The New York Times
Professional and Business Ethics: Managing Ethics Programs in the Workplace.
This article explains how organizations should manage their working areas. In every workplace, the organization must ensure that there is an existing ethics management plan. The Association for Practical and Professional Ethics Executive Secretary, Brian Schrag explains that a good ethics plan contains corporate values making use of policies and codes to help in decisions and behaviors. They can also involve extreme training and evaluation according to the organization. They offer guidance when ethical dilemmas occur since it is very hard to have two similar programs.
The article gives the example of the Journal of Business Ethics, Professor Stephen Brenner explains that every organization has an ethics program though most people do not know that they exist. He further explains that a corporate ethics plan consists of policies, values and activities that affect the propriety of organization behavior.
The CEO and President of Business for Social Responsibility which is based in San Francisco, Bob Dunn, adds that trying to balance the values that are competing and reconciling them is the main rationale of the ethics management plan. The business people should have more practical tools and the relevant information that is vital in understanding their values and how to deal with them.
The article explains why managers find it hard to ,make code of ethics. For a long time, business ethics profession has lacked a highly practical resource which is created exclusively for leaders and managers. These are the people responsible for ensuring that there are ethics in the organizations. However, most of the available resources on ethics in business are mainly designed for academics, philosophers and social critics. This makes the managers and leaders to struggle with no success.
Finally, the article shows the importance of ethics in a business. For a leader planning to ensure good ethical principles in their organization, or for those who want to change the organization’s tradition, they can take the advice from Bob Kniffin. He was Johnson and Johnson’s (J&J) External Affairs Vice President. The method J&J used to settle the “Tylenol scare” crisis has remained to be one of the most enlightening and inspiring examples since 1980. Kniffin explained that the company often held meetings and every person demonstrated their commitment to the code of ethics.
Source:
The New York Times. Professional and Business Ethics: Managing Ethics Programs in the Workplace. 11 April 2016. Web. 24 May 24, 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/pages/business/index.html>
Chicago Tribune
Creating a Peaceful Working Environment: Developing Code of Conduct.
This article explains how a large organization can easily manage its employees. When the organization is too large, for example when it has many departments and programs, one will have to create a general code of ethics for the whole organization and then smaller codes which will be used in the different departments or programs. Most organizations go wrong by developing codes based on Legal and Human Resource departments only, this should never be the case. The codes are inadequate if they are planned to ensure legal policies only. All the employees must feel the ethics plan that is executed by the top management. In some organizations, the code of conduct and the code of ethics may be similar. This depends on the organizations operations, culture and level of simplicity.
The articles states that training on employee code of conduct is not only for the big organizations, it is important for all organizations regardless of their sizes. Many organizations spent large amounts of money and time training their employees on how they are expected to behave and interact between themselves and with customers, complying to the organization regulations, utilizing the resources in the company and maintaining the standards of the organization.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) regulates the training for employees on code of conduct. Its legislation was easily passed after a common fraud that occurred in large companies like Enron Corporation. Although it is used in public companies, there is a similar regulatory body in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). they encourage companies to come up with codes of conduct and train employees.
The article indicates the bodies that are used for regulating business ethics in U.S. In the US, the Federal Sentencing Guidelines (FSG) gives a uniform procedure for sentencing defendants who are found guilty federal crimes. It was amended in 2004 requiring employers to initiate compliance and ethics programs involving employees training. Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) is almost same as FSG. It can deal with both the private and public companies which trade with the federal government.
Source:
Chicago Tribune. Creating a Peaceful Working Environment: Developing Code of Conduct. 18 March 2016. Web. 24 May 24, 2016. <http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/>
The Washington Times.
Making Ethical Decisions and Resolving Ethical Dilemmas in the Business Environment.
This article explains how problems in an organization can be ethically solved. Business ethics is widely viewed as a way of conflict resolution where one option is preferred to the other. For instance, most of the case studies presented show an employee confused on whether or not to steal, to lie, abuse another, cheat or break terms of the company. The ethical dilemmas experienced by managers are in most cases more real and very complicated. They may not have clear procedures in either religion or law. Doug Penelope, a consultant based in Twin Cities explains that somebody detects that they have a great ethical conflict when they experience the following three factors.
First, when there is a great value conflict between different interests. The interests may be of equal value making it hard to forgo one easily. Secondly, when there are actual options that have equal justification. One will have a very hard time choosing the option to pick and that to lose. Thirdly, when there are great consequences on the stakeholders involved. A person has to care about others, if making a choice can result in adverse consequences to others, then they have to be very careful.
