A Class with Drucker - Headway | Work on yourself

120 ■ A CLASS WITH DRUCKER
only be considered an ethical violation, it might also be illegal. Dunn was
accused of spying on some of her employees.
The scandal erupted after Dunn assigned a team to investigate boardroom
leaks to journalists. She gave them permission to use false identities and other
questionable tactics to obtain personal information of directors, employees,
and reporters. Dunn had questioned supposed experts and was told it was
legal, even routine. As you might imagine, HP’s ethics chief was also fired.
The Hewlett-Packard case led to a number of other actions. The
Federal Trade Commission and several state attorneys general eventually
got involved and brought enforcement actions against pretexters for
allegedly violating federal and state laws on fraud, misrepresentation, and
unfair competition. 4
What this case seems to say is that while government spies may lie,
cheat, and steal, industrial spies may not.
<strong>Drucker</strong>’s First Test of Ethics
I think this discussion on ethics lasted far longer than Peter intended, and
it was just about time for a break. He wrapped up the discussion by a summary.
“Ethics and integrity should be measured primarily by the oath of
the Greek physician Hippocrates,” continued <strong>Drucker</strong>. “Primum non
nocere—First, do no harm.”
<strong>Drucker</strong> Lesson Summary
<strong>Drucker</strong>’s lecture did not resolve everything, where countless books on the
subject of ethics, honor, and integrity had failed. He did, however, help me
to make certain distinctions. The concepts of ethics, honor, and integrity all
have to do <strong>with</strong> right behavior according to our values. But because these
values may differ in differing cultures or society, not all are universal. What
we consider universal may be universal, only to us. Moreover, the law is
separate from these values. One can be ethical, honorable, and of high
integrity, and still be in violation of the law and land in jail. Conversely,
someone could be an all-around sleaze and not be violating any laws.
The first guideline for ethics in business, according to Peter, and this
does seem to be of universal application, should be to do no harm. If you
take the time to think through any potential situation using this criterion,
you will not go very far astray. Like many such valuable insights from Peter,
it is a simple exhortation—but it is up to us to think through and apply it.