Editorial September 25, 1971 Issue

Integrity in Business

Alan A. Aylwin

Self-interest is a common human trait. We act in certain directions because we believe it will be good for ourselves. How important that we understand what good really is, so that we won't be fooled by shady methods and shoddy goals!

Sometimes a goal seems so right or alluring that we are tempted to justify questionable means for reaching it. Throughout human history this sophistry has been a troublemaker, and more than occasionally we see it rearing its nasty head in the business world of the nineteen seventies. But it's a self-defeating ploy both for an individual and an organization.

Dishonest methods sometimes promise—and seem to deliver— quick results, short-term gains, but in the long draw they fail miserably and destroy reputation and self-respect. No asset is so valuable as an unblemished reputation earned through fair dealing, and nothing satisfies more than wholesome self-respect based on integrity. A writer in the book of Proverbs knew what he was talking about when he said, "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches."^{Prov. 22:1;}

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