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ON THE MOVE THE AUSTIN COMPANY WELCOMES DAVID W. WATSON, BAKING AND SNACK INDUSTRY EXPERT, TO THE TEAM The Austin Company is proud to announced David Watson as its baking and snack engineering SME. Watson brings to Austin more than 37 years in the food industry, having begun his career as a project engineer at Pepperidge Farm. Most recently, Watson served as vice president, Engineering-International, Pepperidge Farm and Packaging Systems at Campbell Soup Company. “Dave has been part of our family for many years as a client in his prior role as vice president engineering at Campbell Soup Company,” stated Brandon Davis, vice president and general manager of Austin’s Eastern Operations. “We are overjoyed to have him join our family, now as a team member bringing deep process and operations skills, as well as the owner’s perspective to our work.” Watson earned his bachelor’s degree in
mechanical engineering from Drexel University and his MBA at Saint Joseph’s University. He has served on the American Society of Baking Executive Committee, the Bakery Equipment Manufacturers Association BIF Committee, the American Baker’s Association, and is currently on committees for the International Baking Industry Exposition. “I have known Dave for a long time, and The Austin Company is fortunate to have him join our team,” said company president Mike Pierce. “His breadth of experience in the baking industry will position us to better serve our existing – and future – clients in this market.” The Austin Company, a design-build firm headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, offers a comprehensive portfolio of services for commercial and industrial companies throughout North America. Services include site location, planning, architectural design, engineering, construction, facility maintenance, and operations improvement consulting.
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PHIL KEIL, from page 1
principles that are necessary to infuse your culture with purpose. More basically, they are the foundation of a person’s ability to judge between right and wrong. They are a deep-rooted system of beliefs and have intrinsic worth but are not universally accepted. It is a system that allows each individual to determine what should or shouldn’t be. These fundamental beliefs are the barometer that guides a person’s decisions. There are also various levels including individual, firm, and societal values. I strongly encourage all leaders to reflect on their own individual values, but for the purpose of this conversation, let’s focus on the firm. Of course, if the two are not in harmony, then there is a poor fit with your organization which can cause additional challenges. ❚ ❚ Morals. Morality is formed out of our values. Morals are the actual system of beliefs that emerge from a person’s core values. These are specific and context-driven rules that govern a person’s behavior. Since this system of beliefs is tailored to an individual or firm, they are subjective, and this is where we see moral relativism injected into the discussion. Meaning, each firm’s morals may be different relative to any other firm. The bridge to traditional or theistic religion is in the definition of objective morality and universal truths that are predicated upon some form of higher power. Morality, in and of itself, however, is subjective and worth inculcating and discussing in our businesses. ❚ ❚ Ethics. Finally, we have the vehicle that allows us to act out our morality. Ethics are what enact the moral system that we’ve developed. A person, therefore, can be said to be ethical by acting in accordance to one’s morality. Hence why codes of ethics are always discussed as actions such as “perform professional services only in areas of their competence” or “conduct themselves in a fair, honorable, and respectful manner” to borrow once again from AIChE. Careful thought and consideration should be instituted when defining your own firm’s value, moral, and ethical framework. I may make a more thorough defense of the importance of this framework for your firm at a later date, but to summarize, it is of paramount importance to creating your culture and long-term success. If you accept the premise at the outset of this article, that of a decentralized system and a required innovation ecosystem, then this foundation is the first step. As technology, particularly AI, develops at the momentous pace it is, I would even argue, particularly for larger organizations, that an ethics/values committee be established to keep you accountable and aligned in the “face” of a nameless, faceless machine learning platform. PHIL KEIL is director of strategic services at Zweig Group. Contact him at pkeil@zweiggroup.com.
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THE ZWEIG LETTER February 3, 2020, ISSUE 1330
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