Lousy cheating rat

Have you ever seen the Chinese Zodiac? Take a look at it and you might notice it lacks a cat, but the rat is in first place.\nLegend has it that there was a race for all animals in the animal kingdom. The first 12 animals to reach the finish would have the honor of heading the 12-year cycle. The cat told his good buddy the rat about the race, and the rat agreed to wake the cat on the day of the race so the two of them could set out on time. However, on that day, the rat quietly set out without waking the cat, and using his wiles, finished first in the race. Besides earning himself a mortal enemy, the rat was also despised by other animals for his deceit, and they began to prey on him as a result.\nYou might be thinking: What does this legend have to do with business? If you are thinking this is going to be another one of those "happily-ever-after" bedtime stories, think again. While cheating might get you wealth or success, it comes at a heavy price. Arthur Andersen LLP, once one of the Big Five accounting firms, lost nearly all its clients after the firm was convicted of obstruction of justice for shredding documents related to its audit of Enron in 2002. It is highly unlikely the firm will ever return as a viable business because the Enron incident ruined its credibility, and other companies find it hard to trust their money to the firm again. Arthur Anderson has become a lousy cheating rat in the race of the public accounting firms.\nBut why is trust such a big deal in the business world? The answer was long ago revealed by Adam Smith, a revolutionary economist of the 18th century: "A dealer is afraid of losing his character, and is scrupulous in observing every engagement. When a person makes perhaps twenty contracts in a day, he cannot gain so much by endeavoring to impose on his neighbors, as the very appearance of a cheat would make him lose."\nThe success of a business always depends upon the favor and goodwill of its customers, and it cannot continue in the event of cheating or misdirection.