Economists evaluate the health of a nation in terms of GDP. Like a physician, they check the pulse of inflation from time to time, as a part of multi-pronged, on-going monitoring mechanism. Ethicists on the other hand are more concerned about ethical values than material prosperity. It is because; the sustainability of a society at large is at stake in an unethical environment. The material prosperity, we flaunt or the higher goals of prosperity, we have been striving to achieve, indefatigably would get jinxed to perdition, if we fail to rescue the society from the slippery path of deteriorating ethical values.   In the Indian context, I observe that our society is glaringly caught by the bug called greed. It has not spared any body – not even the higher echelons of judiciary.  We have become inured to corrupt thinking and corrupt practices. The main culprit is greed or greed driven power and pelf. In this article, I try to examine the repercussions of ravenous greed, and how it is raising its ugly head devouring individuals and eating in to vitals of social wellbeing.
 
Triple bottom line: (a)  Pelf: In the introduction part of the book entitled: Business Ethics (The Economist publication) , The Economist argues that  ‘ Companies with an eye on their triple bottom line- economic, environmental, and social sustainability outperform their less fastidious peers on the stock market.’  The traditional ambit of objective of companies is to maximize single bottom line, which is clearly articulated by Milton Friedman, an advocate of free market. He   argues without mincing words that “There is one and only one social responsibility of business- to use its resources and engage its activities designed to increase its profit.”    Now, the ambit of single bottom line objective of maximization of profit has now widened to subsume global concerns of environment and sustainable development. We have come close to completing the circle- the circle of making a move from self-effacement to self-centeredness and from self-centeredness returning again towards self-effacement.  Aristotle advocated that common good much take precedence over individual interests. Ethically correct behaviour means subordinating individual interests to the interests of the society. The ancient Hindu prayer containing the auspicious desire for happiness of every body -’Surve Janah Sukhino Bhavantu’ echoes the same concept. How could an individual find a niche of happiness when the whole society is distressed with individuals vigorously pursuing self-centered objectives?   A part in a system must be in tune with the system in totality.  An individual in a society and in a given environment must maintain a symbiotic relationship.  When a man tries to seek his individual happiness at the cost of common good through pursuit of selfishness, social demoralization takes place, affecting everybody comprising the society.  Materialists like Ayn Rand may reject any form of altruism.  Ethics for man according to the theory of objectivism advanced by Ayn Rand is for pursuit of his rational self-interest with the achievement of his own happiness as the highest moral purpose of his life. Let me illustrate two recent incidents showcasing implications of pursuit of selfish interests.
 ‘Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who allegedly tried to auction President Barack Obama’s  Senate seat, was thrown out of office as lawmakers voted unanimously for his impeachment that bars him ever from holding any office in the state- according to a report that appeared in Hindustan Times, Bhopal Saturday, January 31, 2009.  A fellow, who rose to an exalted position as a governor of a state, stoops to the level of opprobrium. He was simply bitten by the greed-bug. Let us take another classical example. B. Ramalinga Raju - an entrepreneur- maverick, the founder of Satyam Computer Systems. He developed Satyam Computer Services from a scratch to a software company of global significance. He created thousands of jobs, supported many a family, and produced world-class software engineers, carried out a lot of philanthropic deeds etc.  All his good and sustained work has been eclipsed in no time. He is also bitten by the greed-bug, which pulled him down to the degraded path of mendacity.
 
In an article: ‘Integrating ethics into organizational cultures’ by W. Michael Hoffman, Dawn-Marie Driscoll and Mollie Painter- Morland contained in the book of ‘Business Ethics’ published by The Economist, there is a reference to the concern shown by PricewaterhouseCoopers – an international accounting firm on the ethical front. It conducted what is known as ‘Ethical Climate Assessment’ with a sample size of 400 employees and published its Code of Conduct: ‘The Way We Do Business’.  But in the case of Satyam Computer Services, the way it does its business is in the public domain. It is disgusting to know about its reported dirty role in conniving with the management of Satyam Computer Services and in fudging the books of accounts. The matter is subjudice. It is still under investigation stage and nothing categorical can be said about the issue at this stage. But the role of the international company in Satyam’s affair at this stage is suspect.  What is more worrying is the credibility gap between  the avowed precepts and practices even in world renowned companies like PricewaterhouseCoopers, wrought by greed.
 
The front page lead story of ‘Mail Today’ dated Feb11, 2009 makes the following a sad reading. “Pay Rs 75K bribe to get case listed in SC. The cankerous disease called corruption is not sparing anybody, not even the higher echelons of judiciary.
 
In my article: ‘Ethics: Root causes of corruption’ which is available in a website hoisted by Central Chronicle, I have formulated the following equation between corruption and the governing factors.

C= k (DOG) ÷R. Where C= corruption, k= constant of proportionality, D=Dimension of corrupt opportunity, O= Opportunity for resorting to corruption, G= Greed and R= Risk involved.
If corruption is to be contained, the factors in the numerator of the formula must be controlled and the Risk factor in the denominator must be increased. For this , first of all, we have to underpin the social systems with ethics, put  checks and balances in our functional systems in place, make the existing criminal –justice systems functional and effective and Right to Information Act  must become an effective tool in the hands of the public for combating corruption.

 The first bottom line is not just about profit. It is more importunately about how it is earned. If it is sleazy money, it is detestable. Earning quick bucks through questionable means may lure every body who has a stake in the company and who derives benefits from easy money.  But sooner or later, the stakeholders are bound to face comeuppance.
 