The article gives examples of people who defied ethics while solving their problems. Richard Branson wrote an autobiography by the title “Losing My Virginity.” It clearly shows his business, life and passion that he had for sports. It shows his risk philosophy, adventurous spirit and his great appetite in the business world. He began his entrepreneurial urge when he was still young, when he was fifteen. He is currently known for building a successful organization. He made two great mistake that he learned from; evading tax, which led him to prison and bribing fishermen which led to the drowning of two fishermen and two tourists. He pays a high cost for his mistakes and learns that when you are in dilemma, you should follow the truth to solve it.
The article finally advises on conflict resolution. Sometimes in business or at the workplace, an employee may be faced with certain dilemma. In most cases, taking a shortcut is always the easier option. Sometimes doing the wrong thing which is against the code of conduct seems easier and better. For instance, an employee may have a dilemma on whether to lie to the management or not or whether to steal from the company or not. In such a situation, they feel that in case they steal or cheat they will never be noticed. This may seem to work for some time but if realized later, it can have adverse effects on them.
Source:
Washington Times. Making Ethical Decisions and Resolving Ethical Dilemmas in the Business Environment. 11 April 2016. Web. 24 May 24, 2016. <http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/business-economy/>
The New York Times
Setting the Rules of the Business: Creating the Code of Ethics.
This article explains how a business can set its rules so that all the stakeholders involved exist peacefully. It explains that a credo normally describes the greatest values that the organization wishes to operate on. It has the ‘thou shalts’. It is a specification of the ethical rules which govern the operations of the organization. In a survey done in late 1980s by a then leading business membership organization called The Conference Board, it was realized that 76% of the corporations existing at that time had codes of ethics.
However, some business ethicists do not agree on the importance of the codes. They deem them unnecessary. They claim that more emphasis is put on the codes, which are not influential in maintaining the ethics in the place of work. Most ethicists believe that the most important thing is continued dialogue and developing the code’s values.
The article gives the procedure that should be followed in creating the code of ethics. For an organization to develop the code of ethics, it first needs to understand why it should have it. A code of ethics helps to maintain a good relationship between the employees in the organization, between employees and the employers, between workers and customers and also between the organization and its environment. They also need a guidance while writing the codes to ensure that they are relevant and also in line with other organizations.
Some considerations should be made when writing the code of contact. The first and most important consideration is that they must be custom-made specifically for that organization. That means they should state the exact desired relationship in that business. One should not just copy them from another organization which they are not related. Apart from just the logo on top of it, it should be specific to the organization.
The article also explains the considerations that should be made when creating the code of conduct. The employees should be involved when writing the code. The creation should involve all the people who are going to be guided by it. Since it will involve their relationships with others, it is very important to ensure that their opinions are taken care of. In case the organization is very large, representatives should be picked evenly to ensure all people are equally represented.
Source:
The New York Times. Setting the Rules of the Business: Creating the Code of Ethics.
17 April 2016. Web. 24 May 24, 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/pages/business/index.html>
Los Angeles Times
Cultivating and Assessing Ethical Culture: Assessment and Evaluation of the Business.
This article explains the business cultures and how positive cultures can be created and maintained in a business. Culture describes the norms or behaviors of an organization. Ethics deals with the moral factors which guide someone to knowing what is either right or wrong. Cultural assessments are very important when observing the moral values of an organization.
The article advises on how organizations should evaluate their cultures. An organization should use third parties to have their assessments done. This is because someone within the organizations gets used to its culture and may never know when some things are being done in the wrong way. Risk consulting assists one to ensure their Ethics and Codes comply with their programs and that they help them to fulfill their goals. They should also play a major role in reducing risks. The assessment should include a complete examination on the organization’s programs, its framework, its compliance to ethics and risk reduction.
When reviewing the policies of the organization, it is important to know whether they are in line with desired ethics of the organization. The policies should be in line with the wellbeing of all the employees. They should also be written according to the laws of the country and the bodies regulating the organization.
The article finally advises on how good cultures can be maintained. A good training should be done especially on the top management of the organization. When you provide unforgettable knowledge and skills to employees, they develop a good culture of adhering to the set code of conduct. If the training is well provided to the top management, they are likely to ensure that it is followed by everyone in the organization. Good training also helps employees to exactly know why they are being told to follow certain rules and regulations. Therefore, it is important to ensure regular training of employees and assessments from third parties who are not members of the organization. This ensures that a good culture is cultivated and maintained in the organization.
Source:
Los Angeles Times. Cultivating and Assessing Ethical Culture: Assessment and Evaluation of the Business. 14 March 2016. Web. 24 May 24, 2016. <http://www.latimes.com/business/>
