Mihran Aroian
You just entered a coffee shop where the smell of freshly baked
muffins is wafting from the oven. You step up to the counter and order a
large to-go cup of freshly brewed coffee along with a banana-nut
muffin. You give the young clerk $10 and are rewarded with a steaming
hot cup of coffee and a freshly baked muffin. As you walk out the door,
you count your change and notice that the clerk gave you change for a
$20 bill. What would you do?
You have three choices: go back to the clerk and return the money,
leave the store and commit to yourself to pay back the money next time
you return, or enjoy the coffee, muffin, and the extra $10!
Having done this little experiment for many years with thousands of
college students in Texas, the results in the US are 60% keep the free
money, 15% promise to return the money next time they visit the store,
and 25% return the excess money to the clerk.
I have done this same experiment in Armenia with 4 classes for a
total of approximately 100 students and the results are as follows. Two
students kept the free money and 98 students returned the money. That is
pretty amazing when you stop to think about it. In Armenia, where the
per capita income is far below the US, people are willing to act more
ethically. Now, we don’t know what actually happens – but nor do we know
in the US! In the US, when you ask the students why they would keep the
extra money, the answer is typically that the clerk made the error and
why should the customer be held responsible? In Armenia, the students
immediately recognize that the clerk will be held responsible for the
monetary error and the likelihood is high that the clerk will lose his
job or, at the very least, have to make up the difference. In the US,
there are a few students who recognize this same negative outcome for
the clerk.
On a very different subject, the likelihood of overt cheating (as
defined by most higher educational institutes in the US) is also very
different when compared to Armenia. I asked students in Armenia if their
friend was unable to come to class to take an exam, would they step in
and take the exam for the absent student? Although I have not asked this
question in the US, I am confident enough to know that 100% of the
students would say that this was both unethical and against the policies
of their university.
In Armenia, approximately 25% of the students said that they would
take the exam for their friend. In their mind, it had nothing to do with
cheating – since they did not personally benefit. They were simply
helping a friend who was unable to attend class. What was even more
surprising was that only a few of the students recognized that they had
signed a code of conduct that prohibited this course of action. How
could so few students recognize this behavior as unethical? How could
they not know that they had signed a commitment not to engage in such
unethical academic behavior? Why would they be willing to take such a
risk?
It comes down to wanting to help someone that they have a relationship with that simply needs some help!
There are examples of where Armenian students and American students
were equally as convinced of unethical behavior and there were also
examples of where Armenian students were equally as confused about
unethical behavior. For example, when provided with the text in the next
paragraph, both Armenian and American students were virtually identical
in their response.
You figure out a way to use a complex financial transaction to make
your results look much better in the short run, even though you know
there is no underlying change in your company’s performance. In fact,
you know that in the future there will be significant consequences for
shareholders and other stakeholders. But, in the short run, you’ll make a
lot of money by doing this.
Virtually 100% of all students, Armenian and American, recognize this
as unethical behavior. However, there are scenarios where students from
both countries are just as unsure as to what constitutes unethical
behavior. For the most part, when actions and consequences are black and
white and clearly cause someone harm, Armenian students are more astute
as to the ethical nature of the situation. But when it is not clear who
is being harmed or what damage is being caused to a third-party,
Armenian students are more likely to engage in such behavior.
Ethical behavior in Armenia has a very different meaning than in
America. In Armenia, if you need or want a higher course grade, simply
pay-off the professor. In America, it is unheard of! The thought that
grades can be purchased is simply not a part of the American culture. It
may happen, but not on a wholesale level.
In Armenia, low-level governmental employees earn significantly less
than the national average. This includes policemen. If you want to put
food on the table, you have to supplement your income, which can lead to
many unethical acts. Corruption in Armenia may include the wealthy
oligarch families that are overtly corrupt but it includes even the most
common of citizens – people trying to feed their families and wanting
to provide the very basics to survive and live. We may look at Armenia
and wonder how corruption becomes a part of society, yet when the
average citizen has nothing to live on, corruption becomes a way to
simply survive in a society where real jobs are scarce and survival is
on a day-to-day basis.
When you travel to the smaller towns in Armenia you learn that the
only way to survive is to leave Armenia to look for work. Many of the
men travel to Russia to find work for six months in order to send money
home. They return to be with their families but what kind of a life is
it to have to leave in order to find work only to return to be dismayed
by the lack of job prospects?
Teaching business ethics to students in Armenia was a privilege but
when you put it into perspective, trying to teach ethical
decision-making in a society that is simply trying to survive is
challenging. When you see your next door neighbor surviving because they
know how the system works makes it hard to convince someone that they
should play by the rules.
When it comes down to taking care of yourself, your loved ones, and
your friends, business ethics can be a foreign concept. If you cannot
eat, why should you worry about making the right ethical choice?
What does Armenia need in order to solve so many of her problems?
Jobs, jobs, and more jobs. I want our future business leaders in Armenia
to be ethical but I also know that they need jobs. Without the very
basic necessities in life like food, water, shelter and clothing how can
we expect Armenian’s to work towards a higher level business thinking?
As Armenians in the diaspora, if we want to help solve so many of the
problems that are faced in Armenia, we need to help them find jobs.
They already have too many taxi drivers earning $1.50 per trip and
paying $5 per gallon of gas. What they need are some real jobs in
manufacturing and export. Armenia needs to generate some hard currency
that can help grow the economy. Did you know that the GDP of Armenia is
only $10 billion? Vermont has the lowest GDP in the US yet it has 25% of
the Armenian population and three-times the GDP of Armenia.
In the not too distant future, a new web site will be opening that
aims to help bring jobs to Armenia. This web site will allow some of the
best and brightest entrepreneurs in Armenia to tap into the vast
Armenian diaspora network to find connections that are necessary to
bring their products to world markets. For example, a small high tech
company in Gyumri, the second largest city in Armenia, has developed
some of the latest and greatest earthquake detection technology and
aside from selling a few units to the Armenian government, they do not
have the connections or resources to bring this technology to the world.
As it turns out, there are three major companies in the world that
manufacture and distribute this type of technology and are located in
the US, UK, and Japan. What are the chances that an Armenian works at
one of these three companies? Could they help this small company in
Gyumri to make introductions to either license, sell or market their
technology outside of Armenia? The chances are probably pretty high.
When we can bring the power of the diaspora network to help Armenian
business, we not only provide for opportunities of growth, jobs and
prosperity – but we also provide hope and a future for our homeland.
"Asbarez," August 27, 2013
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