Dean of Pepperdine’s Graziado School of Business and Management, Deryck J. van Rensburg, recently wrote an opinion piece that was published in U.S. News & World Report. The article analyzes the new administration’s marketplace de-regulation and what it could mean for businesses.
According to van Rensburg, marketplace freedom comes with ethical responsibility. Companies must practice self-regulation to earn the public’s trust and prevent further economic collapses.
The former president of global ventures at Coca-Cola sites last year’s Gallup poll. Data from the poll suggests that only 18 percent of Americans have confidence in “big business.” Van Rensburg stresses the importance of corporations handling their new freedom conscientiously, and explains the possible dangers of failing to do so. Graziado’s Dean warns corporate leaders that shirking their social responsibility will lead to more public distrust and, ultimately, to Congress reinstating market regulation.
In his plea to corporate leaders, van Rensburg writes, “We can be highly competitive without being cutthroat, decisive without being destructive, driven without being dishonest – and we can be successful by following these principles and demonstrating a regard not just for what we are doing, but also how we are doing it.”
Over 30 years in the business world has not diminished van Rensburg’s hope for a future of corporate responsibility in regards to de-regulation. He maintains that “…. ethics and profits need not be mutually exclusive to achieve business success.”
In fact, Dean van Rensburg asserts that he chose to work at Pepperdine because he was impressed with their “values-centered” attitude toward business education, and he promotes this type of responsible approach to business among captains of industry.