I think that until today I had not written any article on the reputation of the managerial class, but the news published in La Vanguardia has caught my attention and has made me pay attention to it so that I can dedicate a post about the reputation of our managers in the current crisis situation.

According to the Ernst & Young report, 82% of employees think that managers use ‘shortcuts’ to achieve their objectives. Likewise, 30% of managers would be justified in the payment of bribes if this contributes to the growth of the company.

I think the data provided in the study is not encouraging, on the contrary, I think we are on the wrong track and it is one of the consequences of this global economic crisis that is changing all the paradigms that we have known so far.

I do not know what was the perception of the lack of ethics and pay in kind “to get new contracts or renewal of contracts before the crisis, but I think we have hit bottom as 42% think that corruption has increased with the crisis.

I do not know, although I can imagine, what are the reasons that a manager can go through his head to do this type of business practices, pressure to meet objectives, pressure to pay payrolls, pressure to give benefits that banks require it to renew credit policies, etc., but I can not believe that such bad practices are seen as normal in the management world. We can not fall so low !!

What will be the following business practices that we will “break”? What will be the next rules that we will skip? Can we put a stop to these managerial practices? How can we put a stop to it? What example are we giving?

I do not know and I do not have an answer, but I would like to not read reports like the one I’ve read since they help very little to build the reputation of a brand. I have never believed that ‘the end justifies the means’ “because if that is the case we can reach unsuspected limits, which I would not like to reach.

I hope that in the management class there are different ways of doing things that I have read. During my professional life I have met many executives and I have had the luck and honor to work for them and I think (maybe I have not been able to see it) that they have never carried out activities that have questioned their personal reputation or the one of its brands. On the contrary, they have defended their businesses and companies with solid work, clear principles and a good team around them.