What is ethics-driven innovation?
Ethics-driven innovation is the answer to a question. The question is: "How can my business continue to survive. and even thrive, if I eliminate all exploitative and unethical elements from my business model?"
In our book, "Business ethics for executives - a Christian decision guide" that will be published late this summer, my-coauthor and I examine the ethics core modern-day business decisions. We show how many perfectly legal business practices cannot stand the higher standard of Christian ethics, and we call on executives to make different choices at work.
In discussing the book with people ahead of publication, a common response is: "I would love to fully commit to these ethical business practices, but am not sure if that is possible. How can we do so without harming the business?"
It is not true that there should be no constraints on innovation. Some of the best innovations come from putting smart constraints on the innovation process. For example, the Japanese took massive market share from the British motorcycle industry decades ago because they wanted to make motorcycles that did not leave puddles of oil everywhere they go. As it turned out, designing a new engine and production process with the constraint that the bike should not leak oil led to many quality improvements, and a superior product! This is constraint-based innovation.
We have adapted the constraint-based innovation process to help companies design and redesign successful based models that meet the highest ethical standards. This is ethics-driven innovation.
In our book, "Business ethics for executives - a Christian decision guide" that will be published late this summer, my-coauthor and I examine the ethics core modern-day business decisions. We show how many perfectly legal business practices cannot stand the higher standard of Christian ethics, and we call on executives to make different choices at work.
In discussing the book with people ahead of publication, a common response is: "I would love to fully commit to these ethical business practices, but am not sure if that is possible. How can we do so without harming the business?"
It is not true that there should be no constraints on innovation. Some of the best innovations come from putting smart constraints on the innovation process. For example, the Japanese took massive market share from the British motorcycle industry decades ago because they wanted to make motorcycles that did not leave puddles of oil everywhere they go. As it turned out, designing a new engine and production process with the constraint that the bike should not leak oil led to many quality improvements, and a superior product! This is constraint-based innovation.
We have adapted the constraint-based innovation process to help companies design and redesign successful based models that meet the highest ethical standards. This is ethics-driven innovation.
