Whirlpool Legal
Whirlpool Legal Responsibility
The legal responsibility component of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) definition is an expected responsibility. Whirlpool is expected to obey laws and regulations that affect their stakeholders: employees, consumers, owners, community, and others. The official company statement in regards to the basic code of conduct is “There is no right way to do a wrong thing.” (Whirlpool Corporation, 2006) To begin with, Whirlpool has an established and published Code of Ethics, copyrighted in 2006 that establishes the foundations of the company’s principles in a clear and concise manner for employees, officers, directors, and subsidiaries in regards to legal obligations. In addition, Whirlpool has an active “Supplier Code of Conduct” that establishes expectations that international suppliers should be following if doing business with Whirlpool which are similar to Whirlpool’s own Code of Conduct. Whirlpool also has an established Corporate Governance Guidelines that establish rules for the Board of Directors. One of the functions of the Board is to regularly evaluate the company’s adherence to U.S. laws and NYSE listing rules and law. Whirlpool has a company website that is easy to navigate for all concerned stakeholders, contributing to the transparency of the company. The home page has a clearly visible link in the top right corner to access the product recalls. In January of 2010, Whirlpool launched an easy-to-use rebate finder tool for consumers to be able to locate cash incentives for energy replacement appliances by using their zipcode. For investors, the financial information of the company is not buried but easily accessible with a few clicks. There is a tab on the home page called “Responsibilities” that has drop-down lists addressing all of the CSR aspects of the corporation. This is where all the corporation’s employee policies are listed. Whirlpool has its own team of lawyers in its legal department. Whirlpool
The legal responsibility component of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) definition is an expected responsibility. Whirlpool is expected to obey laws and regulations that affect their stakeholders: employees, consumers, owners, community, and others. The official company statement in regards to the basic code of conduct is “There is no right way to do a wrong thing.” (Whirlpool Corporation, 2006) To begin with, Whirlpool has an established and published Code of Ethics, copyrighted in 2006 that establishes the foundations of the company’s principles in a clear and concise manner for employees, officers, directors, and subsidiaries in regards to legal obligations. In addition, Whirlpool has an active “Supplier Code of Conduct” that establishes expectations that international suppliers should be following if doing business with Whirlpool which are similar to Whirlpool’s own Code of Conduct. Whirlpool also has an established Corporate Governance Guidelines that establish rules for the Board of Directors. One of the functions of the Board is to regularly evaluate the company’s adherence to U.S. laws and NYSE listing rules and law. Whirlpool has a company website that is easy to navigate for all concerned stakeholders, contributing to the transparency of the company. The home page has a clearly visible link in the top right corner to access the product recalls. In January of 2010, Whirlpool launched an easy-to-use rebate finder tool for consumers to be able to locate cash incentives for energy replacement appliances by using their zipcode. For investors, the financial information of the company is not buried but easily accessible with a few clicks. There is a tab on the home page called “Responsibilities” that has drop-down lists addressing all of the CSR aspects of the corporation. This is where all the corporation’s employee policies are listed. Whirlpool has its own team of lawyers in its legal department. Whirlpool