Is stewardship the answer to the poor conduct of big business?

Trust depends on the perception of fairness i.e. the equity of social exchange, so it is inevitable that trust in big business will have been further eroded by the continuing negative media coverage on tax avoidance this month.  It culminated last week with the Public Accounts Committee castigating the big accountancy firm (PwC) for its role in advising clients on tax avoidance; recommending that ministers should consider banning PwC from big government contracts as a way of influencing its behaviour. This week the “unethical news” is about the big bank HSBC on the same theme of helping clients with tax avoidance (evasion?)

The problem for current leadership is that a lot of what’s damaging reputations now goes back to their predecessors’ decision making.  Perhaps today’s leaders need some training in the ethos of stewardship, putting much more emphasis on the ethical legacy of their businesses in the longer term.  The 2015 Edelman Trust monitor shows that family businesses are the most trusted type of business (where passing on a viable firm to the next generation is stressed).  Our current leaders need to consider their successors, putting in place the business model which will best support the ongoing improvement in organisational reputations and trust for future generations.