Having integrity means being congruent

In his article Why business integrity is so important, Peter Morgan raises two important point about integrity.

Congruency

Having integrity means acting congruently with your values – regardless of what those values are. A business that has integrity does not necessarily mean a business that does “good”. Congruence is the key.

A low-fare airline that expects customers to do everything themselves with no hand-holding does have integrity; because they are not pretending to provide customer service when they dont intend to (in order to keep prices low).

A bank whose primary goal is to maximise shareholder return has integrity if their advertising and business processes are aligned clearly to their goal. They DON’T have integrity if their advertising lies about caring for low-value customers – because servicing low-value customers will eat into their profits.

Values change

“Gauging whether we are have business integrity is not always easy. Our values may change over time and what was once congruent with who we were, perhaps no longer is.”

This is another important point. We all grow and change as we go through life. And some, or all (for those of us who are younger), of our values may change. Sometimes the change can be quite dramatic.

2 comments on “Having integrity means being congruent”

1. Raven said:
   

   I am glad you said “grow and change as we go through life”. Business is made up of people and the values of those people change daily. The last time I heard congruent was earlier this week when a met a girlfriend I hadn’t seen in a few years and found again on facebook. When we met up again I was dressed down in runners, little make up and without an agenda. My friend said “Wow, this is incongruent with how I always picture you.” We do change and grow. We do trade one thing for another, materialism for family, stillettos for comfort, ect. but what is clear is that the values of friendship, companionship, love and hope for what is possible… are ongoing and thanks to facebook and others like it, allow people to pick up where they left off and continue to be friends, even after the values have shifted.

   
   18 March 2008 at 10:31 pm
2. marge said:
   

   another good point to ponder on. ive lived with people who put so much value in looking good than acting good. they would deride people who dress up less than what they would consider acceptable or presentable. for them its all about the wrapper not the content. i know of a couple on the other hand who invest their little money in simple comforts and worthy causes. my snotty housemates wrote our friends off because they wear ratty clothes all the time and weren’t hip enough. one simple incident kind of validated my perception on these housemates of mine. the couple found a phone in a cab. it was one of those phones that cost like almost a grand (sgd). they (the couple) decided to call the owner of the phone. they handed it back to the boy who seemed like he wanted to kiss their feet. they never thought it was something out of the ordinary until according to them, they felt their deed reciprocated by an overwhelming gratitude shown by the owner of the phone. my housemates on the other hand, upon finding out about what my friends did, looked disappointed and remarked that if it was them they wouldve kept the phone because it was what anyone would’ve done.

   
   10 May 2009 at 2:56 am

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