SOME BUSINESSES SEEM TO HAVE NO IDEA – 3 OBSERVATIONS In 2015, Optus presented ‘integrity’ as one of its core values. In that same year, Optus was found guilty of placing misleading advertising on our television screens and in our newspapers – something that hardly smacks of integrity. Ian Narev, chief executive of the Commonwealth […]

SOME BUSINESSES SEEM TO HAVE NO IDEA – 3 OBSERVATIONS In 2015, Optus presented ‘integrity’ as one of its core values. In that same year, Optus was found guilty of placing misleading advertising on our television screens and in our newspapers – something that hardly smacks of integrity. Ian Narev, chief executive of the Commonwealth Bank, was recently called to account for the staff of CBA subsidiary, Comminsure, unreasonably refusing insurance claims lodged by terminally ill clients, without any reasonable justification – all the while, promoting ethics as a core value of the bank. I would argue that there is evidence to suggest that neither of these businesses know what is ethical. They certainly appear to have a different definition of ethics to me. They might argue that the cases highlighted here are aberrations. I suspect they are not, and if they are aberrations, it shows how damaging aberrations can…