BUSINESS ETHICS – Achiever Papers

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BUSINESS ETHICS

MOD 1

Start by reading and following these instructions:

1. Quickly skim the questions or assignment below and the assignment rubric to help you focus.

2. Read the required chapter(s) of the textbook and any additional recommended resources. Some answers may require you to do additional research on the Internet or in other reference sources. Choose your sources carefully.

3. Consider the course discussions so far and any insights gained from it.

4. Create your Assignment submission and be sure to cite your sources if needed, use APA style as required, and check your spelling.

Assignment:

Responses to each question should fully answer and explore the question, may be less than or around 500 words (or whatever word count fully answers each question), and should be supported with scholarly research from your textbook and also often from outside internet sources, excluding wiki sources. Remember that well-written responses do not need to be excessively wordy. Be sure to paraphrase and cite your sources. Refer to APA.

Check Your Understanding (40%):

1. Why do we study ethics?

2. Why should we be concerned about doing “the right thing”?

3. If each of us has a unique set of influences and values that contribute to our personal value systems, how can that be applied to a community as a whole?

4. Based on the history of business ethics reviewed in chapter 2, do you think the business world is becoming more or less ethical? Explain

5. How would you propose the resolution of an ethical dilemma using the golden rule?

Exercises (20%) approx 750 words

1. Visit the following site:

http://www.cfainstitute.org/ethics/codes/ethics/pages/index.aspx

a. What is the purpose of this organization?

b. What is the organization’s pledge?

c. Record three different codes/pledges/oaths from those listed on the site and discuss why they are important to you

d. Write your own pledge on a topic that is important to you (maximum of two paragraphs)

Case Study (40%) approx 750 words

Read issues one and two from Taking Sides. Choose one issue to respond to. Which viewpoint do you side with? Why? Explain. Reference at least two outside resources that further support the view point you side with.

MOD 2

Start by reading and following these instructions:
1. Quickly skim the questions or assignment below and the assignment rubric to help you focus.

3. Consider the discussion and the any insights you gained from it.

4. Create your Assignment submission and be sure to cite your sources, use APA style as required, check your spelling.

This is a benchmark assignment for the School of Information Technology MISM Master’s Program students. Store your submission with any grading feedback in your Professional’s Portfolio and use the following tag:

MISM Tag: MISM-UMG1

Assignment:
Responses to each question should fully answer and explore the question, may be less than or around 500 words (or whatever word count fully answers each question), and should be supported with scholarly research from your textbook and also often from outside internet sources, excluding wiki sources. Remember that well-written responses do not need to be excessively wordy. Be sure to paraphrase and cite your sources. Refer to APA.
Check Your Understanding (40%):

1. Consider the functional departments reviewed in chapter 3. Which department do you think faces the greatest number of ethical challenges? Why?

2. Provide three examples of unethical behavior that you have observed at the company you work or (or worked for in the past). What were the outcomes of this behavior?

3. What are “Creative book keeping techniques”? Provide three examples.

4. Explain the potential ethical challenges presented by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

Exercises (20%)

Complete the “Internet Exercise” on page 58 of Business Ethics Now.

Case Study (40%) approx. 500 to 750 words

Review Issue 5 from Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Business Ethics and Society. Which viewpoint do you side with? Why? Explain. Reference at least two outside resources that further support the viewpoint you side with.

MOD 3

3. Consider the discussions and the any insights gained from it.

4. Create your Assignment submission and be sure to cite your sources, use APA style as required, check your spelling.
This is a benchmark assignment for the School of Information Technology MISM Master’s Program students. Store your submission with any grading feedback in your Professional’s Portfolio and use the following tag:

MISM Tag: MISM-PG6

1. Define Corporate Social Responsibility.

2. Provide four examples of corporation’s legal obligations.

3. Define and contrast the instrumental model of corporate management with the social contract model of corporate management.

4. List and explain the five major trends driving CSR

5. Explain why organizations are struggling to adopt CSR initiatives.

6. Explain the term “triple bottom line”

Exercises (20%) DB4.2 – approx. 500 words

Review and critique the CSR policies of a Fortune 100 company of your choice. What are the strengths of the strategies? Where might the corporation focus to improve their CSR strategies? (500 word essay)

Case Study (40%) approx. 500 words

Read issues 3 and 14 from Taking Sides. Choose one issue to respond to. Which view point do you side with? Why? Explain. Reference at least two outside resources that further support the view point you side with.

MOD 4

3. Consider the discussions and any insights gained from it.

4. Create your Assignment submission and be sure to cite your sources, use APA style as required, check your spelling.
Assignment:
Responses to each question should fully answer and explore the question, may be less than or around 500 words (or whatever word count fully answers each question), and should be supported with scholarly research from your textbook and also often from outside internet sources, excluding wiki sources. Remember that well-written responses do not need to be excessively wordy. Be sure to paraphrase and cite your sources. Refer to APA.
Check Your Understanding (40%):

1. Explain the term corporate governance

2. Explain the importance of the “King I” and “King II’ reports.

3. Why do corporations need a board of directors?

4. What is the value of adding “outside directors?”

Exercises (20%) approx. 250 words

1. Which is more important to effective corporate governance: an audit committee or a compensation committee? Why? Explain your answer.

Case Study (40%) approx. 500 words

Review issues 4, 8, 9, 12, and 13 from Taking Sides. Choose one issue to respond to. Which viewpoint do you side with? Why? Explain. Reference at least two outside resources that further support the viewpoint you side with.

MOD 5

Start by reading and following these instructions:
1. Quickly skim the questions or assignment below and the assignment rubric to help you focus.
2. Read the required chapter(s) of the textbook and any additional recommended resources. Some answers may require you to do additional research on the Internet or in other reference sources. Choose your sources carefully.
3. Consider the discussions and any insights gained from it.
4. Create your Assignment submission and be sure to cite your sources, use APA style as required, check your spelling.
Assignment:
Responses to each question should fully answer and explore the question, may be less than or around 500 words (or whatever word count fully answers each question), and should be supported with scholarly research from your textbook and also often from outside internet sources, excluding wiki sources. Remember that well-written responses do not need to be excessively wordy. Be sure to paraphrase and cite your sources. Refer to APA.
Check Your Understanding (40%):

1. What was the primary purpose of the FCPA?

2. What was the maximum fine for a U.S.corporation under the FCPA?

3. Which two distinct areas did the FCPA focus on?

4. List four examples of routine governmental action

5. What are the three steps in calculating financial penalties under FSGO?

6. Explain the seven steps of an effective compliance program.

7. What were the three key components of the 2004 Revised FSGO?

8. Explain the role of the PCAOB.

9. What are the five key requirements for auditor independence?

10. What issues prompted the revision of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations in 2004?

Exercises (20%) approx 350 to 400 words

1. Which is the most effective piece of legislation for enforcing ethical business practices: FCPA, FSGO, SOX, or Dodd-Frank? Explain your answer.

