Beyond the Expected: Ethics in Business Awards

I attended the Oregon Ethics in Business Awards dinner on Wednesday evening this week. I guess one would expect that the nominees and award winners would be impressive in their own right...with their commitment to ethics and to "doing the right thing." But I have to admit, I was much more than impressed by this group of humble do-gooders.

Among the award winners was one especially humble man from Corvallis, Oregon. His name is Mario Pastega. He is a 92-year-old man of Italian decent who owns the Pepsi-Cola bottling facility in Corvallis. At his age, you would think he was a feeble man; however, he actually moves quite quickly and in fact, he loves giving visitors tours of his facilities. In his acceptance speech for the Ethics in Business Award, it was apparent that Mario loves what he does...mostly because he is giving back to the community. Mario helped establish a guest house for relatives of hospital patients to stay in while their loved ones are treated. He visits the families on a regular basis and also commits his time to a number of other service projects. This is all outside of his work hours, which he still puts in regularly even at his age! Mario was a true example of "doing unto others as you would have done unto you." In every way, he exemplifies how people should do business. Not to serve themselves, but to go beyond the expected, even if it means sacrificing a bit of profit. You can read more online about Mario and other Ethics in Business Award Winners, which were researched and underwritten by our very own Willamette MBA students this last semester.