Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Advanced Studies student Angela Zha is a co-winner of the 2020 Natoli Student Ethics Competition.
23 September 2020
To weather a tempest: The need for ethical business change amid COVID-19
2020 has been a year full of disruptions. Lockdown laws and business closures due to the impacts of COVID-19 have contributed to a rise in the number of unemployed people in Australia by 41.5% in FY20. With Australian society speeding "off the economic precipice", it is easy to conclude that business is broken, just like trees ripped from the roots by a powerful gale. However, certain companies have proven resilient, protecting cashflows and stakeholders simultaneously. In the face of such shock events, only businesses which can adapt innovatively and ethically can thrive.
Trees that learn to bend or sway with the wind are those that survive longest. The question of whether business is broken really comes down to a question of whether businesses can adapt effectively. With working, studying, and shopping from home becoming the new norm, the conveniences this has brought, whether to working parents who have young children to care for, or to firms which no longer have to pay exorbitant office rent expenses, have caused companies to reassess their business models. Ethical change is demonstrated by businesses such as software company Atlassian, which announced in March that its staff can work from home permanently, and apparel brand Tultex, which shifted its production strategy to focus on the creation of washable face masks to protect frontline healthcare workers and the environment4. These examples display that business is not broken; rather, it is changed.
This pandemic will likely leave lasting impacts on the community, hence the long-term supply and demand of products and services need to be dramatically reenvisaged. Trees that bend can weather a tempest, trees that shelter lives under their canopy can foster an entire ecosystem. Then, what we hear will not be a tearing of roots, but rather a rustling of leaves.
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