A few bad apples

Editor,

I read the article "The rightful criteria for a good company (August 22)," and I would like to draw readers' attention to the following. There are surveys (here in the West) that many analysts, investors and financial institutions take much note of in decision making.

Brand image, public and customer perception of a business is important and it is easy to lose huge amounts of business if your customers lose respect for you. Earlier this year one of our more popular confectionery producers made a "public relations" mistake that cost them over 20 million pounds in lost business.

There is also a "league" of companies, which are the best employers. Those companies are perceived as the best employers and attract the best workers, who are more committed to delivering the best performance.

The rating of a business as an employer can be a big influence on the business's public image. People everywhere prefer to deal with a company with a reputation for honesty and decency.

In the past few days there has been much said in the Western press regarding Apple Computer's manufacturing plants in China, in particular with regard to the treatment of staff, which has been unfavourable to the company and this will hit sales.

Trevor, via e-mail

Business of trust

Editor,

I was quite interested reading the controversy about Confucian influence in contemporary business. I wrote a recent paper in French in the rather sophisticated and prestigious French review called "Passages." The paper titled "Asian values, myth or reality?" was debated several times in a think tank, which regularly holds meetings at the French Senate. The content deals with the perceptions of man as seen by Westerners and Asians and the difficulty for both cultures to have similar views on the contemporary world.

My opinion is that doing business is certainly not the ultimate goal of mankind. It is certainly a compulsory tool for development, but even if development is sustainable, it could also lead to chaos and wars if there are no ethical and moral backgrounds. This is where traditional Chinese values, including Confucianism, are necessary.

I recently participated in a brain storming session with law experts about the ethical aspects of business. It came out that the moral issue is extremely important in small and big business. The rule of law should only apply in case there are misfits among the partners. If only the rule of law is regarded as the ultimate rule for business (as it is the case in the Anglo-Saxon business), partners would only think of finding legal ways to cheat each other. The only way to do good business is to have mutual confidence and trust based on a common moral issue. This is where Confucianism can play a big role by transcending the business rule of law, which should only be a barrier for conflicting business situations.

Henri Tsiang, France

Standing for respect

Editor,

I read your article about "rang zuo" carried on August 12. I thought it was interesting, but from my experience, "rang zuo" is not common. I have seen heavily pregnant women standing and no one gives their seat.

When people try to give me their seat (I'm 53 years old), even if I am desperate to sit down, I will not take the seat if there are old people standing. One day I stood up (while blocking anyone from stealing my seat) and touched an old lady and indicated to her that she should sit in my seat. As she moved forward, and I moved away to let her in, a boy in his 20s jumped into the seat.

But you know, I don't think this is symptomatic of China, because some young people in my country are the same, totally self-absorbed.

I'm glad you published the article, which I will use this coming semester in class, because it brings attention to a common problem.

R.P.BenDedek, Wuhan

(China Daily 08/28/2006 page4)