Ashley Blalock
University of Phoenix
Ethics and Compliance Paper Finance is often overlooked as a discipline that is independent from ethical boundaries. Finance is actually very strongly tied to social sciences, exploring the fiscal behavior of an organization. After the Sobanes-Oxley Act, established in 2003, an organizations’ ethical role with regard to finance has been reevaluated and reformed; unfortunately, it has taken the intervention of law to pass the act and ensure that organizations are applying ethics and compliance in their financial operations (Cummings, 2008). Organizations must implement ethical borders in order to ensure credibility, fiscal responsibility, and maintain a conductively sound and positive environment.
Starbucks Corporation has clearly outlined its role in ethics and compliance. With a straightforward employee manual, Starbucks explicitly clarifies how its ethical role can be refined with the help of its partners. “Each of us is responsible for supporting our core values, which require compliance with the law as well as ethical conduct” (Starbucks Corporation [Starbucks Corp], 2011). With regard to stock, partners are not allowed to buy or sell. Information that is non-public is expected to be given to partners throughout their duration of service therefore, is considered a conflict of interest. Partners are also limited to $75,000 worth of gifts given or received in the framework of business relations. While employees are treated fairly, they are limited to what they can do in order to stay within the boundaries of financial ethics. “From the beginning, we have recognized that you, our partners, are critical to our continued success” (Starbucks Corp, 2011).
References
Cummings, J. (2008, September 29). Ethics and Compliance: Are We There Yet? Business Finance. Retrieved from http://businessfinancemag.com/article/ethics-and-compliance-are-we-there-yet-0929
Starbucks Corporation. (2011).
References: Cummings, J. (2008, September 29). Ethics and Compliance: Are We There Yet? Business Finance. Retrieved from http://businessfinancemag.com/article/ethics-and-compliance-are-we-there-yet-0929 Starbucks Corporation. (2011). Business Ethics and Compliance [Employee Manual]. Retrieved from http://globalassets.starbucks.com/assets/eecd184d6d2141d58966319744393d1f.pdf