Markets and morality don't go hand in or do they??

A market is an all-encompassing socioeconomic system, covering economic institutions, social relations and culture. In this context let us take a more streamlined definition of the market as the rules that coordinate economic activities.
This idea emanates from a Socialistic viewpoint that markets are inherently corrupt and that morals can’t coexist within such a system. As we all know recently, free market capitalism has faced a lot of slack on the premise that greed fostered the subprime crisis and that all capitalists are immoral by nature. Capitalism naysayers have pounced on the bandwagon of Global recession to trounce the fundamental idea behind a Capitalistic society and have started to falsely believe that this downturn shall lead to the eventual death of the prancing horses. These proponents of Socialism should remember that this glitch will only be a learning experience and that the Bull Run shall continue with a more resilient system behind it.
There’s a popular saying that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others. Ideologically driven socialistic societies have suffered from stagnated economic performance, a withering civil society and hence a corroded moral character.
On the other hand, the idea behind free market capitalism is that it tends to increase the overall pie hence allowing a much larger number of people to be better off. We need to understand that Moral judgments about particular socio economic activities are different from moral judgments about the rules of the market. The markets flaws stem from the actions and motivations of its participants rather than from its design. Free markets foster free societies which afford people the opportunity to make their own political and social systems more just. Thus in contrast these activities support rather than corrode morality.
For example, In Europe, the integration of former Soviet bloc countries into the continent’s free-market trading system did not have any negative moral consequences. But in China, one can easily find evidence of a decline in both the moral order and business ethics.

Who says markets and morality can’t go hand in hand. We have Infosys which has been the epitome of fairness in all business dealings. The value system envisioned by its founders has been able to keep the company highly competitive in its business while maintaining the virtues of trust and honesty.

There’s nothing inherently evil about profit. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is based on the idea of doing good while making profits. Google’s charitable wing, Google.org, is also designed as a for profit enterprise. We all know of Grameen Bank which was established with the sole motive of providing credit facilities to poor. Currently it has 7 million borrowers + with US $ 175 million in revenue. A perfect example of an enterprise set up with a social cause and one that is able to sustain itself in a highly competitive business environment.

My opponents will argue that markets are an evil place where the rule breakers are the kings. I would like to tell them that the market place is a great leveler; all your misdeeds will come to haunt you sooner or later. Be it Satyam or Enron, everyone will suffer from consequences of their deeds. Any and every immoral act shall be punished by the system.

In the end I’d like to conclude saying that the greatest empires have been built on the foundations of morality and have collapsed due to the lack of it.
With that I rest my case.

The business of business is only business

This theme emanates from an age long debate over the outlook of a business organization and the key driving forces behind its makers. The standard definition of Business is that it is an organization aimed at providing goods and services to consumers. The modern day business has a far greater role to play than just providing goods and services. A sustainable business model needs to look into the desirability of the product, the after sales service and the customer engagement model being employed. We have seen a paradigm shift in the way businesses view customers not only catering to their preferences but also building a rapport with the consumers.
In the legendary JRD Tata’s words “No success in material terms is worthwhile unless it serves the needs or interests of the country and its people”. A CSR initiative is indeed required to build a symbiotic relation between the corporate and the society. A business is a part of society and is not independent from it and it aims to do so by indulging with the people it does business with.
Profit making should not be the only driver for a business. The sole purpose of business today has been revamped from a money making outlook to that of being a solution provider. Irrespective of the scale of the organization, a businessman needs to understand the implications of his business from a macro as well as a micro perspective. Looking at it through the tinted glasses of money will only result in a skewed vision.
The mindset that we have to run a business to make money is highly controversial as this has resulted in businesses overstretching their workers and undermining the right to a healthy life for an individual. We all know of the highly overstressed workers of today with late working hours and little job satisfaction. All these symptoms are due to a not so rare disease called ‘Greed’. Businesses need to cater to the needs of not only their customers but also their employees as well.
Looking at this from a macro economic perspective, the government also needs to intervene into the running of a business if it finds that the greater good is being sacrificed for a profit. An optimally regulated business environment has the assurance of a fatherly figure overlooking our business but it also is conducive for economic growth. The downfall of the western markets led by the collapse of the Investment banks has been a great lesson for all those preaching the completely free market ideology .The sole reason for the collapse of these ‘invincible’ financial institutions was GREED. This happened because the business of these businesses was only business.

We talk of letting our businesses grow unrestricted leading to the greater good with lower unemployment rate, higher GDP growth etc. What we must realize is that we will be faced with challenges of an ever increasing population in a highly corrupted environment .Case in point: Satyam. So are we ready to cradle the scion of free markets? Some food for thought for our policy makers surely.