By JESUS P. ESTANISLAO
BUSINESS has looked at the two strategic objectives concerning values. The first is Responsible Citizenship, which the business sector wishes to use to give a pointed emphasis on subsidiarity and solidarity. These two need to be included in good personal governance. The second is Good Governance, which covers the gamut from corporate and institutional to public governance. Thus, the whole field of governance, from personal to public, is in the business sector’s radar screen.
Typically, the business sector proposes initiatives that member firms themselves need to undertake, mainly in their long-term self-interest.
The first of these initiatives, internal to business firms, is progressive improvement of corporate governance practices. Boards of directors are called upon to take much more seriously the challenge of aligning their corporate governance practices with "best practices" consistent with globally accepted principles.
The second is for business firms to "incorporate ‘living the values’ embedded in their charter statement (articulating vision, mission, values) as part of their performance management system." In other words, they have to ensure that their corporate culture is alive and constantly nurtured through actual observance.
The third is for business firms to "include in their (internal) training programs, aside from management and technical skills, (such) LIFE skills as values formation, parenting, responsible citizenship, spiritual retreats and the like." This is a significant expansion of the coverage and concern of employee and officer training programs.
The proposed initiatives are not limited to those which secure the long-term self-interest of business firms. They also call upon business firms to reach out to external constituencies so that the observance of responsible citizenship is spread far and wide.
In this regard, business firms are asked to promote Responsible Citizenship not only among their employees, but also among "their employees’ families and in the communities where they operate".
Business firms in media or with access to media should also ensure that "adequate space or airtime (is) set aside for programs that promote responsible citizenship, patriotism or love of country and virtues like honesty, trustworthiness, etc."
Business firms should also be pro-active in all facets of the life of our country "by embracing advocacies consistent with (the Business Sectoral Road Map)". Such advocacy may include "participation and membership in political parties so that the voice of business can be heard in these fora".
The proposed initiatives under the strategic objectives of "responsible citizenship" and "Good Governance" are indeed wide-ranging. They represent a recognition that in our society, all sectors hang together; therefore, each sector should not think only of itself: Each should think of the whole. In this regard, through the initiatives the business sector proposes under the strategic objectives concerning values to undertake, business is setting a good example for all others.
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