Ethics is one of the most important factors of companies’ success. With it, companies can have good reputation, attain loyalty from the employees (Inc., 2013), achieve consumers’ respect, can enhance environment and prolong earth life, can be of service and help to the needy and can make business more meaningful to everyone’s life.
The Ethisphere Institute, an independent research firm for corporate practices, ethics and leadership, recently unveiled its 2013 World’s Most Ethical Companies (Ethisphere, 2013) . About 140 companies were tagged as ethical in the research firm’s recent ranking. An exceptional company, General Electric (GE) Company, has consistently on the list in the seven years that Ethisphere Institute conducted this research according to the press statement of GE (2013). GE can be considered as the company with highest moral standards and the most praiseworthy among the listed companies in the Ethisphere Institute’s World’s Most Ethical Companies with the way GE treat the employees, the consumers and the environment.
GE’s ethical standards and practices are quite evident in the way they deliver their products and services and in the way they achieve growth. Good governance, sound policies and compassionate management approach are the foundation of its principles and hence it’s able to deliver products and services in a more humane way considering the welfare of its stakeholders including its employees, the consumers and the world we live in.
GE creates products that consider the health of the people/consumers. In its Healthymagination section of its website (2013), GE said it has created healthcare technology that saves 3000 lives daily. The company also have volunteer program in which 1.3 million hours and about $800,000 were donated to build food pantries, shelters, create afterschool programs and help social service organizations which benefits consumers and communities (GE, 2013). Such efforts were done to address some pressing global concerns affecting consumers.
In line with its thrust to be a responsible and ethical business organization, GE created Ecomagination program which is the company’s commitment to innovate solutions that will help resolve current environmental challenges while achieving profitability and economic growth. This program enables GE reduce environmental impact of its products and help save billion dollars of total consumers expenses.
In its 2012 Global Impact Report (2013), the company said its investment on the clean-tech research and development doubled and reached $1.4 billion. The company’s greenhouse gas emission was also reduced by 32% while its freshwater use was reduced by 18% in 2012 from the previous year. GE also creates energy-efficient consumer and business products in its various business lines such as appliances, electronics, lighting, healthcare, housewares, and aviation among others to help conserve world’s energy.
GE also had the commitment to care for the welfare of the employees. For example, GE India created a reward program such as flexible benefits and an online portal so employees can control their benefits. With the new reward framework, employees can elect benefits that were not offered before and can trade off benefits that suit individual needs (Lawrence, 2013).
The company believes that empowering employees to be successful is one of the factors of its success as a company so it encourages innovation from the employees. It provides training and leadership development for the employees to help them succeed. It also respects the human rights as reflected in the above local law standards on the health and safety of the employees (GE, 2013). In an independent website review of Indeed (2013) about GE as a workplace, only 11% of the responding employees in the survey were not satisfied as workers of the company while 89% are highly satisfied remarking positive comments such as good learning and work experience, great pay and benefits, group oriented, decent and ideal place to work at, productive workplace with good people.
Such morally conscious decisions of GE for the consumers, environment and employees will continue provide the company higher sales growth. For instance as energy efficient appliances becomes trendy to the consumers, this will help maintain double sales growth of the company particularly in the fast growing economies such as the emerging markets. Its volunteer programs and donations to help communities will further enhance its reputation as a company and will make a lasting good brand image even to the next generation if such program will be continuously done.
The company’s environment care measures through its manufacturing plants and products and through exploring the usage of renewable energies will prolong its business lines life in the same way that these measures prolong earth’s life. Its respect to its employees’ human rights, benefits and advancement will keep the company strong, innovative and resilient to competitive and economic pressures.
The current success of the GE reflects its good ethical standard and good relationship to the consumers, to its employees and the environment. The company registered strong order and profit growth and increased shares in the third quarter of 2013. The earning of its six out of seven industrial businesses increased (Lewis, 2013). Its policies and business principles toward consumers, employees and environment are excellent. However, it could be better if the course of actions to achieve ethical standards will be expanded.
For example, the volunteer program which enabled the company donate 1.3 million of working hours and $800,000 can be expanded by adding more financial donations particularly that the company is blessed with double digit profit margin growth so that there will be more consumers to benefit on this programs. Additionally, donations can also be in form of providing one of its healthcare equipment products to less funded remote hospitals that can help rural residents.
Its policies on employees seems to be excellent, however, the benefits could be further developed through increasing the number of workforce to raise the number of employed population in the various countries where it is present. Similarly the reward program of flexible benefits which are enjoyed by the senior employees should also be enjoyed by the employees in the rank in file to have more intense loyalty and cooperation from top to the bottom of the management. This, in turn, will make the company more solid, stronger, and more progressive and will place the company in undisputable leadership.
While it is good that the company was able to reduce gas emission and water resource usage, it could be best if GE will double its target percentage of reduction of such conservation measures to have a greater impact in the conservation of the natural resources and of the environment. GE should also consider having program to promote and enable recycling of the old GE appliances, healthcare equipment, lighting products to help nations reduce and manage solid wastes.
Businesses are commonly profit motivated but the road to profitability can be rough if the company has no ethical standards. Thus, it is very important to imbibe corporate culture that will foster harmonious and good working environment, good leadership and innovation. A company should be founded with values including the heart for service for consumers’ satisfaction, generous and just employment practices, and concern for our environment and natural resources.
While in terms of safety and health, the company has surpassed the local government standards, GE should further advance its positive environmental impact, continuously improve and innovate products to adapt to the changing needs of the consumers and to maintain the effectiveness and the quality of the products it offers and be fair in the provision of privileges and benefits in all employees across ranks. This will ensure a responsible, reputable and, at the same time, progressive and profitable conglomerate.
References
2000. The Importance of Being Ethical. Inc. Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/articles/2000/11/14278.html
2013. World’s Most Ethical Companies. Ethisphere. Retrieved from http://ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical/wme-honorees/
2013. GE Imagination at Work. GE. Retrieved from http://www.ge.com/
Krauskope, Lewis et al. March 2013. GE posts strong third-quarter order backlog, profit margins; shares rise. Reuters. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/18/us-generalelectric-results-idUSBRE99H09B20131018
2013. Empowering Employees to be Successful. GE. Retrieved from http://www.gecitizenship.com/focus-areas/people/empowering-employees-to-be-successful/
2013. Ecomagination. GE. Retrieved from http://www.ge.com/globalimpact/ecomagination.html#!report=top
2013. Community Engagement. GE. Retrieved from http://www.gecitizenship.com/focus-areas/people/community-engagement/
2013. GE 2012 Annual Report. GE. Retrieved from http://www.ge.com/ar2012/#!report=home
2013. Governance Principles. GE. Retrieved from http://www.ge.com/investor-relations/governance/principles
March 2013. GE Makes World’s Most Ethical Companies List for Seven Straight Years. GE. Retrieved from http://www.gereports.com/ge-makes-worlds-most-ethical-companies-list-for-seven-straight-years/
Lawrence, Lucie. July 2013. GE India Shapes A Unified Reward Philosophy. Towers Watson. Retrieved from http://www.towerswatson.com/en-IN/Insights/Newsletters/Global/strategy-at-work/2013/ge-india-shapes-a-unified-reward-philosophy
2013. GE Aviation Employer Reviews. Indeed. Retrieved from http://www.indeed.com/cmp/GE-Aviation/reviews
