At & T Code Of Ethical Conduct

According to Lawrence & Weber (2014), “Corporate culture is a blend of ideas, customs, traditional practices, company values and shared meanings that help define normal behavior for everyone who works in a company” (p. 91). It is basically the way the company operates. It is similar to way people are brought up, the ideas, traditions and values that parents instill in their children. It is who they are.
American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) is one of world 's largest communications companies that are currently in business. They operate globally under the AT&T brand. Some of the services that AT&T offers are broadband, digital life (home security), international service plans, mobile phones, networks, retail, U-verse and Wi-Fi capabilities.
Broadband is high speed internet access which everyone uses to watch videos, stream music and more. International service plans are offered through AT&T for those people that often make international phone calls. AT&T offers a very comprehensive mobile phone plan with plenty of phone options from regular phones to smart phones and tablets. Currently AT&T offers network service plans in some areas improving coverage in more regions. U-verse is service based on IPTV (Internet Protocol television) used by AT&T to deliver a television viewing service. Wi-Fi is a service that AT&T offers that allows computers, smartphones, or other devices to connect to the Internet or communicate with one another wirelessly within a particular area. Finally another service that AT&T has recently gotten into is what they call Digital Life. This is a home security service that offers consumers the ability to secure their home through a smart phone, tablet, computer, etc. It also gives consumers the ability to view through a security camera set up in their home, to see what is happening in real time. This type of service could be utilized to monitor your teenagers actions while you’re gone, observe a babysitter with your infant or even a thief breaking into your home as evidence.
According to AT&T.com their code of ethical conduct states that they do business in accordance with the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York Stock Exchange, the Board of Directors of AT&T Inc.
Their code of ethics is to encourage honest and ethical conduct, including fair dealing and the ethical handling of conflicts of interest; encourage full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable disclosure; encourage compliance with applicable laws and governmental rules and regulations; ensure the protection of the Company 's legitimate business interests, including corporate opportunities, assets and confidential information; and deter wrongdoing. Within their code of ethics is the expectation that includes operating with integrity and trust, building strong customer relationships, to unleash their human capabilities and a promise to deliver the future first. Out of these statements, the three critical values to AT&T’s success are integrity and trust, building strong customer relationships and assuring they deliver the future first. According to Merriam-webster.com, the definition of integrity is the quality of being honest and fair or the state of being complete, whole and incorruptible. When consumers are dealing with large businesses, many times they get lost in the crowd, meaning that their needs are not important. Businesses tend to place their attention to where the money is and one consumer’s dissatisfaction may not be considered.
However consumers can now take advantage of social media and spread their disapproval of a company through their freedom of speech on internet blogs. Any type of bad service or wrongdoing from any company can now be stated out on the internet where other potential consumers can base their decision on whether or not to conduct business. Enough information is most likely an easy way to form an opinion or trend an issue that a company has not addressed with its consumers. With AT&T or any other telecommunication company, making a 2 year commitment to a cell phone plan is an important step for consumers to agree with. Consumers need that feeling that the plan is fairly priced, that customer service is knowledgeable, trustworthy and not corrupt in anyway. For example, if your cell phone plan is $100 per month for 2 years that is a total of $2400 commitment that a consumer agrees too. That is why building strong customer relationships are so very important to assure you have repeat business. Customer service is imperative for a business to thrive and that your customers return over and over again. Two years is enough time to decide as a consumer, that you would like to stay or tempted to move to another company who is begging for your business or making offers that are difficult to refuse. Another promise that AT&T makes to its consumers is to deliver the future first. What they mean by this statement is that they will be a leader in technology assuring that they will always keep an eye out for the next best thing for their customers, whether it’s a new phone or faster internet or even a new service. Verizon and T-Mobile also are in the same market as AT&T. They offer some of the same products and services. According to Verizon.com, their code of ethical conduct states that they are committed to operate a responsible and ethical business. The Verizon Credo states “We believe integrity is at the core of who we are”. They go on to state that to succeed in today’s global market; their brand must stand for integrity, trust and the highest ethical standards. Verizon also explains how they include integrity, respect, performance excellence and accountability which are all somewhat similar to AT&T’s. Operating with integrity seems to be the number one goal between both Verizon and AT&T. T-Mobile is another competitor of AT&T’s and seems to use simpler terms for their ethical code. According to T-Mobile.com, they state that their corporate culture is a key factor in the development process and are the guiding principles that serve as the cornerstone that forms their culture. T-Mobile values are stated as customer delight drives their actions, go big-stay scrappy which means collaborating with