Introduction
Aviation legislation has a central role in any company since they govern the operation of aircrafts as well as the maintenance of all aviation facilities. In addition, the legislation of aviation are mandated with the creation of acceptable Air worthiness standards as they given by the law of the land. A majority of such legislation is Federal governed with state governments prohibited from enacting and creating administrative agencies regulating air traffic laws that are federal based. Worth noting is the fact that there is a difference between regulations (legislation) and requirements Houck, 2006. For instance, legislation are the aviation laws that are applicable to civil aircraft as mentioned herein while requirements are standards that are used in civil aircrafts. In addition, the legislation is passed by Parliament of the country making their laws while the requirements are not passed and approved by parliament. To each and every aviation company, there are a range of legislation/regulations that are applicable Larsen, Sweeney, & Gillick, 2012. Taking Boeing as an illustration, this report will be expounding on the various pieces of legislation that will be selected.
Boeing is an aviation company of astounding individuals working in one of the most exhilarating industries in the world. It is the prominent aerospace company in the globe as well as the leading producers of commercial jetliners and military aircrafts together. Apart from that, they are responsible for the design of electronic and defense systems, missiles, satellites, and advanced information and communication systems among many more roles Menzel, 2012. It has a long convention of aerospace leadership and innovation, but they are still expanding on their products and services that they offer to the ever growing market. For a company to maintain its leadership in the market, they have their own legislation enabling them to remain at the top of their competitors. On of such legislation is that of good business ethics for which they have laid down procedures and guidelines. Through the code of conduct, the company can outline the expected behaviors of all their company’s employees Pearson, 2000. Worth noting is the fact that such guidelines are applicable to all the company’s workforce regardless of the branch at which they are working. That explains why the regulations have been written in over nine different languages for instance Arabic, Chinese, German, and Russian among many more languages.
The particular legislation applicable to the establishment
In conducting its business, Boeing Aviation Company expects integrity to be the base of all the company’s relationships encompassing their customers, suppliers, communities, and employee to another employee. Most of all, the ethical business conduct are required of Boeing employees in their performance of the duties that they have been assigned to by the company. As a result, the employees are not expected to engage in conducts or activities that may raise questions as to the company’s honesty, impartiality, or reputation Rust, 2009. It is as a result of this that the company is able to conduct its business equitably, independently, and in an ethical and proper manner in accordance with the company’s values and code of conduct as well in full harmony with the laws and regulations. There are various such regulations that each and every company worker has to sign and abide with. They enable them to understand the code, ask the questions, seek guidance, and report suspected violations as well as express concerns regarding compliance with the policy and the related regulations Pearson, 2000. For instance, the employees ought not to get involved in any activity that may result to a conflict of interest for him/herself with that of Boeing Company. In addition, they have to sigh against taking advantage of the position that the company has offered him/her so that they can seek inappropriate achievements other than those laid down by the company. The Boeing Company’s code of conduct requires the employees to comply with all the regulations that the company has formulated Rust, 2009. Nevertheless, the company’s code of conduct gives the provision of employees to have the responsibility of asking questions as well as seeking guidance where they feel they need to get help. Equally, their code of conduct allows them to report suspected violations of the Code of Conduct.
There are various misconceptions that have been noted in regards to the Boeing’s Code of Conducts. For instance, many believe that the company has issues different codes of conducts for their board of Directors as well as their Finance employees. However, the Boeing Code of Conduct outlines expected behavior for each and every Boeing employee when performing company responsibilities Menzel, 2012. That implies that all the members adhere to them and any waivers of the Code of Conduct to the members of the Board of Directors but they ought to be disclosed to the stakeholders in advance.
Equivalently, there are concerns that have been raised at what the company code of conduct implies by stating that they conduct their business fairly, impartially, and in an ethical and proper manner. By that, the company undertakes to fairly deal with the company’s customers, suppliers, competitors, as well as fellow employees Kaps, Hamilton, & Bliss, 2012. Moreover, the code of conduct requires that no one ought to take unfair advantage of anyone. Such advantages might be through influence, suppression, intimidation, pressures, abuse, of proprietary information or any other unfair dealings Houck, 2006. As to whether integrity is a condition of employment in the Boeing Aviation Company, the answer is yes. The entire workforce ought to be responsible for their actions implying that they ought not to engage in activities that may raise questions as to the company’s honesty and impartiality. The company goes on to explain that all the employees, not excluding the contract labor employees have to sign the document that indicates that they have agreed to adhere to the Boeing Code of Conduct. At the same time, the signing of the contract indicates that they have agreed to uphold the values that have been set forth for the company. As a result, it enables the each and every employee to acknowledge their expectations at the same time ensuring that they do not forget their responsibility of acting in an expected manner all times Rust, 2009.
In case the employees do not feel right about a certain issue within the company, there are laid down procedures that enable them to raise their concerns. By so doing, it ensures that their suggestions are taken into consideration in the process of handling the issue of concern. However, Boeing Code of Conducts allows such actions to be taken in line with the Ethics lines that they have laid down. That explains why the culture that they adopted to be termed as
and honest culture. An open and honest culture is believed to be that one that allows the entire workforce to feel and share their opinions and perceptions Brady, 2000. In addition, they allowed doing so in a professional manner towards the resolving of issues that are of concern to them. However, that does not imply in any way that the company will have the permission to disclose any confidential information that have been raised especially issues pertaining their suppliers, customers, and any other information that is regarded sensitive to the company Commerce, 2004.