Case Study (40%) – approx 500 words

Review issues 6 and 7 from Taking Sides. Choose one issue to respond to. Which viewpoint do you side with? Why? Explain. Reference at least two outside resources that further support the viewpoint you side with.

MOD 6

Responses to each question in the “Check your Understanding” section should fully answer and explore the question, may be less than or around 300 words (or whatever word count fully answers each question), and should be supported with scholarly research from your textbook and also often from outside internet sources, excluding wiki sources. Remember that well-written responses do not need to be excessively wordy. Be sure to paraphrase and cite your sources. Refer to APA.

Check Your Understanding (40%): approx 1200 words

1. Why are whistle-blowers regarded as models of honor and integrity?

2. Which whistle-blowing option is better for an organization—internal or external? Why?

3. Why would an organization decide to ignore evidence presented by a whistle-blower?

4. Is it reasonable for a whistle-blower to expect a guarantee of anonymity?

Essay: (20%) (approx 750 words)

Familiarize yourself with the whistleblower protection laws in your state. Beyond a Google search, you may find the resources at the National Whistleblowers Center at

www.whistleblowers.org

useful in this task. After this initial research, briefly describe an example of a case in your state where these protections were used. Then describe what outcomes obtained in this case. Attempt to find out what happened to the whistleblower in this case as well as the parties who were impugned. In your opinion, did the laws work as they were intended?

Case Study (40%) (approx 500 words)

Review issues 10 and 15 from Taking Sides. Choose one issue to respond to. Which viewpoint do you side with? Why? Explain. Reference at least two outside resources that further support the viewpoint you side with.

MOD 7

MST&I Tag: MST&I: UMG1

1. Distinguish between thin and thick consent.

2. You have just been issued a new company blackberry. Are you now obligated to answer work related calls and emails at any time, day or night? Why or why not?

3. Would you use that new Blackberry for personal calls and emails? Why or why not?

4. Discuss the ethical ramifications of recent technological advances.

Exercises (20%) – approx. 350 words

1. Visit the Web site for the LRN corporation at

www.lrn.com

and answer the following questions:

a. What does the LRN corporation do?

b. What are the five core values of the LRN culture?

c. What is the stated purpose of the LRN-RAND Center for Corporate Ethics, Law and Governance?

Case Study (40%) approx 500 words

Review issues 11, 16, and 19 from Taking Sides. Choose one issue to respond to. Which viewpoint do you side with? Why? Explain. Reference at least two outside resources that further support the viewpoint you side with.

MOD 8

Signature Assignment Title: Exploratory Essay

Signature Assignment Directions:

Case Study approx. – 500 words

Review issues 15, 18, and 20 from Taking Sides. Choose one issue to respond to. Which viewpoint do you side with? Why? Explain. Reference at least two outside resources that further support the viewpoint you side with.

PLANS Assignment – 1500 words
Identify an industry or business in which you are interested. This could be a career interest area or even an organization that could serve as the context for your Capstone Project (See PLANS Depot). Considering this industry or business, what are some of the ethical or corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues that you believe warrant greatest attention on the part of organizational leaders? Why are these issues important? What are some practical approaches that leaders might take to achieve more ethically responsible performance in these areas? Why haven’t leaders done this to date? Do you think higher performance in this area might produce higher profitability? Support your arguments.

Signature Assignment Points: 300

Runninghead: BUSINESS ETHICS

BUSINESS ETHICS

Week 4 Assignment

Business Ethics

WEEK 4

Assignment

1. Explain the term corporate governance

Corporate governance consists of processes, rules and practices which guides the operations of an organization. Corporate governance aims at addressing the needs of the shareholders, customers, employees and other stakeholders such as suppliers and distributors. Corporate governance also gives the employees of the organization framework on how the goas of the organization can be achieved. The success and failure of an organization depend on the corporate governance of the organization. Corporate governance also includes the performance measures and indicators and internal control system (Cumming et al., 2017).

2. Explain the importance of the “King I” and “King II’ reports.

King I report was published in 1994. The first importance is that it stated the composition of the board of directors in an organization and the role of the non-executive directors. The report also shows the qualifications and the term limit for the board of directors. The King I report discloses the remunerations of the board of directors and the code of ethics of the organization.

King II report was published in 2002, which aimed at revision some of the items in the first report. The report highlighted the composition of the directors and the individual responsibility of the directors in the organization. The report also clarifies on the risk management strategies that can be used in the organization depending on the degree of the risks. The third importance of the King II report is that it states the need for the internal audit and accounting in the organization (ArAs, 2016).

3. Why do corporations need a board of directors?

Board of directors is needed in a corporation to help the management to comply with the rules and regulations about the industry. The board of directors also offer managerial advice that helps the management of the organization to avoid costly errors that may lead to the closure of the company (Cumming et al., 2017).

4. What is the value of adding “outside directors?”

The outside board of directors bring new skills in the management that help the firm to operate more efficiently. The outside directors also add credibility to the operations of the organization.

Exercises

Which is more important to effective corporate governance: an audit committee or a compensation committee?

The compensation committee is more important than the audit committee for effective corporate governance. The organization requires the compensation committee because they perform their duty throughout the operation process of the firm, yet the audit committee examines the financial operations of the organization at the end of the financial year. The role of the compensation committee begins when the firm is formed while the audit committee is required at the end of the financial period. The compensation committee is responsible for matching the employees with their right duty and the correct payment after the end of the payment period.

The compensation duties are essential in an organization because it determines the rates at which the organization shall retain their employees. An effective compensation committee will help in giving the right pay to the employees and as a result, increase employees’ satisfaction with the salary scheme of the firm. Most of the employees are motivated by the financial reward given by the organization, which is the major role of the compensation committee. The compensation team is also responsible for planning for the expenditure of the organization, which goes towards payment of salaries, wages, commission and other financial benefits to the employees. The compensation committee is directly answerable to the management of the organization, thus increasing the accuracy of the financial management in an organization (ArAs, 2016).

