Opportunism, India, and My Grandfather
Perhaps the most notable thought which comes to mind when I think of opportunism, specifically in turning down unethical opportunities, comes from knowing about my grandfather's career. My grandfather, in his working days, was an executive for the Bharat Petroleum Burma Shell Oil Company, which later merged to create the company Royal Dutch Shell, Shell Oil as it is known in America. He worked at the company for twenty-five years, starting at the lowest level as a delivery boy, and moving up through the ranks before his tenure as an executive.
India, in really any period before the 2000's, was a country awash with corruption, with little to no laws or systems put in place to combat it. It was a commonly understood fact that corruption was present in all layers of society, whether it was a taxi driver paying off a police officer for a fender bender, or a governmental officer accepting some oil rights on a piece of land in return for the quick approval of an ordinance. Thus, in this time, the idea of a "good citizen" in India would have been much different than it is today. It has only been in the past twenty years that any form of negative outlook has arisen towards corruption, that systems and groups have been put into place to try and eradicate it wherever it can be identified.
Opportunistic behavior, in the times of rampant corruption in India, was everywhere to be found. Whether you had to pay off the court to approve your business filing in a prompt manner, or pay an extra amount to buy a home in a certain area, or even giving money to local policemen for prompt treatment when going through a checkpoint, it was something that even the law abiding citizen would encounter very many times.
Back to my grandfather- he was given a great deal of responsibility as an executive for Burma Shell. His reach spanned the entire Indian subcontinent- one of the duties of his role was to award contracts for building new Shell gas stations in prime locations throughout India. In this role, there was opportunism in making money off the power his position held. Companies and people who wanted the contracts for these locations would try their hardest to persuade my grandfather to sway in one direction or another. They often offered significant bribes to him, and if he wanted to he could have pit one against another and profited greatly off these bribes. However, my grandfather is and was a very honest, straight laced man, and he believed greatly in his principles of justice. He never once took a bribe and awarded contracts solely based on merit, and everyone in the company knew him for this.
In a time of each person emphasizing their own personal profit and gain, my grandfather made it a point to do honest business and not "seize" every opportunity just because it was there. I believe he did this because he felt, deep down, that being honest and fair in your dealings is what was right, and because he was genuinely disgusted with wrongdoing for personal gain. He has never had a drop of alcohol, never smoked, etc; he has a very strong and yet narrow path of thinking, he believes what he believes, and I think that it is at least a contributing factor to his success. I do not believe that he thought his patience in not taking bribes would lead to more monetary gain in the future- he simply knew that by turning down those bribes, he would not make as much money as he could. He had a very simple and straightforward thought process, and I have understood this by talking to him.
India, in really any period before the 2000's, was a country awash with corruption, with little to no laws or systems put in place to combat it. It was a commonly understood fact that corruption was present in all layers of society, whether it was a taxi driver paying off a police officer for a fender bender, or a governmental officer accepting some oil rights on a piece of land in return for the quick approval of an ordinance. Thus, in this time, the idea of a "good citizen" in India would have been much different than it is today. It has only been in the past twenty years that any form of negative outlook has arisen towards corruption, that systems and groups have been put into place to try and eradicate it wherever it can be identified.
Opportunistic behavior, in the times of rampant corruption in India, was everywhere to be found. Whether you had to pay off the court to approve your business filing in a prompt manner, or pay an extra amount to buy a home in a certain area, or even giving money to local policemen for prompt treatment when going through a checkpoint, it was something that even the law abiding citizen would encounter very many times.
Back to my grandfather- he was given a great deal of responsibility as an executive for Burma Shell. His reach spanned the entire Indian subcontinent- one of the duties of his role was to award contracts for building new Shell gas stations in prime locations throughout India. In this role, there was opportunism in making money off the power his position held. Companies and people who wanted the contracts for these locations would try their hardest to persuade my grandfather to sway in one direction or another. They often offered significant bribes to him, and if he wanted to he could have pit one against another and profited greatly off these bribes. However, my grandfather is and was a very honest, straight laced man, and he believed greatly in his principles of justice. He never once took a bribe and awarded contracts solely based on merit, and everyone in the company knew him for this.
In a time of each person emphasizing their own personal profit and gain, my grandfather made it a point to do honest business and not "seize" every opportunity just because it was there. I believe he did this because he felt, deep down, that being honest and fair in your dealings is what was right, and because he was genuinely disgusted with wrongdoing for personal gain. He has never had a drop of alcohol, never smoked, etc; he has a very strong and yet narrow path of thinking, he believes what he believes, and I think that it is at least a contributing factor to his success. I do not believe that he thought his patience in not taking bribes would lead to more monetary gain in the future- he simply knew that by turning down those bribes, he would not make as much money as he could. He had a very simple and straightforward thought process, and I have understood this by talking to him.
I think a story like this one needs some more context, both about your grandfather's behavior, about whether his children learned this lesson as well, and indeed whether you learned it too. In other words, how did your grandfather come to these beliefs? Also, it would be good to know if he acted this way his whole working life, starting with the time he was a delivery boy, or did he come to these beliefs only later?
ReplyDeleteOnce the context is given, then you might turn to the question of whether it can be replicated with other people (who then learn to act ethically) which is part of the point for his exercise. Transaction costs are definitely lower if all parties to the transaction are honest and refrain from opportunistic behavior. My experience is that with other people in similar positions to the one I had at other Big Ten universities, that could be assumed. But when dealing with commercial vendors who were selling us software and consulting services, it rarely was possible.
Thank you Professor Arvan. I agree that touching on those topics would have given everyone a better idea about my grandfather’s behavior. I know for a fact that my grandfather was raised in a strict environment, one where respect and hard work was greatly valued. He grew up in a household of many boys, who trained physically every morning, and devoted the rest of the day to study. I believe my father has many of the same attributes as my grandfather does. I am yet to fully understand whether or not I am in line with the same- I guess time will tell.
ReplyDeleteI do see some patterns however, and I am not doubtful that we would have some similarities. You bring up a good point that transaction costs are lower if all parties are honest- it is interesting to think about how these things might affect society on a larger basis. In my next blog post I will make sure to not focus so much on the purely individual attributes and look at it on a more macro perspective.