My business standards shall have in them a
note of sympathy for our common humanity. My
business dealings, ambitions and relations
shall always cause me to take into
consideration my highest duties as a member
of society. In every position in business
life, in every responsibility that comes
before me, my chief thought shall be to fill
that responsibility and discharge that duty
so when I have ended each of them, I shall
have lifted the level of human ideals and
achievements a little higher than I found
it. In view of this, it is my duty as a
Rotarian.
To consider any vocation worthy and as
affording me distinct opportunity to
serve society.
To improve myself, increase my
efficiency and enlarge my service, and
by doing so attest my faith in the
fundamental principle of Rotary, that
he/she profits most who serves the best.
To realize that I am a business person
and ambitious to succeed; but that I am
first an ethical person and wish no
success that is not founded on the
highest justice and morality.
To hold that the exchange of my goods,
my service and my ideas for profit is
legitimate and ethical, provided that
all parties in the exchange are
benefited thereby.
To use my best endeavors to elevate the
standards of the vocation in which I am
engaged, and so to conduct my affairs
that others in my vocation may find it
wise, profitable and conducive to
happiness to emulate my example.
To conduct my business in such a manner
that I may give a perfect service equal
to or even better than my competitor,
and when in doubt to give added service
beyond the strict measure of debt or
obligation.
To understand that one of the greatest
assets of a professional or of a
business person is his/her friends and
that any advantage gained by reason of
friendship is eminently ethical and
proper.
To hold that true friends demand nothing
of one another and that any abuse of the
confidence of friendship for profit is
foreign to the spirit of Rotary, and in
violation of its Code of Ethics.
To consider no personal success
legitimate or ethical which is secured
by taking unfair advantage of certain
opportunities in the social order that
are absolutely denied others, nor will I
take advantage of opportunities to
achieve material success that others
will not take because of the
questionable morality involved.
To be not more obligated to a fellow
Rotarian than I am to every other person
in human society; because the genius of
Rotary is not in its competition, but in
its cooperation; for provincialism can
never have a place in an institution
like Rotary, and Rotarians assert that
Human Rights are not confined to Rotary
Clubs, but are as deep and as broad as
the race itself; and for these high
purposes does Rotary exist to educate
all people and all institutions.
Finally, believing in the universality
of the Golden Rule, all things
whatsoever ye would that men should do
unto you, do ye even so unto them, we
contend that Society best holds together
when equal opportunity is accorded all
persons in the natural resources of this
planet.
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Four Way
Test
From
the
earliest days of the
organization, Rotarians were
concerned with promoting high
ethical standards in their
professional lives.
One of the world's most widely
printed and quoted statements of
business ethics is The 4-Way
Test, which was created in 1932
by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor
(who later served as RI
president) when he was asked to
take charge of a company that
was facing bankruptcy. This
24-word test for employees to
follow in their business and
professional lives became the
guide for sales, production,
advertising, and all relations
with dealers and customers, and
the survival of the company is
credited to this simple
philosophy.
Adopted by Rotary in 1943, The
4-Way Test has been translated
into more than a hundred
languages and published in
thousands of ways. It asks the
following four questions:
"Of the things we think, say or
do:
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and
BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all
concerned?"
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