The purpose of a business is to make money and unless legally prevented from pursuing a particular route, it will do so. The individuals in an organization should of course have morals but they may not always be in a position to influence that of the business as ownership is diffused.
I bring this up in the context of the current surprise and horror about Facebook paying teens and young adults $20 a month to access their personal information via their phone. It is the modern equivalent of signing up for a paid survey, which is exactly how Facebook positioned it. In order to run their er, research, program they headed into grey territory where Apple’s App Store rules are concerned. So far it looks shady and not illegal. While they may back down on this occasion if there is sufficient public outrage, if you don’t want Facebook buying your kids’ eyeballs and private data, you’ll have to change the regulations.
Way back when the battle for the free internet was raging I wrote about Flipkart flip flopping on the issue of net neutrality for the same reasons.
What about Chanda Kochhar? Conflict of interest is clearly defined and regulated so it’s not an issue of morality, but of legality. It is all very disappointing as she was a role model to so many and however this all ends it will not be the same again.
I flew Jet Airways yesterday and there was much giggling on the flight about whether they had fuel money. It’s a sad state of affairs for a company that seems a victim of its circumstances rather than one which has actively made mistakes. Naresh Goyal is also an icon of Indian industry and I wonder if it is better to retire when your company is soaring high rather than wait for superannuation and wind up battling for survival. Or Mindtree where the founders are fighting to maintain control in light of the imminent exit of their big investor. On the other hand we have AM Naik who retired as executive Chairman of Larsen & Toubro after 50 years and encashed a whopping Rs 21 crores (~US$ 3 million) of accumulated leave. His only public regret is that he did not spend any time with his wife and kids. Ah, well, you can’t win ‘em all!
This week we published #letstalkCX FAST 100 in association with the Oracle list which recognizes the top 100 progressive Marketing, CX, Sales and Services leaders. (Link to list). Congratulations to all the folks who made it and thanks to our awesome jury members for helping us do this.
Next week sees us hosting the 4th Annual Bangalore Brand Summit and Hot Brands in association with:
Co-Host – Adobe, Category Sponsors – Meltwater, Media Partner – The Hindu Business Line, Associate Partner – Sitecore, Fragrance Partner – IRIS, Associate Partner – TATA TELE Business Services.
Do register and meet us there!
And….drum-roll…Paul Writer completed 9 years this month. And I finally got round to updating our corporate deck. Take a look and send us some love 
Our return gift to you is a fun quiz that checks if you’re all set for growth – here it is Pop Quiz: 5 Growth Facts Everyone Should Know