Case study

Week 5

Assignment

1. What was the primary purpose of the FCPA?

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is a regulation that bars individuals and business from making payment to officials in a foreign nation in order to influence their decision that helps to start or retain business organization without meeting the required standards.

2. What was the maximum fine for a U.S. Corporation under the FCPA?

The maximum fine for a U.S. corporation under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is two million dollars.

3. Which two distinct areas did the FCPA focus on?

The two distinct areas that foreign Corrupt Practices Act focuses on are prohibition and disclosure. The FCPA ensures that money is prohibited from exchanging hands in order to influence foreign government official to give favour to the U.S. citizens in business. The FCPA ensures that all the details of financial transactions between the U.S. citizens and foreign government officials are revealed (Cumming et al., 2017).

4. List four examples of routine governmental action

The four examples of routine government action are

a) Giving visa and work permit to individuals based on the activities they perform

b) Giving permits and licences to U.S. citizens who need to work in foreign countries.

c) Conducting inspection of the goods and documents of the transactions

d) Conducting intergovernmental training against corruption between countries.

5. What are the three steps in calculating financial penalties under FSGO?

The three steps in calculating financial penalties under FSGO are

a) Determination of the base fine. The base fine is calculated by considering the benefits from the offence or the loss suffered by other individuals and organizations from the offence.

b) Culpability score. The culpability score is calculated based on the mitigating factors and aggravating factors

c) The total fine amount. This where the fine is calculated to a similar amount of the total assets of the organization.

6. Explain the seven steps of an effective compliance program.

The seven steps of an effective compliance program are

a) Management oversight, where a senior officer ensures that the organization complies with the rules and regulations.

b) Structuring of corporate procedures and policies to reduce errors and criminal activities in the organization.

c) Communication where all the stakeholders are informed of the rights and the ethical policies in the organization.

d) Monitoring of the policies and procedures to ensure that all the stakeholders comply with the organizational requirements.

e) Channel of delegation. The organization need to structure the channel of delegation to ensure that the supervisory role is not burdened on an individual.

f) Penalty. The managers of the organization need to have structured penalties and fines to deter future violation of the rules and regulations in the firm.

g) Evaluation. The last stage is evaluation, where the management corrective measures and response to various issues in the firm.

7. What were the three key components of the 2004 Revised FSGO?

The three components of the 2004 Revised FSGO are explanations of accountability guidelines, regular checking of compliance program and promotion of compliance program

8. Explain the role of the PCAOB.

The role of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is to oversee the audit process of public organization to protect the interest of investors and other stakeholders of the audited organization (ArAs, 2016).

9. What are the five key requirements for auditor independence?

The five key requirements for auditor independence are as follows

a) Prohibiting non-audit services by the organization

b) Pre-approval of the audit services by the audit committee

c) Rotating the audit partners to enhance independence

d) Avoiding firms with conflict of interest with the auditor

e) Disclosure and enhance communication between the auditor and the client.

10. What issues prompted the revision of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations in 2004?

The FSGO was revised in 2004 because of the following reasons. First, the compliance program had failed in other organizations, and it was suspected that the failure could continue. The second reason was that the compliance program lacked ethical guidelines which were needed to guide the operations of various firms. The last reason was that some of the organizational officials lacked the required knowledge to put the compliance program into use (ArAs, 2016).

Exercise

Which is the most effective piece of legislation for enforcing ethical business practices: FCPA, FSGO, SOX, or Dodd-Frank?

Legislations are necessary to guide the operations of organizations. Without the pieces of legislation, markets and business transactions will be disorderly, and the government will fail to control the operations of the organization. The laws and regulations in an organization or institution are aimed at increasing the level of disclosure and transparency among the employees and other stakeholders of the corporation. The laws help in protecting the consumers and investors from exploitative managers and organizations. The most effective legislation for enforcing ethical business practices among the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Federal Sentencing Guidelines for the organization, Sarbanes–Oxley Act and Dodd-Frank is Federal Sentencing Guidelines for the organization. The four pieces of legislations have different areas of jurisdiction and perform different purposes in the field of corporate finance. The role of Federal Sentencing Guidelines for the organization stands out as the most effective piece of legislation for enforcing ethical business practices (Cumming et al., 2017).

The first reason why Federal Sentencing Guidelines for the organization stands out as the most effective piece of legislation for enforcing ethical business practices is that it is used in different organizations, both public and private. Some of the corporations where Federal Sentencing Guidelines for the organization can be used include partnerships, public companies, unions and many others. Other pieces of legislations are only applicable in Specific Corporation unlike the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for the organization which does not have boundary based on the types of the corporations. The fact that the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for the organization applies in different types of institutions makes it vast and accommodative to different institutions. The second reason is that the employer is responsible for the actions of the employees. The conditions laid by the employer determines how the employee behaves and acts in the organization. The ethical practices put in place by the management of the organization and the employers will be the same ethical practices displayed by the employees (ArAs, 2016).

References

ArAs, G. (2016). A handbook of corporate governance and social responsibility. CRC Press.

Cumming, D., Filatotchev, I., Knill, A., Reeb, D. M., & Senbet, L. (2017). Law, finance, and the international mobility of corporate governance.

Runninghead: BUSINESS ETHICS

BUSINESS ETHICS

Week 5 Assignment

Business Ethics

Week 5

Assignment

1. What was the primary purpose of the FCPA?

2. What was the maximum fine for a U.S. Corporation under the FCPA?

The maximum fine for a U.S. corporation under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is two million dollars.

3. Which two distinct areas did the FCPA focus on?

4. List four examples of routine governmental action

The four examples of routine government action are

a) Giving visa and work permit to individuals based on the activities they perform

b) Giving permits and licences to U.S. citizens who need to work in foreign countries.

c) Conducting inspection of the goods and documents of the transactions

d) Conducting intergovernmental training against corruption between countries.

4. What are the three steps in calculating financial penalties under FSGO?

The three steps in calculating financial penalties under FSGO are

a) Determination of the base fine. The base fine is calculated by considering the benefits from the offence or the loss suffered by other individuals and organizations from the offence.

b) Culpability score. The culpability score is calculated based on the mitigating factors and aggravating factors

c) The total fine amount. This where the fine is calculated to a similar amount of the total assets of the organization.

