Can business or morals mix?

STORIES about courageous chief executives who, when faced with business pressures to do otherwise, choose to do the right thing invariably end up reading like morality tales. The message? Good ethics leads to good business results.

chief executives　経営責任者
faced with business pressures to do otherwise　避けられないようなビジネスプレッシャーに直面して
invariably　いつも
end up reading　読むことで終わってしまう

The fire that devastated Malden Mills Industries just before Christmas 1995 was just such a story. Rather than collect the insurance money, lay employees off and shutter the textile company, Aaron Feuerstein, the owner, promised to keep the employees on the payroll while he rebuilt. Mr. Feuerstein rescued the business, saved about 3,000 jobs and kept the town of Lawrence, Mass., where the company is based, from economic disaster.

devastate　打撃を与える
lay employees off　雇用者を解雇する
keep the employees on the payroll　　　雇用者を雇用しておく

While stories like Mr. Feuerstein's are inspiring, they add to the myth that good ethics and good business always go hand in hand. That is simply not the case.

go hand in hand　関連する

''One could argue that responsible management and doing the right thing are often characterized by the same things,'' Jon P. Gunnemann, a professor of social ethics at Emory University, said. ''But you can't infer that every decision about the right thing to do is necessarily going to be good for the company. Sometimes, doing the right thing can have tragic consequences.''

A prime example may involve Ed Shultz, the former chief executive of Smith & Wesson, the gun manufacturer based in Springfield, Mass. Last March, in an attempt to defuse lawsuits the company was facing from at least 29 municipalities that held handgun manufacturers responsible for violent crimes, Mr. Shultz entered into an agreement with the federal government. He said that Smith & Wesson would include locks on its handguns, research and implement ''smart-gun'' technology that would only allow the owner of a gun to operate it and improve the way retailers sold its products. Much of this, said Mr. Shultz, was already being done.

defuse lawsuits　訴訟を取り下げる
municipalities　自治体
entered into an agreement with 　合意に達した
locks on its handguns 銃にカギをかける
smart-gun 持ち主または正当な所有者以外は発射できない拳銃

''It was a business decision,'' Ken Jorgensen, a company spokesman, said. Tomkins P.L.C., the British company that owns Smith & Wesson, wanted to sell the company, a goal that was impossible as long as the lawsuits were pending. The company knew the reaction to the agreement with the federal government might be harsh. ''There wasn't any question there was going to be a hit,'' Mr. Shultz said. ''The question was how big the hit would be and for how long.''

a goal that was impossible as long as the lawsuits were pending
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　訴訟が解決しないかぎり不可能な到達点
There wasn't any question there was going to be a hit　
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　打撃になることは疑いの余地がなかった

As it turns out, the hit was huge. The company was vilified by its customers, retailers and perhaps most vocally by the industry lobbying group, the National Rifle Association.

As it turns out　　結局
The company was vilified by 〜によって避難された
industry lobbying group　企業の圧力団体

Sales dropped off dramatically, and by October the company announced that it was laying off 125 of the 725 employees at its Springfield plant. Mr. Shultz left the company in September to run another company that had been sold by Tomkins.

Why would a company very publicly decide to implement changes in its products that it knew would likely meet with disapproval among its core constituents? Up until this time, Mr. Shultz said, the company had done everything dictated by the government that it had to do in manufacturing guns -- no more, no less. But the decision to do more, he said, ''came because I couldn't answer the question, 'Was I doing everything I knew how to do to prevent accidents?' '' When he asked himself, ''Would I put locks on our guns if it might save one child? The answer was yes.'' It is a decision that seems particularly poignant given the recent Santana High School shooting in Santee, Calif., the latest in a string of tragedies involving firearms.

its products that it knew would likely meet with disapproval among its core constituents
中心となる会社構成員の中で反対に合うと分かっている製品
no more, no less 　それ以上でもそれ以下でもない
It is a decision that seems particularly poignant given　
　　　　　　　　それは〜を考えると特に心痛むような決定だ

''I had to make those decisions based on the tradition of the company and my own beliefs of what's right,'' said Mr. Shultz, who still describes himself as ''a rabid gun owner.'' He said the formal agreement made sense because Smith & Wesson was already doing most of what the municipalities were asking for.

based on 　に基づいて
a rabid gun owner　　　過激な銃所有者
the formal agreement made sense　　正式な合意は納得がいった

In the short-term, Smith & Wesson is suffering consequences that from a business standpoint might be considered tragic. What adds to the tragedy is that no other manufacturers followed Smith & Wesson's lead and the deal ultimately unraveled.

''Shultz may have done something that was in the best long-term interests of the company -- making it seem like a corporate citizen and just doing the right thing -- but since the law doesn't require others to do it, in the short run it may have hurt the company,'' said Joseph W. Singer, a law professor at Harvard and author of ''The Edges of the Field'' (Beacon, 2000).

In the short-term　短期的に
consequences that from a business standpoint might be considered tragic
　　　ビジネスの観点から悲劇的と考えられる結末
he deal ultimately unraveled　　協定は結局ほころびた
corporate citizen　企業人として責任を果たす人
in the short run　差し当たって、短期的には

THE thorny dilemma for company managers then is what to do when deciding between doing the right thing and doing what is best for the business. Ultimately, the ethical choice is clear: do the right thing regardless of whether you are rewarded for doing so.

thorny dilemma　　厄介な板挟みとなること
regardless of　〜にもかかわらず

''If you take your morality seriously,'' Mr. Gunnemann said, ''then what's most important to you is not the bottom line, it's whether you can sleep at night.''

the bottom line 最終的な利益