John Fairfax

Firstly let me thank the Vice-Chancellor for inviting me to speak to you today. But foremost allow me to congratulate the graduands for achieving this milestone in their lives. While this is only one of a number of graduation ceremonies, it is nonetheless important – important to the University, important to you and your families and important to me.

I find it a little difficult to speak about business to you in a meaningful way, because your business studies have set you up for a variety of pursuits. Besides, I suspect that what you have learned in your curriculum is totally beyond my comprehension! But I hope the content of your courses has taught you something of what is required in what can only be described as a changing and highly technical environment.

Rather than give you a sermon on what you should do, for that would be naïve and condescending, I will give you some thoughts on where I think the business world has some flaws. My experience comes from initially beginning my corporate life as a journalist, working in various commercial departments of the Sydney Morning Herald, running The Canberra Times in Canberra, then joining the Fairfax board and subsequently two other public company boards. For all of this time I have been involved in my own family companies, with varying degrees of intensity, and remain involved with several charitable organisations. Fortunately I have always managed to pay my bills!

Just before leaving school, I discussed with my Headmaster the many concerns I had and which face most young people as they go into the real world. There would be no more protection and support from a caring institution and there was a “go out and sow your wild oats” attitude from my parents. My Headmaster pronounced that my fun days were over – life would never be quite the same again. So the first thing I would say to you is that you should ignore that piece of wisdom. Often we take ourselves too seriously. Even in business, we should have fun in order to create the right environment for balanced decision-making.

I am assuming that you will all work your way into executive positions or own your own companies – we could expect nothing less from an education at the University of Western Sydney! But you won’t get there overnight. You will build up experience by working in the engine rooms; you will get an appreciation of what is required from relatively mundane jobs in order for the results to be produced. Everyone is a cog in a complex machine, and if one of those cogs is damaged, the machine does not run smoothly. There is often a lack of recognition of the importance of every ‘cog’ or person in an organisation. Management too easily overlooks the significance of making sure the so-called workers are satisfied; that they are getting pleasure from their jobs and are sharing some fun. It is these people who struggle to pay their bills, although more often than not, they are the salt of the earth; the crutch upon which we too often lean.

This year we have seen revealed some quite extraordinary and distasteful behaviour by both businessmen and more particularly politicians. The one simple explanation for this is summarised in a single word – greed. What did these people think of the hundreds of thousands of decent Australians who were simply doing their jobs and paying their taxes in order to live and educate their children? The temptation is often simply to boost one’s own coffers at the expense of not just others, but the organisation. The job becomes the means and not the end.

Coincidentally as I was writing this, I read an article by Dr Simon Longstaff, the Executive Director of the St James Ethics Centre. Time does not permit me to go into detail, but in essence he supports my contention that money is often presented as the most common index of success and in recognising the contribution of everyday people says it is admirable that attention is being paid to the value and “dignity of work of a kind that is so often ignored.”

But it is ethics I now turn to, for one of the real flaws in our corporate and collective make-up is the need to live ethically. Ethics is now being taught in schools. Excellent. But it should be part of our DNA. We often hear that in those so-called good old days, a man was as true as his word, or a deal was cemented on a handshake. No more. Our certainty of people has evaporated, largely because of unethical behaviour, or lack of trust.

It does not matter who you are, you will have numerous occasions to question your ethics. The temptation to gain an advantage by acting unethically will be lurking beside the next sale, the next contract, how you behave at work and home. The old joke that ethics is a county in England fades against a backdrop of what really is a serious issue. Cadbury Schweppes, the company known for the odd bar of chocolate, takes its ethics and corporate responsibility seriously. It says: “Ethics concern an individual's moral judgments, about right and wrong. Decisions taken within an organisation may be made by individuals or groups, but whoever makes them will be influenced by the culture of the company. The decision to behave ethically is a moral one; employees must decide what they think is the right course of action. This may involve rejecting the route that would lead to the biggest short-term profit.”

They outline the advantages to a company and individuals of ethical behavior. Unfortunately I have seen examples of unethical behavior and been a victim of it. Frankly, there is nothing more distasteful, and I urge you all, as you face ethical decisions, to err on the side of right rather than wrong and encourage others to do the same.

Of course there are other flaws in the corporate world, but my pleasure today is not to talk about weaknesses but acknowledge the achievements and strengths we have in this auditorium. Congratulations to you all.