5. Explain the seven steps of an effective compliance program.

The seven steps of an effective compliance program are

a) Management oversight, where a senior officer ensures that the organization complies with the rules and regulations.

b) Structuring of corporate procedures and policies to reduce errors and criminal activities in the organization.

c) Communication where all the stakeholders are informed of the rights and the ethical policies in the organization.

d) Monitoring of the policies and procedures to ensure that all the stakeholders comply with the organizational requirements.

e) Channel of delegation. The organization need to structure the channel of delegation to ensure that the supervisory role is not burdened on an individual.

f) Penalty. The managers of the organization need to have structured penalties and fines to deter future violation of the rules and regulations in the firm.

g) Evaluation. The last stage is evaluation, where the management corrective measures and response to various issues in the firm.

6. What were the three key components of the 2004 Revised FSGO?

The three components of the 2004 Revised FSGO are explanations of accountability guidelines, regular checking of compliance program and promotion of compliance program

7. Explain the role of the PCAOB.

8. What are the five key requirements for auditor independence?

The five key requirements for auditor independence are as follows

a) Prohibiting non-audit services by the organization

b) Pre-approval of the audit services by the audit committee

c) Rotating the audit partners to enhance independence

d) Avoiding firms with conflict of interest with the auditor

e) Disclosure and enhance communication between the auditor and the client.

10. What issues prompted the revision of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations in 2004?

Exercise

Which is the most effective piece of legislation for enforcing ethical business practices: FCPA, FSGO, SOX, or Dodd-Frank?

References

ArAs, G. (2016). A handbook of corporate governance and social responsibility. CRC Press.

Cumming, D., Filatotchev, I., Knill, A., Reeb, D. M., & Senbet, L. (2017). Law, finance, and the international mobility of corporate governance.

Running head: BUSINESS ETHICS WEEK 6 1

BUSINESS ETHICS WEEK 6 10

Week 6 Assignment

1. Why are whistle-blowers regarded as models of honor and integrity?

The whistle-blowers refer to models of integrity and honor as they put their personal and career lives at risk towards doing the right thing. Lincoln’s law was enacted to protect the government from fraud. This law aimed at making it easier for the whistle-blowers to give information without being intimidated. This law was also strengthened in protecting the whistle-blowers from losing their job while doing the right thing. In addition, whistle-blowers provide vital service to their place of work and the general public at large. The illegal activities discovery before things get worse can help to save the company from losing revenue from potential damage and also fines from relevant authorities. Potential harm towards the consumers may lead to bad image reputation, but when the discovery is made it leads to immeasurable benefits for the company and the society at large (Devine & Reaves, 2016).

Whistle-blowers need a lot of recognition for the good work they do to save the organizations. Whistle-blowers as an honor and integrity model need media attention in encouraging them to continue with their work to unearth and illegal activity before negatively affects the organization. Nevertheless, while whistle-blowers are seen as brave, they put their lives and career at great risk. Other people argue that whistle-blowers are only motivated by personal gains and should not be considered brave. Also, they are seen as troublemakers used by opponents to challenge any progress in the organization. Also, despite for whistle-blowers doing praiseworthy acts to help the organization before beings too late, they are criticized and called names such as squealers as well as sneakers who breach loyalty and trust they owe the organization and their employers at large. Therefore, a whistle-blower can be seen on two sides, a person who helps to save the organization and on the other hand a person who causes trouble to the organization.

2. Which whistle-blowing option is better for an organization—internal or external? Why?

In internal, a whistle-blower discovers illegal activities and direct report to the supervisor who then follows the case and establishes some potential ways to address the illegal activities in the organization. Most whistle-blowers are seen as internal whistle-blowers as they report any illegal activity to their fellow employees or superior force within the organization. On the other hand, in external, an employee discovers any illegal activity but decides to report to law enforcers or to the media. In other cases, external whistle-blowers are motivated by monetary rewards they are offered. It is to the organization’s benefit to encourage internal whistleblowing. However, the substantial rewards available to external whistle-blowers can lure individuals to report any misconduct to external forces rather than to internal forces. It is clear that when whistle-blowers opt to go internally, they give the company an opportunity to remedy the issue before any inquiry by external authorities (Devine & Reaves, 2016). However, when the government opens an inquiry, the company is likely to suffer from fines. In case the law violation is remedied due to the internal whistle-blower, there are possible benefits to the involved organization. Certainly, it is the wish for every organization that there will never be any external investigation. Therefore, from the above discussion, internal whistle-blowing would be the best option for an organization. Internal whistleblowing is effective when done through proper channels such as informing the supervisor who then reports to the top management. Also, internal whistle-blowing is a better option for the organization towards avoiding media exposure. Also, being in a position to solve the problem in the house as well as finding a way to address the issue can help to protect image reputation. In case there is any need to involve external agencies such as courts in solving the issue, it can be done in house to avoid media from exposing the organization which can in turn damage the organization’s image to the public.

3. Why would an organization decide to ignore the evidence presented by a whistle-blower?

An organization may decide to ignore evidence from the whistle-blower when they realize that such evidence will cause damage to the organization image. Also, another reason why an organization would opt to ignore evidence from a whistle-blower is by admitting the presence of a problem. In most of the organizations, the whistle-blowers cause inconvenience in the organization’s operations. While organizations might commend the idea of the whistle-blowers, the reality remains that the act causes disruption mainly to the status quo. Devine & Reaves (2016) whistle-blowers can be silenced, which make the company not to pay attention to the claims made by whistle-blowers. Most of the organizations ignore claims raised by whistle-blowers. Organizations’ leaders do everything possible to silence the whistle-blower, and also ignore their claims by opting not to address the problem raised by the whistle-blower about misconduct in the organization (Devine & Reaves, 2016). The organization that decides to ignore the whistleblower may opt to do so after weighing the benefit of silencing them in terms of cost and fines that may be subjected to the organization from law enforcement agencies. Therefore, if the consequences of evidence are likely to put the organization in fines as well as penalties, this might be the main cause of ignoring the evidence or even hire a legal expert to prevent law agencies from investigating the claims. Whistle-blowers are likely to be harassed, intimidated as well as blacklisted. In most cases, after being fired, a whistle-blower may file wrongful dismissal lawsuits that take years to resolve. This negatively affects the organization in terms of a bad image to the public at large. Such cases explain the reason behind organization opting to ignore evidence provided by whistle-blowers. Therefore, when the evidence presented by a whistle-blower seems to cause more harm than good to the organization, it is better for the organization to ignore any claim.

