Letter to the Edge Editor



Hi Martin (Mr. Slofstra),

I'm responding to your article, "Ethics are good for business"
in the Edge June issue.

It's something I feel very strongly about.

I agree ethics are *GOOD* for BUSINESS because its owners know that they
have GOOD MANAGEMENT that is TRUSTWORTHY.

An ethical business delivers products+services with *ZERO* SOCIAL 
COSTS.

It means management does *EVERYTHING* to be *LEGITIMATE* in order to
KEEP THE TRUST of their owners+employees because they intend to con-
tinue to be "a going concern".

An ethical business  provides THE BEST WAGES POSSIBLE; their 
owners+employees are *ALWAYS* informed at *ALL* times about what's 
going on within the organization in order to AVOID UNPLEASANT SUR-

PRISES.

An ethical business  does everything to AVOID DOING HARM by 
ensuring there is *NO* pollution, ** dangerous work practices, etc. 

Consequently, shareholders of ethically-based corporations can feel se-
cure in the knowledge that THE MARKET PRICE of their shares reflect 
the *REAL* MARKET VALUE  of the business rather than *ARTIFICIALLY* 
INFLATED value as a result of CROOKED DEALINGS+accounting MA-
NIPULATIONS. 

In other words, an ethical business DELIVERS *SOLID* VALUE 
that builds the confidence of the owners+employees in the business due 
to *GOOD* ethically-based BUSINESS PRACTICES that are the HALL-
MARKS of a ROCK-SOLID BUSINESS that *EVERYONE* can have 
confidence in.

*TODAY*, everyone will agree that ETHICS is the 
"TOUCHSTONE" of any well-run BUSINESS because 
it avoids Enron-like scandals because *DISHONESTY*
was rule according to Lynn Brewer, Enron whistle-blower. ("Enron 
whistle-blower says business landscape hasn't improved" by 
Martin Slofstra, pg. 6, June 17th 2005 issue of Computing Canada).

My grandfather's lumber business,  Henry Selin Forest Products, the 
largest privately owned lumber company in Northern Ontario and the 
most technologically advanced, believed in treating their employees 
*VERY* WELL: consequently, it became a model company until my 
Dad's death, Clifford Selin (say'leen), in 1965: he was the Vice-Pre-
sident who ran the whole Company. It was THE MAIN EMPLOYER 
of the French-speaking town of Hearst in its day. A park on the main 
street, Front Street, is named in the honour of my grandfather, Henry 
Selin who arrived in Canada from Sweden as a teenager.

Thanks for your article, "Ethics are good for business":
as you can see from my comments, I "readily" agree. <grin>

Best wishes,