Ethics in Management
Introduction
Gulf Refinery Oil company was founded in 1907 in Pittsburg. Its headquarters are now in London (James & Mark, 2011). This company was an expansion of the former Guffey Petroleum Company. The company was organized to utilize the fresh oil discoveries. The mission statement of Gulf Refinery Oil Company was to refine and market crude oil produced by the company. It had the purpose of providing downstream products and services to a large market base via joint ventures, licensing agreements, distribution arrangements and strategic alliances. This led to the construction of an oil refinery to serve the purpose of refining the oil. In addition, the company built a pipeline to help in the transportation of the oil. The company also expanded its production operations into all key oilfields within the U.S as well as into Mexico (James & Mark, 2011). This made Gulf Oil Corporation to become the leading producer of oil in the west. It had many employees and carried out its production and marketing in various parts of the world. Due to its great expansion, the company was highly affected financially and this made it to operate at a loss. In 1985, this company ceased to exist on its own and it was merged with SOCAL leading to the formation of a new company named Chevron (James & Mark, 2011). However, the Gulf name as well as other constituent business divisions remained. This has made Gulf Refinery Oil Company to go through a significant revival thus emerging as a flexible network of joint businesses.
Discussion
Ethical systems used in Gulf Refinery Oil Company
Gulf Refinery Oil company uses various ethical systems in order to achieve its goals. Some of the ethical systems used in Gulf Refinery Oil Company are end-driven (Linda & Katherine, 2007). This is because, the investors who came together to form the company wanted to enhance the growth of a contemporary refinery at the nearly oil ports in order to process the oil. In addition, the ethic systems of this company were end-driven because the company promoted the idea of branded products such as the selling of gasoline packed in containers in order to win more customers. The other system used in Gulf Refinery Oil Company is duty-driven. The ethical systems in this company were duty driven because each of the various stakeholders strives to meet his/her duties. In addition, the company takes it as its duty to provide products and services of good quality and consistent standards to its clients. Gulf Oil Refinery is a company with duty-driven ethical systems which compels the company to engage in extensive explorations and production services (Linda & Katherine, 2007). It ensures that it meets the government regulations by making sure that it is not involved in illegal businesses. It also plays a major role in the main growth of early oil production. Entitlement ethical systems are also used at Gulf Refinery Oil Company. The company and its workers are entitled to the construction of modified oil production biplanes that would help to enhance its services. It was also entitled to the sponsorship of media stations such as the NBC news for the coverage of its special events. Relativism ethical system was used in Gulf Refinery Oil Company whereby there were no principles that were universally termed as valid. For example, some policies such as the maintenance of service stations could be abandoned in favor of leasing each station to individual operators. Utilitarianism was another ethical system used in this company (Linda & Katherine, 2007). This made the actions of the workers to be judged based on their consequences. For example, the actions of the managers were judged wrong if they brought losses to the company. This shows that the company used various types of ethical systems in its operations.
How the code of ethics is used in Gulf Refinery Oil Company
Gulf oil Company is committed to the best standards of code of ethics. It maintains the best standards of business ethics and full compliance with the available government laws and regulations. The company’s directors, employees and other officers are bound by the code of ethics for the company. The code of ethics for consumers is used to protect consumers against company exploitation. This code of ethics positions customers as major stakeholders for the company. In addition, the code of ethics helps to make sure that products are designed to meet all the government regulations in order to be safer for the consumers. Moreover, products are to be inspected regularly in order to ensure that they are of the right quality (James & Mark, 2011). Finally, these products have to be safely packaged in order to ensure that they meet government requirements. Code of ethics is therefore used for the consumers to ensure product safety for the benefit of the consumers.
The code of ethics is also used in Gulf Oil Company to protect the employees. The company has great ethical obligations to its employees. Employees have the right to privacy and the right not to be fired without a good reason. The employee code of ethics also ensures that the employees work in a good work environment, have a right to good treatment and the right to freedom of speech. The Gulf Oil Refinery thus makes sure that its employees can only be fired when there is a good reason and they usually work in safe environments to avoid injuries (James & Mark, 2011). In this connection, the company has ensured employee code of ethics in order to guide the behavior of the employees and also determine how they are treated in the company.
Gulf Refinery Oil Company also encourages code of ethics for its shareholders. The shareholders need this code of ethics to ensure that it serves the interest of the owners and tries to enhance long-term business performance. The company ensures that its stakeholders do not engage in activities that could thwart the performance of the business. Moreover, the managers need to show concern over the interests of the shareholders in order to ensure that such interests are met. It should also ensure that the interests of some shareholders do not interfere with the company’s general performance. Code of ethics and stakeholders helps the leaders of Gulf Oil Refinery to ensure that they lead the company well towards good performance (James & Mark, 2011). This is important because it helps the company to ensure that its managers work as the company’s guideline. There is also a code of ethics for the community. This helps the neighboring community to ensure that it does not engage in activities that may interfere with the operation of Gulf Oil Refinery. In addition, this code of ethics ensures that this oil company maintains a save environment for its community. The code of ethics is therefore used to ensure good operation of the company.
Change in Code of ethics
Gulf Refinery Oil Company may need to change its code of ethics if some of its stakeholders are not protected by the code of ethics. For example, if the code of ethics does not protect the consumers, it may need to be changed in order to ensure that the consumers are well protected by the company. A change in code of ethics will attract possible reactions from the employees and managers. If the new code of ethics does not favor the managers or the employees, they will react against it (Rich, 2007). On the other hand if the code of ethics favors the employees and the managers, they will support it and work hard for the benefit of the company. The organizational culture of Gulf Refinery Oil Company may affect the acceptance of a new code of ethics in this company. This is because, the company’s culture will determine the kind of ethics that will be promoted in the company. In addition, the organizational culture will consider the effect of the code of ethics in the organization before its acceptance.
Summary
Gulf Oil Refinery is a company that maintains a good code of ethics to ensure proper operation of the company. This code of ethics guides behavior among the stakeholders and ensures that the company treats them well. In addition, code of ethics ensures that the company is straightforward, sincere and honest in its approaches to ensure good benefits for the company. Various ethical systems such as duty-driven, end-driven, utilitarianism and relativism ethical systems are used in the organization to enhance good performance. In this connection, code of ethics has helped Gulf Refinery Oil Company to enhance its performance and output.
References:
James A. & Mark O. (2011). Gulf Oil Corporation. Texas. Texas State
Linda K. & Katherine A. (2007). Managing Business Ethics. New York. John Wiley
Rich M. (2007). Code of conduct. New York. Kensington Books
