
What is Rotary:
Rotary is an organization of business
and professional leaders united worldwide who provide humanitarian
service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and
help build goodwill and peace in the world. In more than 160 countries
worldwide, approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to more
than 30,000 Rotary clubs.
The 4-Way Test
From the earliest days of the
organization, Rotarians were concerned with promoting high ethical
standards in their professional lives. One of the world's most
widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics is The
4-Way Test, which was created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor
(who later served as RI president) when he was asked to take charge
of a company that was facing bankruptcy. This 24-word code of
ethics for employees to follow in their business and professional
lives 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. Adopted by
Rotary in 1943, The 4-Way Test has been translated into more than
a hundred languages and published in thousands of ways. It asks
the following four questions:
"Of the things we think,
say or do: