Kaptein, M. (2009). Ethics Programs and Ethical Culture: A next step in unraveling their multifaceted relationship. Journal of Business Ethics, 89(2), 261-281. doi:10.1007/s10551-088-9998-3…
Each business should have a framework for ensuring ethical behavior. The structure, format, and scope of codes vary depending on the company’s business. An oil company's code, for example, would probably have different criteria and emphases than a healthcare provider's code of ethics. Sometimes, codes of ethics are called by other names, such as an employee code of conduct. A code of ethics, though, should be differentiated from standard good operating practices.…
Ethical behavior within a company is very important to its future and success. This type of behavior is not just important for the employees to follow, but for the entire company. In 2001, a failing company called Enron was involved in numerous unethical behaviors. For example, Enron’s Chief Financial Officer temporarily suspended their “code of ethics” not once, but twice in order to partake in personal financial gain. Enron’s actions eventually resulted in bankruptcy and assisted with the creation of a new set of guidelines for companies to follow. The so-called guidelines were called the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Titman, S., Keown, A.J., & Martin, J.D. 2011). The SOX helped institute a set of rules for companies to follow, one being the creation and compliance of a code of ethics within every company. One company that seems to do a very good job with complying with the guidelines of SOX is Starbucks Corp. They have a strong program set in place to support their mission of making ethical decisions at work. The use of their program “Business Ethics and Compliance” might just be the very reason why their SEC filings show a relatively successful business.…
The Huffman Trucking Company was founded in 1936 with only one tractor-trailer. The Company grew because of World War II; it boosted the need for carrier services between factories in the Midwest to ports on the East Coast. In 1945, the business had grown in size to 16 tractors and 36 trailers. They still have a business with the U.S. Government today. Huffman Tucking Company has been acknowledged as the first major freight carrier to subcontract 100% of its information systems support. The business has continued to grow from internal sales and the purchase of five Eastern regional carriers. We will discuss how going public through an IPO, acquiring another organization in the same industry, and merging with another organization. We will discuss the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of each approach.…
The world is filled with decisions to be made both in business and from a personal standpoint. All too often however, these worlds cross and an unethical decision could cause a scar on the company that could last indefinitely. In order to teach ethical behavior to the employees of a company one must first demonstrate the behavior themselves. Develop a culture of honesty, trust, and accountability that others will follow and in turn use in their own daily lives. A good standard Code of Ethics within any company will also place in writing the expectations a company has of its employees in the treatment of others, customers and co-workers alike. It is important to recruit, hire, and train management staff that will strictly abide by a Code of Ethics, employees are likely to follow their director and display the behavior shown to them in a presumed means of keeping their jobs intact. Good working strategies on teaching ethical behavior within the company are:…
Leaders are having to make important decisions not only on corporate finance levels, but also need to meet their responsibilities environmentally and socially. Their role as a leader is the balance between the welfare of others and the preservation of their own personal welfare, they carry the moral obligation. The best leaders convey their ethics and personal values for everyone to see and know, by communicating complete and accurate information about their values and expectations. Those organizations and leaders that want to practice positive workplace morals and ethics should develop a well written standard of conduct, and provide the appropriate ethical training to their employees. These resources will help an individual make good, informed business decisions that in the long run benefits the…
An ethical culture should be a top priority of every business, large or small. The challenge for many organizations is trying to understand what it takes to build one. From an enforceable code of conduct, to ongoing training and communications, to an anonymous reporting hotline, companies can quickly implement ethics and compliance programs and solutions that foster an ethical culture across the enterprise.…
An ethical organization is not only best for the people it serves but also best for the organization. Being able to describe the organization is key to helping others understand what it is that the employees are trying to accomplish. A mission statement helps to keep the ideals or the organization in mind, as well as establishing what target population they would help. A values statement help the organization to communicate its moral side with potential clients and others. A code of ethics helps the organization’s personal to know what is and what is not acceptable within the workplace and outside of it but while representing the organization. An organizational culture needs to be determined for the organization and the community around it to know what is expected and accepted from the organization, in terms of cultural needs.…
It is said the ethics of an organization are displayed in the corporate culture of the organization and that the leaders have a huge influence on or actually creating the values of the company by what they believe are important. In turn, these leaders will bring on other’s who honor or value the same things. This leadership model will…
Fok, L.Y., Hartman, S.J. & Kwong, K. (2010). Differences in business ethical values: a study of…
Case studies of companies that have bench marked the best practices on the topic of organizational culture characteristics that supports innovation and changes. These companies focus on different things to maintain and improve their environment for both staff and clients. The CEO’s believes that, if business faces severe challenges, they can look for opportunities to change and grow stronger. Facing the challenges in today’s environment has made it hard for employers to find good employees so they have to do what they can to keep them happy and secure in their jobs. Leading ethical companies and innovative companies are not as easy as it seems. Innovative companies tend to be companies that people admire and want to work for. As a leader it is important to make sure that the rules and policies as followed, compliance is a must. Best ethical companies don 't have ethics officials so this is enforced by the leaders. An indicator as to whether a company is ethical may be linked more to the happiness of the people who work there than it is to the state of the company 's official ethics strategy.…
For a company, organizational culture is very important because the culture is like something that the employee can be based for. In addition, the organizational culture is defined as a system of shared meaning and beliefs within an organization that determines, in a large degree, how employee's act (Robbins, et al., 2003, p. 70). Founders of new organizations and managers play an important role in creating and maintaining organizational cultures. However, ethical organizational cultures are those in which ethical values and norms are emphasized. As Jones and George (2003, p. 350) argue that ethical organizational cultures can help organizations and their members behave in a socially responsible manner. Some might believe that if they do the ethical corporate culture, they will be able to get much profit.…
According the textbook, Contemporary Business, the author, Louis Boone, states the three primary factors that influence business ethics are: personal experience, peer pressure, and organizational culture. Corporate culture that is in opposition to ethical standards may result in conflict. For example, if you believe that it is immoral to put animal in cages, you shouldn’t work for a zoo. Good business ethics and positive employee-employer relationships are developed when personal ethical standards mirror a company's ethical standards, which strengthens loyalty amongst employers and employees. This manifests itself in the way that companies work to maximize awareness of their corporate cultures. The company talks and trains people in ethics, in the hope that the ethics will be incorporated in the employee’s…
References: • Kerns, C. D. (2003). Creating and sustaining an ethical workplace culture. Graziadio Business…
In order for Acme to develop more ethical corporate cultures, they must communicate core values to their employees. This can be accomplished by creating ethics programs. Not only is creating the programs important, it is imperative to have ethics offers to oversee them. The ethical components that Acme need to focus on relate to the values, beliefs, and established and enforced patterns of conduct that their employees can use to identify and respond to ethical issues. This in turn will create an ethical culture that will outline a decision making process that Acme employees uses to determine whether the decisions they make to ethical issues are wrong or right. Acme must develop corporate values, enforce…