Business Incompetency:

In business, incompetence is seen in many different forms. And most of the

times incompetency leads a business to failure, facing huge losses and sometimes
closing down the business. The focus of this study will be the Ethical
incompetence where businesses fail to comply by the ethical requirements of
society and the environment.
Ethical incompetency may take place in the form of misuse of power,
exploiting others and ignoring the corporate social responsibility which every
organization carries as a duty towards its society. In Pakistan Ethical incompetency
is practiced differently in both private and public sector .Among various sectors are
some sectors which are directly related to the economy of Pakistan. And
incompetence in these hits the economy of Pakistan directly, and which ultimately
causes the growth and development of our economy to stop. So incompetence not
only effects the particular department but also the reputation of the country as a
whole on international grounds.
Pakistan Educational system unfortunately also exhibits this incompetence.
In any country education system plays the basic role as the future of a country
depends on the quality of education in that particular country. The private and
public education systems are suffering from different issues separately. In public
sector, lack of proper education system, hierarchy, and centralized system allows
the system to neglect the main purpose of this sector .This all depicts the failure of
management at every level of hierarchy. On every second day there is news on
electronic media depicting the poor standards of Public sectors education system.
Not having a good standard of education in public schools calls for the profits of
private educational institutes, which create their monopoly to fill in their pockets
with highest profits by collecting unjustified high fees from the children against
education, exploiting the public.
Coming towards the travel industry, Pakistan Railways is facing severe issues
regarding its incapacity to perform its function properly. Pakistan Railways is facing
financial losses due to lack of care and mismanagement in this sector. The officials
hired do not perform their duties properly and surprisingly there is no accountability

on them. The Railway is in immense need of retrenchment and repositioning, by

cost reduction and revenue elevation. The cost is higher because of overburden of
unnecessary staff in this sector.
PIA on the other hand was also suffering the same. Recently, when PIA got
privatized, after taking over the organization got rid of 10,000 employees who were
not performing what they were hired for. This means a person who is not doing
anything is getting paid from the taxes paid by public with a vision to improve the
economy of their country. In Railways too the expenses are higher than the
revenues because of improper services and sub-standard performance of trains.
These problems depict nothing but incompetence and mismanagement on behalf of
higher authorities, which ultimately affects the business and revenue generated by
Pakistan Railway.
The issues do not reside at the bottom line only, but it trickles down from top
management. If the top management will perform its functions correctly, staff will
perform their duties right as well knowing that they are accountable for every
responsibility they are assigned to fulfill.

Lack of financial and administrative

accountability is the root cause behind this, and because of this the railway workers
do not realize the impact of their duties on the society and economy as a whole.
When all these problems exist within a country, in state level organizations,
the image of legal, economic and political conditions weakens among the
international organizations. So they also tend to practice unethical, illegal and
controversial acts when operating in such countries. Knowing, that there will be no
strict, or probably, any action taken against whatever they do here. Unfortunately,
Pakistan is also considered one of the countries with weak regulatory system. Thats
why foreign organizations are often seen exploiting the rights, traditions, and laws
of our state. This shows what courage the foreign bodies get, when the regulatory
system of any country is weak and incompetent. If this had been done in the
geographies of a country with stronger economic and legal conditions, the company
would have been banned with its products, but the case is just the opposite here, in
Pakistan.
Incompetency is not only limited to false acts, impracticality in terms of
management and negligence of staff only. Sometimes many organizations involve
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themselves in unethical or misconducts to compete with their rivals. This also

counts as incompetency of an organization, which chooses a wrong way to sell its
product misguiding the society and the customers. Sometimes, this incompetence
also leaves strongly negative impact on the society as well as customers. The media
plays an important role here. When customers want something which is not good for
them or it might be product with a negative consequence it is depicted in the
advertisement

just

opposite.

Unethical

marketing

happens

because

of

incompetency of a product which cannot sell itself on the grounds of truth and
reality. Smoking is injurious to health, but the advertisements shown about cigarette
brands show it as an element of pride and power. The sentiments depict
incompetence on part of the brand as well as the media which is delivering a wrong
message to the public to make profits. This again is a failure on part of regulatory
authorities of Pakistan.
Organizations now a days tending to hide their incompetence behind colorful
and attractive advertisements. The customers are trapped by showing the fancy,
untrue and deceptive advertisements with oversized packages and undelivered
promises. The consumer courts are corrupted to take legal actions against such
advertisements, even if a consumer files a case against such marketing campaigns.
Bribery and interceding is common in consumer courts to stop any legal actions
against any such act.
These practices are not only witnessed in normal household products but also
in the health industry. Where pharmaceutical companies offer expensive gifts in
terms of vouchers and even sponsor foreign trips for the doctors to recommend
their medicines. All these practices are a result of incompetence on behalf of the
organizations producing low quality products which cannot earn a good market
share without malpractices. The second question arises on the regulatory authority
of Pakistan which does not hold these organizations accountable for the bribes they
offer against the lives of general public. The third question arises on the corporate
social responsibility of such organizations, that what are they giving to the society
they are earning their profits from.
The above mentioned examples are the few examples which got highlighted
due to different reasons, but there are so many practices, which take place on daily
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basis and are never mentioned by anyone. The root cause is lack of knowledge,
incompetence, and lack of awareness among consumers and public and incapability
of regulatory authority of Pakistan.