(b) Second bottom line: The second bottom line is about environment. We have realized the importance of environment. The implications of reckless emission of greenhouse gasses on human habitation on this tiny earth have come to the awareness of even the common man. The uncontrolled emission of green house gasses is heating up the troposphere with attendant long terms implications.  The issues about how we are making the earth uninhabitable and the possibility of leaving it not-fit- for living for our progeny have taken a central stage in the agenda of our world community.  The fact is that we are eroding the natural capital and crippling the nature in replenishing its natural services (biological income) to us.  In the magnum opus: ‘Environmental Science’ by G. Tyler Miller, Jr. (I have recently received a complimentary copy of the book-an Indian Edition from Cengage Learning), explains about the impact of depletion of biological income through a paradigm. Suppose we keep certain sum in a bank in a fixed deposit instrument fetching an interest of 10% per annum. The capital remains intact even after any number of years, as long as our withdrawal of money from the bank doesn’t exceed the accrued amount of interest. Instead of 10%, if we withdraw 20% of the amount every year, the capital will be exhausted in early 7 years period.  In case, we withdraw at the rate of 11% per annum, the capital will be over in early 18 years. The analogy is given to show how we are depleting the natural capital, working relentlessly for our own peril. Now, survival of an industry or the other is not on the top of the agenda, but the survival of the whole humanity.  If a company is engaged in a manufacturing process causing non-degradable pollutants like lead or mercury, for the sake of maximizing profits, it cannot afford to continue its processes. The pollution it is producing is a matter of concern not for the company alone, but for the entire global community. The second bottom line becomes more important than the first one.
 
(c) Third bottom line:  The third bottom line is interlinked to the second bottom line. Sustainability of development is a major issue today. IPACT equation helps us to grasp the implications of sustainability of development. The environmentally sustainable population or optimal sustainable population (SP) can be expressed mathematically as follows.  BP=Biocapacity of earth ÷maximum per capita footprint.  We would be indeed endangering the very survival of human race, if we continue to ignore pursuit of parochial and shortsighted goals of some people or countries working against sustainability of the human race and the associated ecological systems.  Population in developing as well as poor countries is growing either at exponential or logistical rates shrinking global ecological footprints year after year.  Even though the growth of population in developed countries is more or less stabilized, it is caught with the lifestyle related disease called Affluenza – a compulsive excess consumption habits.

Human impact on environment ‘I’ can be expressed as follows: I= PxAxT or I= PAT .Where P is human population and A is affluence – a measure of material throughput or per capita consumption and T is technology – environmental impact per unit of consumption. The formula describes how growing population, affluence and technology contribute towards environmental impact.  In the, I=PAT formula, the values of affluence and technology vary and are interdependent with population. Carrying capacity of the earth is closely linked to the concept of ‘environmental impact’.
 
Implications of the impact equation for sustainable development:  All the three variables, P, A, and T affect the impact of human population on the environment. Since it has been realized that man’s impact on the globe is far too great, therefore, it would be logical to seek ways and means  to reduce the magnitude of the three variables (P, A, and T) in the IMPACT equation.  Affluence measured by consumption is the highest in the developed countries. About 88% of the world’s resources is consumed by developed nations constituting just about 17% of world population.  The present deplorable situation is that the developed countries are unwilling to reduce their consumption levels and the poor and developing nations barring China are finding it very difficult to control their population. As regards relevance of the said discussion for business ethics, companies across the world are paying more attention on developing state-of –the –art technologies that are environmentally friendly, in keeping with the global concerns of third bottom line. In the Indian context, the implications of climatic changes had been flared up in a brilliant lead article: ‘Climate Change- What men can do’ by Bittu Sahgal –Tehelka, 3 May 2008. He observes in the article: “In a quarter century, there may be no Himalayan glaciers, and water in major rivers lesser by two-thirds.”   “The economic costs will be monumental. Mumbai alone could lose up to $48 billion due to submergence.” “Agriculture productivity could fall 40%. The food shortage of today will become-the good old days.”  No body can now afford to ignore the grave issues of Climate Changes. The corporate world now sensibly assigns the same priority to the third bottom line as it assigns to the first bottom line.
 
Hindu concepts of triple- bottom lines: Hindu
religion sets four-fold goal for human life. These are called ‘Chaturvidha Purushardh’ in Sanskrit. These are (1) Dharma (Righteousness or ethics centric) (2) Ardha (wherewithal or money related) (3) Kama (Desire fulfillment related) & (4) Moksha (Liberation related). I take liberty to interpret as follows. Last three- Purushardh are three bottom lines comparable to the three bottom lines I have already discussed, in brief above.  The first one, namely, Dharma is not a bottom line per se, but it is the substrata of other Purushardh, namely Ardha, Kama & Moksha.  For the sake of conceptual clarity, I would like to elucidate the concept as follows:  From the materialist point of view, earning money is necessary.  But it must be earned conforming to the ethical norms of the day.

  The first bottom line is attached with the rider of ethical conformity.  The second bottom line is desire fulfillment related. The inherent urge in every human being or life in any form is craving for fulfillment of desires. Vedic injunction is for enjoying life with a sense of renouncement. It recognizes nature as a part of divine element. We must strive to fulfill our material desires without vitiating or polluting the environment.  In other words, we must fulfill our physical desires strictly conforming to the Dharma of environmental protection and conservation. The third bottom line is Moksha.  We are not unfamiliar with the homely maxim of living within ones own means for leading a peaceful and contented life. If we, the entire humanity on earth could manage to live with in the perpetually renewable bio- products nature bestows us, then we are in tune with the Dharma of nature.  Then, every human being that constitutes such a global population is freed from the concerns or tensions of sustainability of world as a whole. The third bottom line Moksha must conform to Dharma of global imperatives of sustainable development.
 
Conclusion: The need of the hour is to live in conformity with Dharma, to develop insights about ethics, imbibe ethics and implement ethics in all walks of life.

Sub-stratum of human endeavors must inevitably be underpinned with sound ethical or moral fiber.