Basic Ethics for Good Management

Abstract

François Michelin led the Michelin group from 1955 to 1999. This group manufactures and sells tyres for all kinds of vehicles in more than 170 countries, and accounts for 70 per cent of the replacement tyre market. A grandson of Michelin’s founders, François had a “business philosophy” inherited, in part, from his family. François’ vision was that every human being is unique and unrepeatable and deserves great respect and care. Considering the incomparable dignity of being a person, he stressed the importance of the individual treatment of workers, listening to them and to their deepest motivations, giving them the opportunity to develop talents inside and outside the plant. He emphasized that people have all the means to better themselves or to destroy themselves,² and believed that work gives each person not only an occasion to do things, but also to grow themselves as human beings. Although no company is perfect, Michelin has generally sought to apply this philosophy. This approach is probably not unconnected to the invention of the radial tyre, which became a crucial technological innovation. It was due to Marius Mignol, a Michelin employee who had joined the company as a typist in the printing department. Within the company, Mignol’s creativity and talent were appreciated and he was promoted to technical functions where his invention prospered.

… if you are not always asking yourself if what you are doing is good, you slip.¹

FRANÇOIS MICHELIN (b. 1926) French businessman