A BYU-Hawaii alumnus who now works as an Ethics and Business Conduct Advisor for the Boeing Company, told current School of Business students during the February 22 entrepreneurship lecture that "the integrity of a company is the sum of the integrity of its people."
Jeremy C. Wilson, a 2001 international business management graduate who is originally from San Diego, explained its part of his unique job for one of the most widely recognized brands in the world to "shape an environment where integrity is valued across our business." He added he also focuses on instilling Boeing's other corporate values of leadership, quality, customer satisfaction, people working together, a diverse and involved team, good corporate citizenship and enhancing shareholder value.
Wilson said he often poses ethical dilemmas in training the approximately 12,000 Boeing-related employees he's assigned to work with in the Puget Sound area of Washington. For example, if you were driving home at 2 a.m. and had to stop for a red light, but no one was coming or even in sight, would you stop? Or if an ATM accidentally gave you an extra $100 without debiting your account, "what do you do?" he asked. "You should give it back," one student answered.
The "should part of the answer," he replied, is one of his focuses. "What we value and the decisions we make is a theme in ethics," Wilson continued, asking, "What would you do for $10 million?" He then noted that in answer to this question a survey showed 95% of people would go on TV and make of fool of themselves, 75% would work one full year without pay, and an amazing 25% would leave their family and never see them again.
"It's unbelievable to think that money can control our lives in this way. These are individuals. We're not talking about corporations."
In another survey which asked, "would you cheat on an important exam?" Wilson said age was an important factor: 21% of elementary kids have done so, 53% of middle school students, 65% of high schoolers, and 75% of college students.
"As they go on to graduate schools and professions, do those numbers keep going up?" Wilson wondered aloud, pointing to a recent USA Today story that reported 48% of Americans admitted to unethical behavior on the job.
Wilson said Webster defines ethics as "a set of moral principles and values; conforming to accepted principles of right and wrong that govern the conduct of a profession"; but a more common sense definition is "what you do when no one is looking. Will you do the right thing, even when it is not in your best interest?"
"Ethics is about your values, the values of the company you work for, about doing the right thing, about correcting the wrongdoing and not blaming the messenger," he continued. Or as one Boeing executive said, "The reputation of the company is really the collective reputation of the employees."
At Boeing, Wilson said, this includes concern for proper marketing and contract negotiations, gratuities, insider trading and a wide range of other issues. He explained they use the approach of "starting with a base of laws, regulations and external influences, then Boeing policies and procedures, and a compliance management program, topped by leading with integrity."
"We have legal minimums that govern everything we do," Wilson said, stressing that "ethical failures create costs," that could far outweigh the expense of maintaining programs such as the one he conducts. For example, failure to do the right thing can result in costly fines and penalties, the loss of business, legal actions, government oversight, remedial education, loss of company reputation, employee cynicism, increased government regulation, loss of morale and government cynicism."
In closing, Wilson shared a thought his boss includes as part of his e-mail signature: "Watch your thoughts: They become your words. Watch your words: They become your actions. Watch your actions: They become your habits. Watch your habits: They become your character. Watch your character: It directs your destiny."
Wilson told the students they are fortunate to be at this university. "BYU-Hawaii has incredible integrity. Why? It's not because it's Brigham Young, but it's because you have an incredible reputation as to how you act."