4. Is it reasonable for a whistle-blower to expect a guarantee of anonymity?

The whistle-blowers should be guaranteed anonymity, but this is not always the case in most cases. The whistle-blowers who present evidence that could get other people into trouble face great risks. Though the organization should try to protect the whistle-blower from any possible retaliation, there are still risks that accompany the whistle-blowers. For example, if the complaint is against a top leader in the organization, the whistle-blower faces a bigger risk that could even cost his or her career. Therefore, it is not surprising that most of the whistle-blowers come forward on the anonymity condition. it is vital for the companies to provide mechanisms for their employees to report any claim anonymously as well show that they take any allegation seriously. All allegations should be investigated to determine whether the allegations are true. In this case, the whistle-blowers deserve to be updated on the complaint’s status towards reassuring the whistle-blower’s allegations are taken seriously. Communicating with whistle-blowers can be challenging as the identity of a whistle-blower should not be revealed for security purposes (Devine & Reaves, 2016). However, in most cases, the whistle-blower’s identity has to be revealed to the investigators to enable them to conduct a comprehensive investigation. Also, there are chances that other people in the organization may be able to guess the identity of the whistle-blower. In some situations, a written anonymity agreement is needed. For simple cases that are solved internally, the whistle-blower can be provided with anonymity. In most cases where the whistle-blower cannot be promised anonymity, they must be concerned about possible retaliation. The guarantee of anonymity is to protect the whistle-blower’s identity. Another reason that makes it unreasonable for a whistle-blower to expect a guarantee of anonymity is that some cases will be involved in testifying towards fixing the problem. Moreover, media coverage makes it challenging for whistle-blowers to expect total anonymity.

Essay

Familiarize yourself with the whistleblower protection laws in your state. Beyond a Google search, you may find the resources at the National Whistleblowers Center at www.whistleblowers.org useful in this task. After this initial research, briefly describe an example of a case in your state where these protections were used. Then describe what outcomes obtained in this case. Attempt to find out what happened to the whistleblower in this case as well as the parties who were impugned. In your opinion, did the laws work as they were intended?

Most states have adopted some public policy under which termination is considered unethical and wrongful. In the state of Texas, the Whistleblower Act protects employees from any form of retaliatory action taken due to their actions to report illegal conduct by officials or other public employees. According to Franze (2018), the Texas Whistleblower Act protects public workers who make good faith reports of law violations by their employers to an appropriate law enforcement agency. Also, the law provides that an employer may not terminate the employment or take any personnel action against a public employee who reports any misconduct activity under the Act. Also, for the employees to be protected under this act, they must have made the report of legal violation in good faith (Franze, 2018). Employees need to have subjective believe that officials to the public employee have violated the law. Moreover, the Texas Act on whistleblower protect employees who make well-established claims of misconduct that they legitimately believed had happened. It is vital to note that reports should be made to an appropriate law enforcement agency that is one that the employee has good faith to regulate under the law allegedly violated.

Example of a case in Texas state where Whistleblower Act protections were used

A case that involved two former city workers that alleged they were wrongfully fired after reporting illegal activities by officials in Killeen has been determined by use of the Texas Whistleblower Act. From the lawsuit that one of the former city employees, Gonzales filed is that he was fired by his employer simply because of reporting to the police that some city officials had misused funds. Also, the other former employee filed a separate lawsuit that he was fired after reporting that a police sergeant had been misusing different equipment from the city to do his personal work. Whereas the outcome from these lawsuits remains to be seen, they are good examples of claims that have been made so far under the Texas Whistleblower Act. This Act has been an important piece of law offering protection to public employees who make good faith reports on misconduct by both the officials and employees towards an appropriate law enforcement agency.

The Texas Whistleblower Act is the main law designed to protect workers who report wrongful activity in organizations. Whether an employee works for a public organization or a private firm, there may be laws in place protecting them when reporting illegal activities by the organization officials or other employees. Texas Whistleblower Act protects those who have reported illegal conducts as employees and fear retaliation. The Act also provides guidance to those considering reporting any illegal activity (Devine & Reaves, 2016). In this state, it is clear that the whistleblower Act is the main law that helps to protect the whistleblowers. The law has encouraged more employees to speak out as they are offered protection from any form of retaliation. Also, in Texas, this law prohibits public and private employers from taking any action in response to complaints regarding a legal violation.

In my opinion, the Texas Whistleblower laws worked as they were intended. In the case that involved two former city workers that alleged they were wrongfully fired after reporting illegal activities by officials in Killeen has been determined by used of Texas Whistleblower Act, the law worked as intended as there was compensation for wage loss during the period of termination. In Texas, the whistle-blowers are guaranteed anonymity, but this is not always the case in most cases. The whistle-blowers who present evidence that could get other people into trouble face great risks. Though the organization should try to protect the whistle-blower from any possible retaliation, there are still risks that accompany the whistle-blowers.

Case Study

Numerous individuals have heard tales about how workers have risked their career and personal lives on account of what they posted and reported to the social media sites and law enforcement agencies. For instance, Snyder, a learner at Millersville college, was ejected from her career as an educator at a secondary school where they denied her teaching accreditation when Officials from the college were made mindful of a photo and a post on her social networking site, Myspace (Danowitz, 2007).

In addition, the post included claims that a certain website depicted as a shockingly harmless picture containing a headshot of Miss Snyder wearing a privateer cap while drinking from a plastic cup. In oneself titled inscription she called the photo drunken privateer. Also, Nicole relinking, who was Snyder’s educator at Conestoga valley school, had been reproachful of Snyder’s classroom professionalism as well as performance. Millersville college asserted that Miss Snyder’s ejection was because of her competence as an educator, in any case, the court held that her expulsion was put together in any event to a limited extent with respect to the Myspace posting. Millersville college expressed that the photo was substandard and may advance underage drinking the school likewise guaranteed that Miss. Snyder was disregarding a segment of the instructor’s handbook expecting educators to be very much prepped and suitably dressed. Snyder filed a lawsuit against Millersville college asserting that her first amendment ideal to free articulation protected the content and photo in her Myspace site.

