Summary of the Article
The article entitled “Do Codes Make a Difference?” presented the rationale for Johnson & Johnson’s sustained leadership and successful within their field of endeavor. As emphasized, the organization’s Credo, or embodiment of organizational principles, values, and culture focused on serving the customers first and identified other stakeholders (health care practitioners, employees, communities, and finally, stockholders) who are relevant in the organization’s performance and achievement of overall mission. It stressed that due to the Credo, the organization was able to regain its corporate image, despite challenges (specifically the Tylenol incident) that endangered and potentially tarnished the corporate name. As such, through time, the Credo was identified to be the guiding force for all members of the organization to live and practice the values and ideals stated therein in their performance of roles and responsibilities, as required.
The intended audience for the article are business practitioners who must be reminded that an organization’s culture, particularly that which promotes conformity to ethical, moral, and legal standards; as well as serving the best interests of the general public, get to gain most in terms of sustaining successful operations through time.
Critique of the Article
One has learned of the challenges and exemplary leadership experiences of Johnson & Johnson, a global organization, whose products have been part of people’s everyday life. It is therefore illuminating and enlightening to be apprised of the reason for the organization’s sustained success. The challenges that were encountered definitely threatened the survival of the organization. Only through effective leadership strategies, which included transparency and full disclosure of information to the consumers led to regain the trust and confidence of the public to their products. Otherwise, one truly believed that without their Credo, the organization could not have survived the tests of time.
Conclusions on the Topic
One could therefore apply the lessons learned from the article to one’s personal and professional life through realizing and recognizing that there are values, principles, and ideals which should embody daily living. There are universal ethical and moral standards which provide guidelines to conduct and behavior; as well as provide directions in decision-making processes, especially in the work setting. As such, it would be helpful to be part of an organization which has explicitly designed a set of ethical standards through a code of discipline or code of conduct and behavior that would assist employees in making relevant and crucial decisions. Overall, it could therefore be asserted that codes do make a difference since they provide guidelines and directions for people who might require assistance in making ethical decisions in various scenarios and settings.
References
Hartman, L., DesJardins, J., & MacDonald, C. (2014). Business ethics: Decision making for personal integrity and social responsibility. New York: McGraw Hill.
