KARMA OR "WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND"
In recent years, the business environment has been relatively benign, albeit a bit tough for some. This state of affairs does not look as though it will continue to exist in the coming years. It has been predicted that we are in for more turbulent times than we experienced in the past.
We also note how much has happened recently in relation to how we interact with others in the business community. So great have these changes been, it seems the very dynamics of doing business has also changed.
We also note from the stories in the media, how those business organisations which we had believed for so long as being reputable, have proven not to be the good corporate citizens or role models as was once thought.
Typically we are starting to note these actions are becoming more commonplace in the business environment:
1 trading contracts aren't worth the paper they are written on;
2 invoices have been paid late and often done so deliberately;
3 the business processes created to deal with stakeholders are inefficient and costly;
4 customers are misled and lied to;
5 employees mistreated and bullied;
6 destructive short-term thinking dominates many management decisions;
7 where reputations in all aspects of business are being challenged publically challenged via indiscriminate social media commentators, etc.
With all the perceived expertise we have access to in the business world, it is amazing how many of these factors are ignored and/or where we see blatantly bad business actions are still being made to the detriment of all.
So what does all this have to do with the theme of this article? It is simple really.
When times change and business is just that bit harder, those organisations which have abused their stakeholders usually come to grief. This outcome occurs because the bad business behaviour is no longer tolerated. Therefore "what went around, has come around" to haunt these businesses.
Make no mistake, if your business falls on hard times and requires the assistance of related stakeholders, the previous behaviour of your management team and employees, will impact on how your stakeholders react in the future. I would also respectively suggest, those businesses which have a positive history of working with their stakeholders, will have a far better opportunity to survive if the future becomes as turbulent as the futurists are suggesting.