others for bigger results. The also state that the same as Verizon and AT&T, in that respect and integrity guide their behavior. They take a team together-team apart approach which means employees are encourage to share their opinions with others and in the same light consider other opinions as well. Finally, T-Mobile has an approach that if you work for T-Mobile you are T-Mobile and you can count on them-type attitude is stated. What this means is that they take ownership for what they do. Comparing T-Mobile to AT&T’s ethical code is like comparing the guy who wears the suit to work, to a guy who wears shorts and flip flops to work all day. AT&T is all business and regulation where T-Mobile is more laid back and utilizes catch phrases which may appeal more to the younger crowd. Integrity seems to be the core value for each business; however that seems to be the only main theme among each. AT&T seems to be the only competitor that takes into consideration to deliver the future first which means to stay on top of technology and innovation. If Verizon and T-Mobile were to maintain that same level of commitment as AT&T, they may be able to stay competitive instead of lagging in the shadows of the giant service provider. AT&T’s commitment towards delivering the future first, also provides a higher level of competition and a higher level of customer satisfaction as consumers have always wanted the next best thing when it comes to technology. The only issue with this statement is if AT&T does not live up to new technology promise and its competitors beat them to it. This would make AT&T look like the company is being complacent. Also, if Verizon and T-Mobile do not address to their consumers the level of service and technology that AT&T offers, they may suffer financially or even possibly face a takeover. Customer service and technology is the leading edge to consumer satisfaction. Many people are getting tired of the computer that answers your call for help by stating press “1” for this or “2” for that. Many times it is just a waste of time which is a business pitfall. AT&T’s code of ethical conduct is imperative to their success as long as they assure that it remains relevant in the future. According to Lawrence & Weber (2014), one of the most complex and ever changing areas of business ethics is in the field of information technology. Ethical challenges in this field involve invasions of privacy. The collection, storage and access to personal and business information are also an ethical challenge. Along with confidentiality of electronic mail communication, copyright protection regarding software, music and intellectual property all are considered ethical challenges that companies and consumers continue to face.
As the future changes in technology, economies, politics, social, cultural and technological forces on business and society will also change. AT&T will need to assure sustainability in the future by addressing all the above mentioned forces. One technique AT&T could use to ensure future relevance would be to conduct strategic planning. Strategic planning involves a comprehensive process for determining what a business should become and how it can best achieve that goal. It evaluates the full potential of a business and clearly links the business 's objectives to the actions and resources required to achieve them. Another way AT&T could ensure future relevance would be to revisit, on a predetermined frequency, a review of its core values and beliefs to help determine what should remain to preserve AT&T’s identity, and re-evaluate what can change. Once an organization has determined what its values are and what it needs to keep, it can remove anything that might be inhibiting growth in the future. This can include outdated processes and attitudes along with staff members who are impeding change. The key to staying relevant is in having a diverse group of employees and encouraging staff members to hold different views and look at problems from a fresh perspective, rather than trying to uphold the status quo. Evaluating the overall company culture and staffing, an organization can continually reposition and re-evaluate their brand so as to remain relevant and avoid becoming obsolete. That is why as an employee one should embrace change from leadership. Leadership often sees a bigger picture for the company and if the employee wants to stay employed, they will need to embrace change-even if it’s a learning curve for a while. Launching new products and broadening their target markets are all beneficial to keep a business moving forward, while settling into a rut can hold it back and lead to irrelevance and potential disaster. With so many advancements in technology and the changing work environment, a willingness to try new things and accept new ideas is essential for any business who wants to stay at the top of the relevance curve and avoid becoming obsolete in the future. Currently AT&T states in their code of ethical conduct that they will deliver the future first. AT&T realizes that the mobile revolution is currently upon us and is always looking for new innovative ways to assure customers have the leading edge with the products and services they provide. In fact, soon the PadFone X will be available exclusively through AT&T in the United States. This new device combines a 5-inch smartphone that activates a 9-inch tablet when the phone is docked. The idea is that the two devices share a processor and memory and a cellular data plan. This new technology is just one of the ways that AT&T is assuring that they are delivering the future first. Another approach that AT&T has taken to embrace technological advancements is by offering their customers a service called Digital Life. Through an app on your AT&T smart phone, you can lock the doors at your house, adjust your thermostat, turn on and off lights or appliances and check your security cameras. The most powerful feature that they offer through digital life is the ability to create programs that can automate tasks, send alerts and trigger events based on data from the sensors. One example of this is if a sensor on the kitchen window is tripped, the system can be set to turn on the lights in the room and start recording a video.
