Despite Weather, Overflow Crowd Turns Out to Hear Tractor Supply Company Exec
John Ivey
The Rotunda Issue date: 3/4/09 Section: News
On Tuesday, March 3, the Executive-in-Residence series brought its last speaker of the year, Joe Scarlett, to the College of Business and Economics. Students, faculty and guests attended the event, with a noticeable drop in attendance from the last Executive-in-Residence, due to the inclement weather. However, even with the lower attendance the audience filled the Hiner auditorium with latecomers viewing in the adjacent classrooms simulcasting the event. The speaker, who some referred to as the "best in the series," discussed the significance of ethics in the business world and its importance to being a good leader, giving examples of the benefits from his own life.
Scarlett is a retired executive of Tractor Supply Company (TSC) who got most of his experience from a lifelong career in the retail field. With his experience in the retail field, Scarlett began work at TSC in 1979. Later, in 1982 he joined a buyout group of TSC and soon after took the company public in 1994. During his time at TSC, Scarlett served as CEO for over 10 years, during which time company revenues quadrupled and stock prices increased tenfold. Also he has received multiple honors for his work with TSC, such as the 2003 Southeast's entrepreneur of the year. Under his guidance the company was selected by Forbes "as one the best-managed companies in America in 2004." Today, Scarlett works on building top-notch business leadership programs for emerging leaders that emphasize ethics and communication.
Starting off, Scarlett talked about the many ways in which ethics have not been used in businesses in the past. To show this he gave several examples, one of which was the recent peanut butter scare at Peanut Co. of America, whose executives knowingly sold peanut butter contaminated with salmonella which cost nine people their lives, caused company to go into bankruptcy and opened the possibility of criminal charges being filed against the executives involved. This, Scarlett highlighted is a prime example of unethical practices in business and how they can be very costly to all those involved.
Scarlett is a retired executive of Tractor Supply Company (TSC) who got most of his experience from a lifelong career in the retail field. With his experience in the retail field, Scarlett began work at TSC in 1979. Later, in 1982 he joined a buyout group of TSC and soon after took the company public in 1994. During his time at TSC, Scarlett served as CEO for over 10 years, during which time company revenues quadrupled and stock prices increased tenfold. Also he has received multiple honors for his work with TSC, such as the 2003 Southeast's entrepreneur of the year. Under his guidance the company was selected by Forbes "as one the best-managed companies in America in 2004." Today, Scarlett works on building top-notch business leadership programs for emerging leaders that emphasize ethics and communication.
Starting off, Scarlett talked about the many ways in which ethics have not been used in businesses in the past. To show this he gave several examples, one of which was the recent peanut butter scare at Peanut Co. of America, whose executives knowingly sold peanut butter contaminated with salmonella which cost nine people their lives, caused company to go into bankruptcy and opened the possibility of criminal charges being filed against the executives involved. This, Scarlett highlighted is a prime example of unethical practices in business and how they can be very costly to all those involved.
Other examples he gave included large business corruption cases such as TYCO, ENRON and others. He even shared a few stories of unethical practices at TSC during his time, including an executive member who had to be fired due to his unethical behavior within the company. But, he didn't just point out unethical cases in the corporate world; he also showed that strong ethics are needed in government too, citing Watergate, the Monica Lewinski scandal and the Illinois governor corruption case.
He later went on to discuss ethics in the business world and how vital they are to becoming successful in the business world, especially in terms of leadership. To show this, Scarlett made several important points: "Stand up for what is right," and "ethics will always pay off." These, he said, are key ideas relating to ethics. He went on to talk about how most people who have ethical inadequacies tend to begin by being unethical about small things at first, which eventually grow in large ethical problems later in life. However, by maintaining strong ethics, he said, a person enhances his or her reputation as a trustworthy individual, making him or her a more desirable asset to companies and more likely to be a successful leader.
Scarlett closed by talking about how the ethical choice is not always the easiest choice but making the right ethical decision will cause future benefit.
Overall, Scarlett's discussion on ethics in leadership and business was a good reminder that doing the right thing does pay off in the future and while some think that the business world is corrupt, it is actually made up of mostly honest businesspeople. As an end to the year's Executive-in-Residence series, Scarlett provided a good ending to a series that has brought many inspirational leaders to give their insight to the Longwood community.
He later went on to discuss ethics in the business world and how vital they are to becoming successful in the business world, especially in terms of leadership. To show this, Scarlett made several important points: "Stand up for what is right," and "ethics will always pay off." These, he said, are key ideas relating to ethics. He went on to talk about how most people who have ethical inadequacies tend to begin by being unethical about small things at first, which eventually grow in large ethical problems later in life. However, by maintaining strong ethics, he said, a person enhances his or her reputation as a trustworthy individual, making him or her a more desirable asset to companies and more likely to be a successful leader.
Scarlett closed by talking about how the ethical choice is not always the easiest choice but making the right ethical decision will cause future benefit.
Overall, Scarlett's discussion on ethics in leadership and business was a good reminder that doing the right thing does pay off in the future and while some think that the business world is corrupt, it is actually made up of mostly honest businesspeople. As an end to the year's Executive-in-Residence series, Scarlett provided a good ending to a series that has brought many inspirational leaders to give their insight to the Longwood community.
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