Can Ethics Drive Profit?
Edition 14
Welcome to Edition #014 of People Please! My mission with this newsletter is simple—but ambitious: to help 100,000 professionals shift from being people pleasers to becoming culture-builders.
This edition challenges one of the most fashionable beliefs of the 19th and 20th centuries: that growth must come at any cost. For decades, business success was defined by scale, speed, and shareholder returns—often with little regard for the human, environmental, or ethical consequences left behind. The mantra was clear: win fast, fix later.
But that mindset is cracking.
Today, we’re witnessing a powerful shift—from shortcuts to stewardship, from unchecked ambition to responsible action. This edition explores a quiet revolution where ethics is no longer an afterthought—but a competitive advantage.
If you’re in your mid-thirties or beyond, you’ve likely figured out a few things the hard way.
Like how wearing polyester—though cheap and convenient—traps heat, suffocates the skin, and leaves you uncomfortably clammy by midday. In your twenties, it didn’t register. But over time, your body started whispering the truth. Polyester isn’t just uncomfortable—it’s disruptive.
It breeds bacteria, increases sweating, and often causes rashes or fungal infections, especially in warm climates. Studies have found that synthetic fabrics like polyester can increase skin irritation and reduce sleep quality by affecting body temperature regulation at night.
Worse, polyester is made from petroleum and treated with chemicals like formaldehyde and antimony compounds—both known irritants and possible carcinogens. Dermatologists have linked these materials to allergic reactions and contact dermatitis in sensitive individuals.
And sleep? That's where it hits hardest. Poor sleep—made worse by heat-trapping, non-breathable fabrics—is linked to everything from weakened immunity and weight gain to mood swings, diabetes, and heart disease. What you wear to bed could be silently reshaping your health trajectory.
Ethics in business is a lot like that.
For years, we believed success required compromise. That doing the right thing was noble, but impractical. Like choosing organic cotton over polyester—more expensive, harder to maintain, maybe even naive in a profit-hungry world.
But here’s what both experience and evidence now tell us: what feels easy early on often costs the most in the long run.
Ethics: Once Treated Like Cotton, Now a Competitive Edge
In the 20th century, many companies wore “polyester”—quick wins, hidden compromises, cultures of silence. As long as the numbers looked good, no one asked too many questions. But much like cheap fabric in a humid climate, the discomfort eventually seeped through.
Scandals like Enron, Satyam, Byju’s, and BlueSmart showed us the cost of ignoring ethics—not just in moral terms, but in billions of dollars, lost jobs, and shattered trust.
But a quiet revolution is underway.
From global pioneers like Patagonia (a California-based outdoor clothing brand) and Unilever to Indian trailblazers like Tata, Zerodha, and Zoho, the new playbook is clear:
Ethics isn’t a trade-off—it’s a growth strategy.
Even Data Backs It
A Harvard Business School study (2015) found that companies with strong ethical cultures and codes of conduct outperform those without them in both stock market and accounting performance—by as much as 9% annually.
According to the Edelman Trust Barometer (2023):
71% of employees say they are more loyal to employers who act on societal issues.
60% say they choose where to work based on shared values—not just pay.
A study published in the Journal of Business Ethics found that unethical behaviour increases turnover, decreases morale, and leads to poor long-term financial performance—especially in talent-driven industries.
This isn’t just theory—it’s business math.
Strong Ethics Is Strong Business: Proof from the Field
India:
Zerodha, built on transparency and frugality, became India’s largest brokerage without raising a single VC dollar.
Zoho, headquartered in Chennai and bootstrapped to over $1B in revenue, practices rural hiring, free employee housing, and patient scaling—while keeping full ownership and zero debt.
Globally:
Patagonia (USA), known for donating 100% of profits to environmental causes, has grown steadily while attracting fiercely loyal customers and top-tier talent.
Unilever’s Sustainable Living Brands grew 69% faster than the rest of its portfolio and delivered 75% of its growth in 2022.
These companies didn’t adopt ethics as a PR strategy. They did it as a long-term operating model. Their reward? Loyalty, resilience, and profitability.
What’s the Cost of Unethical Choices?
Satyam, once “the Enron of India,” lost over $2 billion in market value overnight due to massive accounting fraud. It became a turning point in India’s corporate governance reforms.
Byju’s, once valued at $22 billion, is now facing regulatory scrutiny, mass layoffs, investor exits, and reputational freefall—driven by governance failures and a lack of financial transparency.
BlueSmart, once a rising star in India’s EV mobility sector, is now grappling with stalled operations, opaque practices, and growing concerns around internal culture.
These companies chose hyper-growth over accountability. And the market doesn’t forget.
Why Do We Learn Ethics So Late?
Because most of us were trained to chase outcomes—not integrity.
We grew up hearing “whatever it takes,” not “is it worth the cost?” We were rewarded for hitting numbers, not for asking the right questions. Ethics wasn’t part of our KPIs, onboarding, or incentives. It was invisible—until it was too late.
But that’s changing. Because the cost of silence is now measurable, and the ROI of ethics is impossible to ignore.
In a Harvard Business School study, companies with high ethical standards outperformed their peers in long-term profitability by over 20%.
Integrity isn’t idealism—it’s risk management. Reputations, valuations—crack when integrity is missing.
“Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.”
— Potter Stewart (Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice)
What Needs to Change About Ethics Inside Organisations
Ethics isn’t a poster or an annual e-learning checkbox. It must be part of the operating system:
Baked into decisions—from hiring and product design to marketing and exits
Taught like a muscle, not assumed as common sense. That means structured learning programs for all levels—not just top-down preaching. For example, ARISE IIP has partnered with Be.artsy and embedding ethics into culture training and delivering it across all levels of its African workforce
Systematised through campaigns, nudges, role models, and internal comms that make ethical action visible, real, and repeatable.
Woven into leadership development, appraisal frameworks, and incentive structures—because you get what you reward.
Because employees don’t follow posters.
They follow leaders.
Profit and Ethics Are Not Opposites. They’re directly linked.
Just like healthy skin needs breathable fabric, healthy companies need ethical environments.
It may have taken us years—and many metaphorical rashes—to learn this. But now that we know better, we must act better.
Ethics isn’t a luxury. It’s a differentiator, a retention strategy, and a resilience multiplier.
So next time someone asks if ethics pays off, tell them:
“It took me a while to see it. But just like I switched to cotton, I now choose ethics—for comfort, strength, and the long haul.”
Best | Shikha Mittal | Founder, Be.artsy
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Why Trust Me?
Over the past 15 years, I’ve collaborated with 450+ organisations across 42 industries, designing and delivering learning and developing programs impacting over 500,000 professionals through my enterprise, Be.artsy. which I founded in 2010 in Delhi, India.
From small beginnings to global impact, Be.artsy has led the way in using learning programs to drive revenue. We're not just in the business of training—we’re in the business of Trainings with ROI! Today, we go beyond learning to deliver measurable impact.