The district court in the United States for the eastern locale of Pennsylvania ruled that Snyder was acting as a CV employee, not as a learner at Millersville when she was an instructor. In doing as such, the court denied her amendment evidence expressing that Snyder was a public worker when she made her Myspace posting, she would be committed to demonstrating that the posting related on issues of public concern to get amendment assurance.

References

(n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/Judge-Sides-With-University/42066.

Danowitz, E. (2007). MySpace Invasion: Privacy Rights, Libel, and Liability. J. Juv. L., 28, 30.

Devine, T., & Reaves, A. (2016). Whistleblowing and research integrity: Making a difference through scientific freedom. Handbook of academic integrity, 957.

Franze, L. M. (2018). Texas Employment Law. LexisNexis.

Running head: BUSINESS ETHICS

BUSINESS ETHICS
2

Week 7 Assignment

Business Ethics

WEEK 7

Distinguish between thin and thick consent

Thin consent is a situation where a worker receives official notification at the hiring time or during employment that their web and email shall be monitored. It makes it apparent that employment shall abide them by following this monitoring. In this kind of consent, the employee has little choice like monitoring emails and computers. In other words, there are 2 alternatives – agree to the monitoring or ‘pursue different employment openings’. A classic example is where jobs are hard to come by.

Thick consent is when a worker has an alternate to acceptable monitoring. This occurs during the time jobs are abundant and it would be easier to find one. When jobs are many and the worker would have no problem in finding the other position, then the staff has a realistic alternate if she or he finds monitoring policy not acceptable, and consent can be categorized as thick. A classic example is where an employee is trying to find an alternative position in the firm.

Using company blackberry to answer work related calls and emails at any time, day or night

Yes, you are obligated to a certain degree. You have the responsibility of answering work related emails and calls during firm’s hours of operation and also during the day. However, you are not obligated if you are being in the mid night. Based on this, the next time you are obligated to pick blackberry call or respond to an email at night consider whether you have a right to claim an overtime. Also, any employer calling or sending emails mid or late night to employees might get more than he or she bargained for. Employers and employees must know that responding to e-mails or calls counts as job and is likely to lead to right to overtime payment.

Several firms issue out smartphones, blackberries and other devices without considering whether specific staffs need them and without executing policies concerning when they are supposed to check their e-mail. The outcome is that staffs have belief that they are supposed to respond to calls, messages or emails when off duty, which may expose some of the employers to overtime claims (The Globe and Mail, 2014). Having a clearly conscripted policy concerning use of blackberries shall clarify the duties of both parties. Apparently, these policies shall differ depending on the nature of the position, however if continuously followed, the policy can be effectual equipment to dispute the allegation that workers were supposed to respond.

Different from the common belief, right to overtime payment has nothing to do with how an employee is paid; salaried workers have right to overtime payment or off time in lieu thereof. Certain classes of employees are exempted; however, the exceptions are based on job responsibilities, with the most common being that of supervisors or managers. The title of the person does not matter- it is the nature of their responsibilities that counts (The Globe and Mail, 2014). For instance, a supervisor who regularly engages in non-supervisory work shall have right to claim overtime.

For staffs who work sporadic hours, employers must take into consideration executing averaging agreements. These agreements permit the employer to average a specific worker’s hours of job over a period of many weeks for purposes of calculating overtime payment.

Overtime is a must. A worker cannot be compelled to work overtime apart from the rarest situations. Equally, if a staff works overtime, even without authorization, they have right to be compensated for work done (The Globe and Mail, 2014). The employer is not supposed to decline to pay for the reason that overtime was not official or approved. Nevertheless, if a policy needed approval for overtime then the employer could punish the worker for violating that policy, which must discourage workers from abusing the circumstance.

Even if the employer obeys the law, liability might still appear if the employer makes undue to extreme demands of their employees. It is likely also to become a matter worthy of unexpected damages (The Globe and Mail, 2014).

Usage of Blackberry for personal calls and emails

No, I would not use the new blackberry for personal emails and calls because I would have my own cellphone which I would for personal emails and calls. Some of the reasons I would not use blackberry for personal emails and calls include the following: first I would be exposed and vulnerable to many threats. We live in the globe that is connected to the internet in almost every aspect, and in this globe information is paramount. As such, using company blackberry for my personal use means my private information will be under constant threat from pranksters, scammers and hackers and anything I put into the phone risks being used by the company and any wrong person who might access it given the fact that company software is integrated (Cheng, 2019). With several risks in the world, I would not risk to expose my self by advertising my personal information to the company and third party.

Secondly, I would not use blackberry because I will be prone to robocalls and emails. If I use company blackberry for personal purpose, chances are I will have infuriating experiences of dealing with automated calls. Apart from affecting my quality life, robocalls serve as a took for telemarketing frauds leading losses. Due to the fact that the company uses the same new blackberry to reach different clients from different backgrounds, chances are clients who are not genuine will try to access or send scams to my email (Cheng, 2019). The scams might appear authentic and immediately after my call line is marked as hot, it will be exploited later.

Furthermore, my communication abilities will be severely limited. If there are opportunities such as increasing call-processing capabilities, I might find it difficult to do if I am using blackberry for my personal work. It might similarly be too late to change to personal or professional solution. Also, it is not possible to control the interaction between employee and customer. If the I use company’s blackberry as personal phone it will be difficult to differentiate between personal and clients’ calls and emails. It is significant to trace all of the company’s business activities: customer service, sales and logistics (Cheng, 2019). When a customer interacts with the firm through personal number and email, it means I will not know how regularly and when employers speak to my clients and how to deal with discussions.

Lastly, using company blackberry will compromise my privacy and interrupts work-life balance. Being accessed easily by customers is a perfect aspect. It is prudent to answer calls promptly during business hours; however, clients should not be able to reach me using personal line or email because it subjugates work-life balance (The Globe and Mail, 2014).

Ethical ramifications of recent technological advances

Ethical and regulatory challenges- the global economic forum listed some of the ten emerging technologies of 2015 which encompasses those that target to solve most of the ethical issues posed by the previous generation of technologies while others will bring about new regulatory and ethical challenges. The idea of emerging technology does not essentially mean that all those technologies are revolutionary or new by themselves (Al-Rodhan, 2015). Some have been existing; however, they are currently changing to a new phase, becoming more integrated in consumer products.

