the 4-Way-Test
One of the most widely
printed and quoted statements of business ethics in the world is the Rotary
4-Way Test. It was created by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor in 1932 when
he was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy. Taylor
looked for a way to save the struggling company mired in depression-caused
financial difficulties. He drew up a 24-word code of ethics for all employees
to follow in their business and professional lives. The 4-Way Test became
the guide for sales, production, advertising and all relations with dealers
and customers, and the survival of the company is credited to this simple
philosophy.
Herb Taylor became president of Rotary International in 1954-55. The 4-Way
Test was adopted by Rotary in 1943 and has been translated into more than
one hundred languages and published in thousands of ways. In English it
reads:
Of the things we think, say or do: