William Yeames’ famous painting “and when did you last see your father ?” is in the wonderful Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.
The painting depicts a royalist child from the English Civil
War being interrogated by a Roundhead investigator. The innocent look of the
young boy provides the tension of the dilemma whether to tell the truth and
endanger his father’s life or to tell a lie.
Nowadays we have Margaret Hodge star Inquisitor of the BBC
Parliament Channel as chair of the Parliamentary Accounts Committee in the .
Those subject to her questions are currently those who sell coffee, books ,
Internet services , + those who sell and
buy tax avoidance schemes.
She says that the public
considers such schemes as "completely and utterly and totally
immoral"
‘Working Wheels’ is such a scheme, involving the setting up
of a business purportedly selling second-hand cars to help wealthy clients
reduce their tax liability.
Under the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes legislation
(DOTAS), new tax avoidance schemes have to be reported to HM Revenue and
Customs, which then issues that scheme with a number indicating it is aware of
it.
The National Audit Office NAO indicate that "there is
no evidence that the use of such schemes is reducing".
“…call up your local
paper and radio station: tell them what you are doing, make a good pitch and
sell your action” is the advice issued by the protest organisation UK Uncut.
The Parliamentary Accounts Committee PAC attacked in their
damning report on Starbucks, Google and Amazon for ‘immorally’ minimising their
UK tax bills.
So ethics and selling are
right back in the news yet again. The problem is broader.
EU countries are now being urged to apply common tax rules to combat tax
havens and loopholes allowing businesses to avoid corporation tax, according to
new proposals released on Thursday (6 December) by the European Commission.
The Commission estimates that around 1 trillion euros is
lost each year to tax evasion and avoidance in the EU.
When governments across Europe are implementing austerity
budgets and attempting to increase taxes to plug budget deficits and rebuild
public finances this is particularly acute.
The EU Tax commissioner Algirdas Semeta said tax evasion was
"a scandalous loss of much-needed revenue" and "a threat to fair
taxation".
On a global level Business ethics is again in the news
Disclosures have been made from Roll Royce to the regulatory authorities over some dealings with intermediaries in overseas markets in China and Indonesia. They are said to be appointing a 'heavyweight ' independent figure to lead a review of current compliance procedures and report to the board's ethics committee.
Disclosures have been made from Roll Royce to the regulatory authorities over some dealings with intermediaries in overseas markets in China and Indonesia. They are said to be appointing a 'heavyweight ' independent figure to lead a review of current compliance procedures and report to the board's ethics committee.
Now let’s turn the
tables
What though, if it was you and I who were under the
interrogation a ‘Margaret Hodge’ about how we sell what we sell?
Perhaps we can get some help from the sage of Omaha.
Perhaps we can get some help from the sage of Omaha.
“Tap Dancing to work”
is the title of the new book compiled by Carol J Loomis about the sage of
Omaha, the fourth richest man in the world Warren Buffett.
Mr. Buffett bought is first shares at the age of eleven and
is now worth $46 billion .
When Buffett briefly took the helm of investment bank
Salomon Brothers in 1991 , he set out an ethical test for any business move:
“Would you be happy to see details of this decision appearing on the front page of your local newspaper, where your spouse, children and friends can read it ?”
Here is a fun selling ethics questionnaire for you to consider some of
the common ethical dilemmas that you and I salespeople can encounter.
It will help you discern where you are on the spectrum of business ethics.
It will help you discern where you are on the spectrum of business ethics.
For each of the ten sales activities below consider the
three question a, b and c.
|
a.
Do you believe the activity presents an
ethical question?
|
|
b.
Does your firm have a stated policy either
written or verbal that addresses the activity?
|
|
c.
Regardless of your answer to 2 , do you
feel it is a good idea for your firm
to have a stated policy that addresses the activity?
|
1. Providing free trips, free lunches dinner
or other free entertainment to a buyer.
|
1
Definitely No
|
2
|
3
Maybe Yes maybe No
|
4
|
5
Definitely Yes
|
2. Attempting to reach and influence other
departments e.g. such as operations directly rather than go through the
purchasing department when such avoidance increases the likelihood of a sale.
|
1
Definitely No
|
2
|
3
Maybe Yes maybe No
|
4
|
5
Definitely Yes
|
3. Giving ‘freebies’ such as promotional
prizes or purchase volume incentive bonuses, to a purchaser.
|
1
Definitely No
|
2
|
3
Maybe Yes maybe No
|
4
|
5
Definitely Yes
|
4. Gaining information about competitors by
asking purchasers for information
|
1
Definitely No
|
2
|
3
Maybe Yes maybe No
|
4
|
5
Definitely Yes
|
5. Seeking information from purchasers on competitors
quotations for the purpose of
submitting another quotation
|
1
Definitely No
|
2
|
3
Maybe Yes maybe No
|
4
|
5
Definitely Yes
|
6. Using your firm’s economic power to
obtain premium prices for the purpose of obtaining other concessions from
buyers
|
1
Definitely No
|
2
|
3
Maybe Yes maybe No
|
4
|
5
Definitely Yes
|
7. Allowing personalities – liking for one
purchaser disliking for another to affect price delivery and other decisions
regarding the terms of sale.
|
1
Definitely No
|
2
|
3
Maybe Yes maybe No
|
4
|
5
Definitely Yes
|
8.
Having
less competitive pricing and other terms for buyers who use your firm as the
sole source of supply than for the firms for which you are one of two or more
suppliers.
|
1
Definitely No
|
2
|
3
Maybe Yes maybe No
|
4
|
5
Definitely Yes
|
9. Giving preferential treatment for
customers who are also good suppliers
|
1
Definitely No
|
2
|
3
Maybe Yes maybe No
|
4
|
5
Definitely Yes
|
10. Giving preferential treatment to
purchasers whom higher levels of the firm’s own management prefer or
recommend.
|
1
Definitely No
|
2
|
3
Maybe Yes maybe No
|
4
|
5
Definitely Yes
|
I read this article and I thought when governments across Europe are implementing austerity budgets and attempting to increase taxes to plug budget deficits and rebuild public finances this is particularly acute.
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