The impact on consumers/customers
The codes of conduct of Boeing Aviation Company have various positive impacts to their consumers, customers, and guests. For instance, the company is able to attract and retain their customers since they are treated with respect and dignity by the company’s employees. Moreover, the company’s customers will benefit from the diversity that is brought about by the company’s provisions of diversified regulatory requirements that were laid down by the company. The freedom of association as well plays a big role in ensuring that their guests are treated with respect as well as being recognized by the workers. That can be attributed to the fact that the freedom of association will allow the employees to join any trade union as long as it is done with the provisions of the company’s laws and regulations Kaps, Hamilton, & Bliss, 2012. The most imperative reason as to why the company is able to impact positively on their customers is that the flexible work schedule that the company adopted allowed the workforce to be productive at all times. That can be attributed to the fact that the flexibility allowed them to work when they were less destructed from any external force, hence, better performances are guaranteed from the employees.
Boeing Aviation Company employee’s responsibilities
As it has been revealed in the above legislation of the company, it is the responsibility of each and every employee to adhere to his/her tasks as per the job description. In addition, the responsibility for the company’s obligation to reliability is placed upon the employees implying that they are supposed to follow the highest standards of ethical business codes of conducts all of which have been revealed herein Brady, 2000. The Boeing policies and procedures are all documented in the code of conducts and enable the employees to be sensitive to certain circumstances that would result to illegal and ethical undertakings. That as well applies to the avoidance of actions that they are not sure of. In such situations, the code of conducts allows them to ask questions or seek guidance before undertaking such activities Kaps, Hamilton, & Bliss, 2012. Largely, that explains why the company has been said to be the best in the industry over many years since it was established several years ago.
Additional responsibilities that are attributed to Boeing company employee are to punctually report any illegal or unethical conduct from their fellow workers to the management or the authorities; they are mandated with the fortification of all the companies’ activities while fairly dealing with the foundation that was laid down to guide the company’s transactions and interactions. The fact that the company as well values diversity in its policies, it is the responsibility of each and every employee to ensure that the accommodate the outcomes that diversity brings onto the company bearing in mind that it is an imperative aspect in the success of any company of recent times Kaps, Hamilton, & Bliss, 2012. By so doing, the company will be assured of attaining their strategies, as well as their mission, visions, and internal activities.
The impact to staff/employees and their rights and responsibilities
There is no company that may be willing to flourish today and collapse tomorrow; there are very many factors that may make any organization to rise as a rocket and within no time collapse. One of these factors is the ethics of an organization Houck, 2006. Maintaining good organizational ethics provides an organization with a good base to thrive the market, this happens in a verity of ways, they include; building the customer’s loyalty to the organization. The consumers are always ready to purchase goods and services from any organization at the first place without getting involved in much comparison Brady, 2000. When it happens that the company is taking advantage of the customer without their knowledge, they will still be committed to the company until they come to realize. This is where many companies fail in taking advantage of customers may not yield good results after their knowledge of the same. Once customers realize that the company has been taking advantage of their ignorance of prices, they will all disappear never to transact with such a company Commerce, 2004. In other words, they will have lost confidence with the company because of going against the ethics of the operation.
A company’s appeal for ethical behavior can in many ways enable the company to create a positive image to the customers in the market, many customers may want to purchase a good or from a company with the good reputation since they will always be drawn to the organization by what they hear about it which in most cases leads to satisfaction of customers Houck, 2006. On the other hand, unethical standards of a company may equally cost it of its reputation to the general public, something that may make customers fail to trust the company together with its services and goods. A company’s ethics can either make it successful or quite unsuccessful’. Good company ethics can also work well in retaining good employees. Every good employee would like to be compensated fairly in response to the kind of effort he or she puts towards the success of the organization. Employees would like to advance in company due to the transparency that emanates from the workers themselves. There is no good employee who would be so willing to see injustice prevail in the organization and through this, any company that is very transparent and open in its dealings stands greater chances of retaining the most competent employees and most talented in this case Commerce, 2004.
Good company ethics enables the organization to escape legal problems. There is no company that does not want to maximize profits; other companies may go as far as indulging in unethical issues just to enable them maximize profits by lowering the costs of production. There are very many companies whose managers have gone to the extent of not complying with the labor laws, environmental regulation and even the health and safety of workers focusing on the profits they have to make out of these. For quite a long time, companies have landed themselves in serious legal problems because of such issues that have in return cost them their reputation among other problems Brady, 2000. Most governments are very serious about such unethical issues, and companies have been implicated because of such. The big fines charged out of these can even make an organization move a step in its operation. Companies that have kept their ethics have flourished leaving the non-compliant ones to solving their problems.
Penalties for failure to comply with the legislation / order / directive
Companies that fail to comply with the legislation have in the past faced many repercussions. With the much legislation around companies that do not abide by the legislation set to govern the organizations are also likely to face high penalties for noncompliance. Failure to comply with the orders may cost the organization operation certificate. This is a very important document in the operation of any organization. Failure to comply with the legislation set, this document may be withheld by authorizes and ones it is taken away from the organization Commerce, 2004. It may take much time and cash to be able to claim it back again. OSHA is very keen at investigating organizations to know which organizations do not comply with the legislation.it has proposed different ranges of penalties for organizations caught with issues of noncompliance to the legislation.
According to OSHA, a penalty for assessed serious willful violation has now increased from $70,000 to $120,000. These are very high penalties that can be charged with an organization because of negligence. Different violations are assessed and if an organization is found to have caused serious violations, the more an organization is charged. Organizations that do not abide by the legislation are also bound to total shut down. Very many organizations have been closed because not complying with the set legislation Brady, 2000. As for example if the organization can not comply with environmental laws, it has no reason for operation whatsoever. This simple legislation has cost companies huge amounts of cash.
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