According to Lawrence & Weber (2014), cybercrime has emerged as a formidable threat, thanks to deeply determined, highly skilled and well-organized cyber criminals from nation states to hackers from criminal gangs to single perpetrators (p. 287). Some of the potential challenges that AT&T will mostly likely face with this kind of technology will be hackers, law suits if the technology fails and possibly even future government regulations for privacy issues. Although AT&T requires customers to sign an agreement to use the Digital Life system only for security, it also states not to place the cameras in private areas of the home where an individual may be compromised. One strategy that the company could use in order to eliminate or minimize these challenges would be to assure that privacy is not compromised by developing technology to keep hackers out. If AT&T is leaning into home security environments they will also need to become innovative enough to assure hackers do not make their way into the privacy and homes of unsuspecting customers. They will need to build the most sophisticated firewalls and fund that effort fully to assure that hackers stay out and the Digital Life system is not compromised.
According to opensegrets.org a center for responsible politics, AT&T was broken up in the mid-1980s in a big antitrust case. In 2005 they re-formed in and became the most utilized phone company in the United States. AT&T has the nation 's largest 4G network, covering close to 300 million people, and is also the largest Wi-Fi provider in the country. AT&T is also regarded as one of the top corporate political donors and operates a Political Action Committee (PAC) that regularly donates millions of dollars to candidates, most of whom are members of the Republican Party. The organization lobby’s heavily in Washington usually on issues that involve telecommunications, copyright, patents and trademarks, radio and TV broadcasting and of course dreaded taxes. Economic leverage is the strategy that AT&T uses for their lobbying efforts as with most companies. Political campaigns can run into the millions which leave politicians money hungry if they want to stay in Washington. Companies like AT&T hire lobbyists who make contributions to one candidate, utilizing that economic leverage to get what they want. In most cases, economic power means money but interest groups can also run advertisements, pay for research, and build a strong presence in Washington. AT&T uses a lobbying firm that works under the name TCH Group LLC. One of the issues that TCH has lobbied on behalf of AT&T is the Permanent Internet Freedom Tax Act which was introduced back in September 2013. This act amends the Internet Tax Freedom Act to make permanent the ban on state and local taxation of internet access and tax on electronic commerce. Some feel that the internet is democratic in nature and when you tax democracy, you 're basically establishing a censoring dictatorship. This has caused a lot of debate in Washington where lobbying has come in handy on behalf of companies like AT&T and consumers.
One global corporate citizenship effort that AT&T has engaged in has been by becoming more sensitive to their natural environment.
The company has demonstrated strong internal data management practices for the measurement of greenhouse gas emissions and energy use. This initiative has landed them on the Carbon Disclosure Project 's Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index. Another global corporate citizenship effort that AT&T has engaged in is serving the communities that they operate in. The company has many efforts to support their communities such as encouraging employee volunteerism, supporting disaster response, hiring veterans and also by their Aspire Mentoring Academy that enables AT&T employees to work directly with students, share their knowledge and make a lasting impact on the lives of young people. AT&T also is committed to enriching and strengthening communities across the country through the AT&T Foundation. The foundation seeks out quality-of-life issues, with an emphasis on improving education and advancing community development by reaching out to ethnic and racial minority
groups.
AT&T is meeting their goals and efforts through their global corporate citizenship. They are building strong customer relationships through their environmental efforts. They are also meeting their goals of unleashing their human capabilities through all the volunteerism and foundation efforts in the communities that they serve. Continued efforts in both areas will surely set the company up for future sustainable development goals as they continue to work towards less of an environmental impact and working closely with the communities that they do business in. Just these two efforts alone would make AT&T a valued member in any community.

References:
AT&T - 4G LTE, Cell Phones, U-verse, TV, Internet & Phone Service. (n.d.). AT&T - 4G LTE, Cell Phones, U-verse, TV, Internet & Phone Service. Retrieved May 27, 2014, from http://www.att.com
About T-Mobile. (n.d.). T Mobile Code of Conduct. Retrieved May 24, 2014, from http://www.t-mobile.com/company/companyinfo.aspx?tp=Abt_Tab_CodeOfConduct
Code of Conduct. (n.d.). Verizon. Retrieved May 31, 2014, from http://www.verizon.com/about/codeofconduct/
GovTrack.us. (n.d.). GovTrack.us. Retrieved May 28, 2014, from https://www.govtrack.us
Lawrence, A. T. (2013). Business and society: bus adm 200 (14th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Lobbying Database. (n.d.). Opensecrets RSS. Retrieved May 31, 2014, from http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/
Wyatt, E. (2014, May 20). Daily Report: AT&T-DirecTV Deal Complicates Regulatory Task. Bits Daily Report ATTDirecTV Deal Complicates Regulatory Task Comments. Retrieved May 28, 2014, from http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/20/daily-report-att-directtv-deal-complicates-regulatory-task/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0