The Four-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:
1.Is it the TRUTH?
2.Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3.Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4.Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?"
The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster
FIRST. The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
SECOND. High ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
THIRD. The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal, business, and community life;
FOURTH. The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world of fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
What has drawn over 1.2 million business and professional leaders to join the more than 30 thousand Rotary clubs worldwide? The answer can be stated in three simple words: service, ethics, and community. Around the world, Rotarians of every culture, race, and creed work to provide humanitarian service, to encourage high ethical standards in our many vocations, and to help build peace and goodwill through educational and cultural exchanges.
In the 1980s, Rotarians raised 240 million dollars to immunize children around the globe against polio, and Rotarians continue to work diligently toward the goal of completely eliminating this dreaded disease by 2005.
Through The Rotary Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation supported solely by voluntary contributions, Rotarians have, since 1947, awarded more than 1.1 billion dollars in grants, worldwide, in support of humanitarian and educational programs.
To learn more about Rotary's activites around the globe, visit the Rotary International web site.