Case Study Trade

Ethics and the Emergence of World Trade

By Dean L. Bottorff

dlb@ethicsquality.com

The emergence of world trade is revealing much to us about how to succeed in a global economy. But to understand the global marketing we must learn to think like people first and business executives second. This of course seems to be easier said than done.

Everywhere we look our senses are bombarded with corporate reasoning that resembles “intellectual incest” more than logic. This is difficult to do First we are bombarded by board room news releases and management consultant incantations that strategic progress requires the formation of trading blocks, the acquisitions and mergers of leading brands, the consolidation of distribution systems, the establishment of restrictive supplier and customer alliances. , all are leading strategies in the global business arena today. By all appearances these are the emerging strategies that will make the greatest difference for traders. Do not be so sure of this.

A closer look at world trade reveals that these developments are unsustainable surface tactics at best, and distractions at worst. The real strategic developments, which will carry the most sustainable advantages, are found in the underlying background factors of technology and human behavior. As the explosion in information and communication technology brings people closer together in world terms, the power behind global business shifts from structural systems to people systems. As people systems emerge and interact with other people systems a powerful invisible hand extends its reach to influence who the new winners and losers will be. This invisible hand is our system of ethics.

Our system of ethics forces people systems to develop quality in their behavior. Acting as a filter to remove unwanted behavior while retaining and developing good behavior, this filtering process is achieved through the pursuit of four attributes all human societies strives for:

1. Inner consistency,...