Islamic perspective
Islam through the example of holy Prophet(saw) and the rightly guided Caliphs,
demonstrates the importance of trade or business. Abu Bakr(ra) ran a cloth
business, Umar(ra) had a corn trading business and Uthman also had a cloth
business. Islam actively encourages Muslims to get involved in business and
commerce: Allahs Messenger was asked what type of earning was best and replied,
A mans work with his hand and every business transaction which is
approved
Halal Rizq(sustenance) is very important & has an effect on all other Ibadat & the
general spiritual status. BEFORE doing Business the person is required to know the
Islamic Laws applicable. This will enable him to earn Halal rizq for himself & his
family. EVEN in Halal business there may be Transactions/ Situations where there is
a possibility of overstepping HIS laws.
Businesses that are incompetent in form of misuse of power, exploiting others and
ignoring the corporate social responsibility has great punishments in Islam. A firm
exists in a wed of relationships with a whole array of stakeholders. These includes
suppliers, buyers, customers, unions etc. when dealing with suppliers, business
ethics suggests that one should negotiate a fair price and not take advantage of
ones bigger size
Buyers should expect to receive goods that are in working condition and priced
fairly. They should also be notified of any deficiencies. Islam forbids the following
practices when dealing with consumers.
Use of incorrect weights and measures: just give measure, and cause no loss.
And weigh with scales true and upright. And withhold not things justly due
to men

Hoarding and price manipulation: the market system is free in Islam, and is allowed
to respond to demand and supply. However, Islam does not tolerate interference in
the market system by hoarding or other forms of price manipulation. he who
hoards is a sinner. In case where businessmen are engaging in hoarding and
other forms of price manipulation, Islam allows price control in order to meet the
needs of society and to provide protection against greed.
Adultery and spoiled products. Islam prohibits any kind of fraudulent transactions
whether during a purchase or a sale. The Muslim businessman must be honest at all
times. The Prophet(pbuh) said: both the buyer and the seller have the option
of canceling or confirming the bargain unless they separate.
Swearing to support a sale is also prohibited in Islam. When engage in deceiving a
buyer, the sin resulting from this deception is increased if the businessman
validates his sales pitch through false oaths.
Five key axioms govern Islamic ethical system: unity, equilibrium, freewill,
responsibility and benevolence. All these axioms are applied to the business ethics
of Islam. For example under the UNITY AXIOM , a Muslim business will not
discriminate among his employees, suppliers, buyers or any other stakeholder on
the basis of race, sex, color or religion. Also he should be coerced into unethical
practices, since he has only ALLAH to fear and love. He follows the same unified
behavior whether he is the mosque, earning a living or acting out any other aspects
of his life.
EQUILIBRIUM AXIOM, it describes the horizontal dimension of Islam and relates to
all embracing harmony in the universe. As ALLAH says Lo! We have created
everything by measure. The need for balance and equilibrium is stressed by
Allah when he labels the Muslim ummah as ummatun wasatun. The principle of
equilibrium applies both figuratively and literally to business for example Allah
admonishes Muslim businessmen to: Give full measure when you measure and
weigh with a balance that is straight, that is the most fitting and most
advantageous in the final determination.

FREE WILL AXIOM, man has the free will to make a contract and either to make it
or break it. A Muslim who has submitted to the will of Allah will honor all contracts.
O you who believe! Fulfill all obligation.
RESPONSIBILITY AXIOM, if a Muslim businessman behave unethically, he cannot
blame his actions on the pressure of business or on the fact that everyone else is
behaving unethically. Accordingly Allah states: every soul will be held in
pledge for its deeds.
BENEVOLENCE AXIOM, is defined as an act which benefits person other than
those from whom the act proceeds without any obligation. Kindness is encouraged
in Islam. If a person needs a thing, one should give it to him, making as little profit
as possible. If the giver forgoes the profit, it will be better for him. Also if a man
purchases anything from a poor person, if would be more graceful on his part to
suffer a little loss by paying him more than what he considers to be the proper
price.

In Pakistan Ethical incompetency is practiced differently in both private and public

sector .Among various sectors are some sectors which are directly related to the
economy

of

Pakistan.

Pakistan Educational system unfortunately also exhibits this incompetence.

In any country education system plays the basic role as the future of a country
depends

on

the

quality

of

education

in

that

particular

country.

In public sector, lack of proper education system, hierarchy, and centralized system
allows the system to neglect the main purpose of this sector .This all depicts the
failure

of

management

at

every

level

of

hierarchy.
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Not having a good standard of education in public schools calls for the profits of
private educational institutes, which create their monopoly to fill in their pockets
with highest profits by collecting unjustified high fees from the children against
education, exploiting the public.