and Personal Responsibility in Today’s Business. I have also written about a dozen other books on writing, marketing, banking, and other topics. In 2004, “The Right Thing” column became a weekly column syndicated by The New York Times Syndicate.

Barbara: Trust Across America’s mission is to rebuild trustworthy behavior in America, starting with public companies. Is ethical behavior a component of trustworthy behavior, or are they essentially the same?

Jeffrey: Trustworthy behavior can be one critical component of ethical decision making in business. But ethical decision making encompasses a broad range of elements that result in a final decision. Ethical decision making explores how someone walks through a tough decision. Trustworthiness can be an important character trait and certainly one that should be valued in business. But it in itself does not guarantee that someone will do the necessary work of making an ethical decision.

Barbara: Is the “trust” climate in corporate America improving or worsening? What actions will turn things around?

Jeffrey: Hard to say. There is a great deal of skepticism about honest behavior in business that heated up during many of the business scandals of 2002. The recent issues of safety with Toyota and oil spills with BP have not helped restore the public’s trust. The vast majority of business owners may indeed be trustworthy. But a handful of high profile cases of bad behavior can wreak havoc on public perception. When things go wrong, business leaders need to address issues head on if they expect to turn the situation around. They must come clean and make right what has gone wrong. Given that by the time things go wrong few can agree on what will make things right, this is no easy task.

Barbara: It seems that ethical corporate behavior has frequently taken second place to short term stockholder returns. Do you see companies shifting towards long termism and greater emphasis on all stakeholders?

Jeffrey: Such a shift will only be possible if stockholders don’t demand short-term rewards. Given the impatience of the markets, it’s hard to see how this will turn around fast. But boards should take the lead here and do what’s in the long-term interest of the company and all of its stakeholders…even if they know they might take a short-term hit.

Barbara: Please provide contact information.
The email for the column is rightthing@nytimes.com. My personal email is jseglin@post.harvard.edu.
Jeffrey L. Seglin
www.jeffreyseglin.com
jseglin@post.harvard.edu
rightthing@nytimes.com
617.824.8240 (Emerson)

Do you have any questions about this interview? Please don’t hesitate to ask.

Yesterday afternoon I was driving my kids to the dentist and got “rear-ended”. And while any accident is unfortunate, there were several components of trustworthy behavior (accountability, integrity, reputation, leadership, efficiency) exhibited during the critical minutes that followed the accident. And the best news is that nobody went to the hospital.

1. Within 30 seconds of the crash, a “Good Samaritan” (might have been a town public works employee) walked to the scene to ensure that we were all okay and see if he could help. I believe he was parked across the street.

2. The 911 operator had a police officer on the scene within 2 minutes.

3. The person who caused the accident did not try to bend the facts with me or the police. She was honest and took full responsibility. Kudos to a 23 year old who was willing to own up to her mistake.

4. The police officer was professional in his handling of the paper work and in taking time to explain what he was doing and providing post accident directions.

5. We were back on our way to the dentist within 20 minutes.

6. I was in contact with both insurance companies within 6 hours, and was assured that there would be no out of pocket costs on my part.

While nobody wants to be in a car accident, yesterday my faith in human nature got a very large boost. Trustworthy personal and professional behavior was exhibited by all parties involved. A very good outcome to a bad experience.

Now, if I could just figure out a way to bypass the wisdom teeth extraction!

This email exchange could be the “Poster Child” for how not to “do” customer service. Names have been deleted to protect the offender.

Me: Today I opened a box of (Name of Company) 12 Taco Shells. Much to my surprise, there were only 10 shells in the box. The UPC code is XXXXX XXXXXX. It seems like you have a quality control problem. My address is _____________ if you would like to send me the $2.39 that I paid for 12 taco shells.

The Company’s Response: Subject: RE: Taco shells

To ensure that our staff conducts itself in a manner that reflects the high regard that we have for our customers, we’ve notified the proper department of your complaint.

If you send the receipt or the proof of purchase with the attached Refund Request form, we will reimburse you for the objectionable product. In the meantime, I’m sending the enclosed coupons because we value your goodwill and would like to give you the opportunity to try our products again. If you have questions or comments in the future, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

We appreciate your time in bringing your concern to our attention and apologize for this problem.

Sincerely,

(Name of Company)
Customer Service Department

Me: Dear (Name of Company): There were no coupons attached to your email, only a refund form.

May I also suggest the following:

1.Change the word “complaint” to “inquiry”.
2.Change the word “objectionable” to “product in question”.
3.Do not make it difficult for customers who take the time to write to you to obtain coupons or refunds. A UPC code should be satisfactory.
4.Have an actual “person” sign your email responses.
5.Remember that without customers, you have no business 