By Chelsea Brumagen '13
Former Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pitney Bowes, Inc. Murray Martin, visited Siena College last month as part of the Lewis Golub Executive Lecture Series. The lecture series brings executives to campus to speak about business principles and practices including business ethics. Martin, who retired from Pitney Bowes earlier this month, delivered a speech titled, “Leading Responsibly: Putting Values in Action,” which he did in many ways at Pitney Bowes.
Martin began by saying, “A business doesn’t operate by itself but it is within a larger community.” To serve the community, Martin placed a high importance on employee volunteerism. He received The Volunteer Center for Southwestern Connecticut’s “Heart of Gold” award for his dedication to promoting employee community involvement. The spirit of volunteering is alive throughout Pitney Bowes. Martin said that the company grants $1.5 million to literacy and education programs and that employees have spent more than 76,000 hours volunteering.
Martin also incorporated values at Pitney Bowes in other ways. “Appreciation for cultures is important for leading responsibly,” Martin said. He added that diversity has to be reflected within the company. As a result, Martin said the company has employees who are more agile, better problem solvers and the best talent to better serve the global market.
In addition to appreciating diversity and encouraging volunteerism, Martin placed a high importance on environmental stewardship. He said Pitney Bowes maintains efforts to minimize waste, increase sustainability and decrease their carbon footprint.
Although the lecture was about leading responsibly, Martin said that values and ethics are necessary at all levels of the company. “We know that ethics and governance are important at the top, but also important all throughout the company,” Martin said. Martin concluded by saying that the key to leading the market, is leading responsibly.
Accounting major Sam Zadrozny ’13 said that the lecture helped him realize that businesses have a responsibility to uphold morals and ethics. “What I took away really was that all businesses really should do their best. Whatever is within their financial means to do their best ethically and morally, internally and externally,” said Zadrozny.
