Principle 9: Corporate Citizenship (Item 7)
The organization's action to ensure a clean, safe, fair and prosperous
society enhances the perception of its value to the community.
You should work to reduce the unintended consequences (side effects)
to the community of your actions and policies. The community expects
that you will keep it safe and do no harm not harm either — intentionally
or unintentionally. Most companies do not consider the `unintentional
harm' phpect of their business. "We made a mistake, sorry"
may have worked in the past. It does not work now. Unintended harm
can result in expensive and damaging court cases.
Most companies deal with `unintended injuries' and `unintended harm'
as one offs - as special events. They are sometimes hard to spot,
because they are often far removed in time and space from the original
decision. However, they are directly attributed to the company's actions
- `unintended consequences' of the way the company does things —
and the courts increasingly agree. An injury or harm does not have
to be intended for the company to be held responsible.
Here are some examples.
Police are pursuing a speeding driver, a stolen
car. Very good, you say. That is their job. But ... the speeding driver
ran a red light and crashed into another car killing the family. An
unintended consequence of the chase. No one meant it to happen - an
unintended consequence.
A woman undergoes an operation that relieves
the pain from which she has been suffering. But ... she gets a killer
infection and dies. No one meant it to happen.
In the 1970s, computer memory was expensive.
"Why don't we save space by using only two characters to store
the date?" What a good idea! In the 1990s, millions were spent
on the Y2K `bug'.
Space for housing is scarce. Pressure is put
on town planners to release marginal land. Twenty years later hundreds
of people are killed in landslides and mud slides. No one meant it
to happen - an unintended consequence.
A railway company decides to save costs by
reducing the number of crew in the engine. The driver now has so much
to do that it is not always possible to look out for signals. Six
years later, two trains collide when one does not stop at a signal.
No one meant it to happen - an unintended consequence.
For legal firms, the unintended consequences
include:
- getting crooks off on technical phpects
of the law. The crooks then go on to re-offend – more rape
and murder
- giving poor (or erroneous) advice because
of a multitude of different possible interpretations that causes
clients and the community to make unsafe decisions
- acting unethically – following the
letter of the law but not its intent
- during family law matters, causing extreme
stress that causes family break up or continued violence
The military might call them collateral damage.
"A few civilians were killed, but we took our target."
You should anticipate adverse effects from production, distribution,
transportation, use and disposal of your products; from the behaviour
of employees in carrying out your policies and required activities.
You should anticipate and prevent problems; provide a practical response
if problems occur; and provide information and support in order to
maintain public awareness, safety and confidence.
If you have to recall a product, do it early, don't lie and provide
useful information to the community.
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