..Go to IBM’s website and search for Philip Wood. “Zero results found”. If you expected some reference to the tragic disappearance of its employee in the MH 370 incident, you are mistaken. Look up its announcements or press releases and you will encounter the same result. It is as if he did not exist or his disappearance is of no consequence to them. Doesn’t the silence of a behemoth such as IBM is odd? Doesn’t the silence of the company, Freescale, whose 20 scientists and technologists on MH 370 vanished, perturb you? One suspects that it is the same story with all employers whose people unfortunately found themselves on MH370. Contrast this with the incarceration of the Al Jazeera journalists by Egypt: the ticker on its TV news channel makes sure that this is never forgotten every hour of the day, with a call for their release. One hears much rhetoric about the values of corporate institutions, their vision, their goals. In recent years, there is even much talk of their role as responsible corporate citizens. It is also quite common to speak of these institutions’ culture as if we were speaking of a person’s character. Corporate ‘persons’ are generally vocal on issues of free trade, legislative and institutional protections, trade privileges, competitive advantage, unfettered resource access, and control. They have no qualms in extending their reach and influence to seek conditions that favour their growth appetite, often on a global scale. Isn’t it a sad commentary then on the reality behind the rhetoric that a large, powerful, global organisation like IBM, rich in history, and the backbone of many critical applications worldwide, has not thought fit to engage with the MH 370 investigation, to lend its weight and voice to the calls for professionalism, transparency, disclosure, dignity and sensitivity in dealing with families? Many questions arise: does the corporation’s role in a matter that is also of public interest cease with the separation or demise of its employee(s) once all financial dues, including compensation, are settled? Can a case be made out for visible, public engagement by a corporation in a situation where larger issues of human rights and values such as dignity are involved, even if the victim is an employee, a sole individual? Does it behoove an organisation to remain indifferent to the fate of the victim, the affected families, and to the cause of justice? Can values that govern the internal organisation be at odds with its practice in the public domain? Ultimately, must organisations remain only an instrument of purpose, whose interfaces must be so carefully designed as to reassure shareholders that their investments are safe and their interests are paramount? Must employers say or do nothing that might create difficulties for governments under whose benign gaze the business of maximising shareholder values can go on unabated? Even if precious values or the greater good at stake?...
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 08:10:33 +0000
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