Precise genetic engineering techniques will solve most of the controversial elements in the GMO discussion, for instance, the fact that genetic engineering was predictable nor precise. A precise technique that would attain greater accurateness as well as greater expectedness over genetic transformations is, a net enhancement on modern GMOs (Al-Rodhan, 2015). It is, nevertheless, crucial that this method is appropriately studied and executed in a sustainable manner and that it does not just give transformed legality to genetic business in agriculture. More accurateness is similarly supposed to be in the process of

drone

s with the adaptation of the sense and avoid equipment. This shall have clear security assistances, thus avoiding impacts or crashes of drones with other drones or piloted systems.

The crucial side-shoot of this invention is that it will encourage and permit the operation of many drones, an expansion which can be both received and expected, as the growth in dangerous drone flights around inhabited areas seems to be evolving ahead of regulations.

Robots as intelligent as humans- new generation robots shall gradually have more independence and capacity to react devoid of pre-programming, which complicates all present discussion on robotics, the reliance and trust invested in robot shall have to be greater, bringing the world to the point of being robots. This is amongst the most groundbreaking developments in artificial intelligence in computing power. Impersonating the workings of the human brain, a neuro-inspired computer would work the same way as synapses and neurons communicate, and possibly be capable of learning or developing memory (Al-Rodhan, 2015). This would suggest that, for example a drone fortified with a neuromorphic chip would be better at investigation, recognizing or remembering new elements in the atmosphere. Nevertheless, immediate ethical problems arise: building neuromorphic tools would make machineries as intellectual as human beings, the most intelligent and superior species in the world. Those technologies demonstrate of human brilliance yet computers that believe could be overwhelming for our species.

LRN CORPORATION

Function of LRN corporation

Currently, many firms are grabbing the opportunity to go past managing risks. As such, LRN corporation is assisting these companies to reinvent their businesses via ethical standards and compliance. By coalescing values-based education, expert advisory as well as rich insights services into innovative, wide-ranging solutions, the company can assist in elevating behavior and the bottom line for any firm (The LRN Solution, 2019).

Five core values of the LRN culture

LRN’s core values include the following: integrity, passion, humility and truth. These elements play a critical role and consist of the company DNA. They are criterions of what the corporation wishes to be and first reference points when making behavioral choices or business decisions. In many applications and combinations, they are the basis for the company’s leadership framework and the kind of leader it defines. Core values are described as follows:

Humility- the company believe that achieving sustainable excellence is based on humility, which permits the company to collaborate, reinvent and self-evaluate. The company believes that humility leads not to weakness but strength (The LRN Solution, 2019). No matter what standards the company attains or how much it prides, the workforce take in what they do, as such arrogance is not for the company.

Integrity- the workforce believes in maintaining integrity in its dealings, according to ethical standards as well as shared company values, is the ultimate propeller of performance and productivity. For the company, integrity is the firm application of ethical standards. It is a continuous, reliable demonstration of the company’s value throughout its work.

Passion- the company believe that success occur due to the passionate pursuit of significant and meaningful goal. The stakeholders are intensely committed to the company’s mission, and they pursue that mission with unwavering conviction and energy.

Truth- the company believes truth is the basis for trust and trust drives progress and productivity. Nothing is worth pursuing if it is not authentic and truthful.

The purpose of the LRN-RAND Center for Corporate Ethics, Law and Governance

The stated purpose of the LRN-RAND Center for Corporate Ethics, Law and Governance is committed to create an effective company ethics, law as well as governance. With the backing of private segment like Goldman Sachs, the Center focusses on improving public policy and corporate ethics through empirical research, analysis of issues related to company ethics, governance and law (The LRN Solution, 2019).

References

Al-Rodhan, N. (2015, March 4). What are the ethical implications of emerging tech? Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/03/what-are-the-ethical-implications-of-emerging-tech/

Cheng. (2019). So You Want to Use Your iPhone for Work? Uh-oh. Retrieved from The Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704641604576255223445021138

The Globe and Mail. (2014, March 24). Answering e-mails after hours? You could be entitled to overtime. Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/career-advice/answering-e-mails-after-hours-you-could-be-entitled-to-overtime/article17643533/

The LRN Solution. (2019). Retrieved from https://lrn.com/

Runninghead: BUSINESS ETHICS

BUSINESS ETHICS
2

Week 8 Assignment

Business Ethics

WEEK 8

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Considering this industry or business, what are some of the ethical or corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues that you believe warrant/permit greatest attention on the part of organizational leaders?

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) helps to promote a vision of the company’s accountability to a large of shareholders apart from investors and stakeholders. Major areas of concern are ecological protection as well as welfare of the staffs, the civil society and community in overall both currently and in future. the idea of CSR is underpinned by the concept that companies cannot be able to act as separate entities functioning in detachment from wider society. Conventional views about profitability, survival and competitiveness are being eradicated (IISD, 2013). Some of the issues that warrant greatest attention of the part of organizational leaders are described as follows.

The declining of the government. Previously, governments have depended on rules and regulation to deliver environmental and social objectives in business segment. Dwindling government resources as well as mistrust and skepticism of rules, has caused an exploration of non-regulatory and voluntary initiatives (IISD, 2013). This issue is important because it encourages the companies to take responsibility of their environmental and social impact to the surrounding community.

Demands for greater revelation. The demand has been growing over the company disclosure from stakeholders including activities of the organizations, investors, communities, suppliers and customers. This issue is important because it helps the environmental experts to measure the impact of the firm to the community.

Growing customers’’ interest. There is an evidence that ethical behavior of the firms exerts higher pressure on the buying decisions of consumers. In the recent survey by environics global around 5 consumers stated having either punished or rewarded firms on basis of their perceived social performance (IISD, 2013).

Growing pressure from the investor. The stakeholders are changing the way they evaluate the firms’ performance and making decisions on basis of criteria that encompass ethical concerns. The societal investment forum states that in the US in the year 1999, there was around $2 trillion worth assets invested in collections that used screens connected to the social responsibility and environment. This is important because it allows the investors to budget for extra costs to cater for the social responsibility.

Competitive labor markets. Workers are gradually looking yonder benefits and salaries, and trying to seek out employers whose operating practices and ideas match their own ideologies. This is important because in order to recruit and retain skilled staffs, firms are being compelled to enhance working conditions.

