Int’l Conference on business ethics begins at P.U. Academia, industrial giants take a dig at unethical practices in business, professions 

Mr. S. Sandilya, Chairman, Eicher group of industries had a dig at the unethical and corrupt practices present in politics, business and
other professions who he said were a rot in the society which must be stemmed.
Lamenting over the dismal scenario, Mr. Sandilya said that there was still hope for
improvement if the people as individuals based their conduct upon human values that
could be cherished by our future generations.
    
Mr. Sandilya was speaking at the inaugural session of the “International Conference on
Business Ethics and Human Values” organised by the University Business School (UBS) of
the Panjab University here today. He, however, said that following ethical practices
is not enough, one has to demonstrate visibility as well with strength and character.
Not only that whatever is unlawful is unethical, but what that is lawful still be
unethical. Be it a business or any other profession, credibility could be sustained
only by practicing ethical values.

In his keynote address Prof. James Hoopes Murata who specialises in ethics in business
at Babson College, USA, said ethics in any profession or business was in some way
connected to leadership. He referred to the Max Weber’s concept of charismatic leader
as a charming person near to god. He said Amercian management gurus
emphasised “values” and were near to gods. He quoted Aristotle to bring home the
message of human values “A man develops the virtue of justice only by doing just acts”.

Prof. Bhupinder Brar, Dean University Instructions, who presided over the session
talked about the role of human values in creation of an ideal world, and fundamental
ethical practices required for good governance.

The inaugural session was followed by a string of technical sessions. The first one
was on “Human Values and Ethical Dilemmas in Management”, which was held for Human
Resource Management and Marketing and Finance both. The HR
session was chaired by Prof. Subhash Sharma, Director, Indus Business
Academy, Bangalore, and co-chaired by Prof. Vipin K. Dewan, Director, Centre
for Management Training and Research. The session highlighted the importance
of ethical practices and values in encouraging employee engagement in
organisations. Prof. Sharma said that the reasons for the disappearance of
ethics in the modern scenario could be growing competition and the struggle
for survival. He focused on the need to integrate human values, society and
the market. The Master of Ceremonies for this session was Prof. Meenakshi
Malhotra of UBS.

The session for Marketing and Finance was chaired by Mr. S. Sandilya,
Chairman, Eicher Group, and co-chaired by Prof. Manoj Anand, Indian
Institute of Management, Lucknow. The discussion was about what constituted
unethical behaviour in organisations, and why leaders acted irresponsibly at
times. The session also went into discussions of what business schools today
can do to prepare future leaders, in order to avoid unethical behaviour. The
Master of Ceremonies for this session was Prof. A. K. Vashisht of UBS.  
The next technical session was on “Towards Holistic Development and Ethical
Management in Governance for Sustainable Development”, which was chaired by
Prof. Ravi Kumar, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, and co-chaired
by Prof. Shashi Anand, Chairman, Department of Commerce, Kurukshetra. The
Master of Ceremonies for this session was Prof. Smriti Sood of UBS. Another
Technical Session, on “Convergence of Ethics and Human Values” was held
which was chaired by Prof. B. K. Mohanty, Indian Institute of Management
Lucknow, and co-chaired by Prof. Anil K. Agrawal, FMS, Benaras Hindu
University. The Master of Ceremonies was Prof. S. K. Chadha of UBS.
A panel discussion on “Transforming Minds for Ethical Leadership” was also
held, for which the chairman was Mr. P. Balakrishnan, the co-chairman was
Mr. Neeraj Seth, Managing Director, Celsius Refrigeration Pvt Ltd., and the
Master of Ceremonies was Prof. Dinesh K. Gupta, chairman, UBS.
     
Mrs. Kiran Sahrawat, School of Accounting, The Open Polytechnic of New
Zealand; Mr. Sominder Singh, vice president and head-partnership Cards, GE;
Mr. Rajeev Dubey, Insurance and Investment Advisor, Sunlife Financial,
Toronto, Canada; Mr. C. Raja Sekhar, Controller of Finance, Ethos, Kamla
Retail Ltd.; Mr. Randeep Singh, head, Human Resources Technology, Essar
Group; and Mr. Ishlesh Bhaskar, Asst. vice president and regional head-HR,
HDFC Bank, were the panelists.

This two-day conference is a series of technical sessions and panel
discussions being attended by eminent personalities and speakers from the
likes of from India and abroad.
                                                                     Press Note No.670