Today's businesses need to uphold great values in pursuit of making profits

04th August 2020

Today's businesses need to uphold great values in their pursuit of making profits, said Chrisso de Mel, Director - Group Shipping of Hayleys PLC.

"Great values need to be developed in mind in order to set right principles when people engage in business. Moreover, recognition, reputation and one's track record is of utmost importance to anyone who is in business. But, unfortunately, today's business world compromises on this very important feature," de Mel said.

Addressing a webinar organized by Sri Lanka Export Development Board under the theme, 'Profits or Values'- a discussion on inculcating the right culture and enhancing the sprint of doing business, de Mel said people both as individuals and companies have been severely challenged and are struggling continuously to uphold values.

Emphasising that profits alone will not make a company prosper, he said there are three main points of actions one must need to consider when it comes to uphold great values.

"The first one is to understand great values and the second one is to take a stance for great values. That is you that inculcate these values into your system and you take a stance to principally uphold those values."

"Third one is the trust which is needed to withstand pressure without compromising your beliefs and values," De Mel said.

Emphasising the need to inculcate right values in order to create a great culture to enhance the sprint of doing business, he said word of mouth is also of utmost importance in business today.

"Unfortunately you no longer hear people saying that you can have my word for it or I give you my word."

"In businesses, people exchange words. If you have to be honorable, you have to value human words. Strangely, society is not valuing human words anymore."

Moreover, whether it's a business relationship or a human relationship, you have to build it on trust. People have moved away from keeping trust in relationships from an early age. You have to teach yourself that you should never under any circumstance break trust. It's the same with business in corporate world where your name and trust happens to be an important factor," he said.

Also noting that culture is a key component in business and it has an impact on the strategic direction of any business function, he added, "Your principle will establish your personal culture which will eventually be reflected in your corporate culture."

DailyNews article on 23rd July 2020
DailyNews Article