Supplier relations. As stakeholders become gradually interested in the affairs of the business, several firms are taking necessary steps to make sure their partners carry out themselves in a sociable and responsible way (IISD, 2013). This issue is important because some companies are introducing ethical standards for the suppliers, to make sure that other firms’ practices and policies do not tarnish their repute.

Practical approaches that leaders might take to achieve more ethically responsible performance in these areas

There are several practical approaches that leaders may take to attain more ethically responsible performance in the aforementioned issues. First is to lead by example, leaders should model the behavioral standards they expect staffs to follow. To exemplify their firm’s ethics, leaders can focus on creating ethical standards, recruit with much focus on ethical conduct, refer worker to department of compliance, reward ethical conduct at the place of work, promote only staffs who show ethical conduct and communicate the significance of ethics through employee meetings and frequent emails (Plante, 2015). Leaders that act ethically set the positive tone at their firm and similarly reap extra benefits. For instance, when Intel company made a decision to stop sourcing raw materials from conflict zones, it was not devoid of cost. However, the right thing to do the decision earned positive responses from activists, consumers and permitted the microchip manufacturer to secure more sustainable supply chain. Making sure the capacity to source from many states of the globe was good thing.

Ethical reputation assists the firms to attract and retain quality workers. These persons then foster and grow a work culture that is established on shared values. Job seekers frequently choose the corporation whose ethics align with theirs, specifically in fields with little variance in job description. Ethical leadership produces a trickle-down impact that attract and retain the best staffs, develop a status for sound ethics, and execute more workable practices.

Leaders should provide resources that effectively strengthen ethics. Training and workshops help the leaders and workers to identify ethical dilemmas, however, these resources usually fail to grasp the reality of several ethical violations. The most repeated and common predicaments to be relational, full of grey areas and extra-legal like compromised conflicts or loyalties of interest in times of change and growth, ignoring cross-cultural values after globalization, pressures or incentives to expand achievement targets (Plante, 2015). Resources that continuously encourage ethics are the most effectual unlike one-off events and trainings. Some of the other resources that effectually encourage ethics include approachable HR departments that stress what is ethical and not legal, onboarding packages for new hires that stress the significance of ethics. Ethics are best part of the firms whose workplace succeed due to integrity and values within.

A leader should reinforce the behavior needed. ethical behavior should be clearly reinforced so that it continues to occur. Problematic unethical behavior must not be strengthened if the company wishes to eradicate some of these unwanted behaviors. Offering opportunities for awards, recognition as well as social supports for required ethical conduct can go a long way to enhance the kinds of ethical culture desired in any company (Plante, 2015). Certainly, these reinforcements or rewards should be thoroughly considered and delivered with cautious attention to both planned and inadvertent consequences of using them.

Ask employees to write an individual code. Ethical choices are made one individual at a time, one choice at a time. Compliance regulations and laws are usually geared toward larger transgressions, nevertheless, and can overlook small ethics breaches that can nonetheless damage the company’s image. Numerous ethical dilemmas are interpersonal, carry the possibility for repercussion and are thus difficult to circumnavigate. It is usually easy for staffs to do nothing as compared to make toughest decision (Plante, 2015). Being able to plan ahead helps to encourage follow through during the time staffs are faced with ethical dilemma. As a leader ask staff to keep personal ethical standards, a list of unethical things they will not do. Similarly prompt them to note down how they would respond to unethical circumstances that may arise at the place of work. For instance, ask the staff to keep some of the documents that specifies how they would respond to offers for unethical incentives, sexual harassment and request from the community to assist them in the ongoing project. If workers can note down ethical standards at hand, then they shall likely conduct themselves with integrity. Lastly, a staff with clear ethical standards have higher chances of expressing their views. Firms benefit when employees are honest, open and give critical feedback.

Why haven’t leaders done this to date?

Based on this study and our collective experience of working with thousands of business leaders, there are a number of obstacles and contradictions we see most often impact the ability to act ethically:

The leaders have not done the aforementioned to this date due to the following reasons. Firstly, change management initiatives and business transformation programs. Firms normally change their own ethical environment by pushing a lot of change from the top, too regularly and too quickly. Focusing on executing staff reduction targets dispose large companies in key markets and lead to acquisitions and merger. Some of these practices include intrinsic conflict of interest; others just caused the managers to act in manner countering their values (loyalty for instance) (McLaverty & McKee, 2016). Several leaders in this case feel poorly prepared for the dilemmas they faced and felt pushed to take decisions they regret in future.

Secondly, pressure and incentives to inflate accomplishment of targets. Human beings do what they are awarded to do, and many leaders are awarded for hitting targets. However, the lure of inducements are challenges in boardrooms: executive share schemes and bonus payment are usually based on short-term business metrics, which counters long-term success (McLaverty & McKee, 2016).

Cross-cultural differences. Many leaders indicate how fast their businesses had spread globally in the past 10 years and how ethical concern can be deeply hard when operating across dissimilar cultures. They talked about how demanding it was to make decision whose cultural rules were paramount when making decisions of the business. While these challenges are major obstacles in making ethical decisions, they are not insurmountable (McLaverty & McKee, 2016).

Do you think higher performance in this area might produce higher profitability?

Business ethics in management. Organization’s leadership holds the key to longstanding success and remaining continuous with management philosophy built on the basis of ethics creates a positive example for all employees. Treatment of employees, ethical accounting practices, interaction with the community and dissemination of the information to shareholders are all duties of the leadership and directly affect the overall profitability of the company (Robins, 2015). Thus, higher performance in ethics and social responsibility might produce high profits.

Business ethics and worker morale. There is an evidence that time and again staffs who are satisfied with the atmosphere in which they operate are more productive as compared to unhappy workers. Practices deemed unethical in at the place of work can cause prevalent turbulence with workers, leading to a greater sense of displeasure with the job and their employers (Horton, 2019). Nevertheless, when the company encourages business ethics from administration and company directors lead by example, the capability of workers to concentrate on the job they need to finish to make themselves and the firm profitable upsurges exponentially. Production upsurges when there are few distractions and morale is high leads to greater profit levels for the corporation.

References

Horton, M. (2019, June 25). Are Business Ethics Important for Profitability? Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/040715/how-important-are-business-ethics-running-profitable-business.asp

IISD. (2013). Corporate social responsibility (CSR). Retrieved from https://www.iisd.org/business/issues/sr.aspx

McLaverty, C., & McKee, A. (2016, December 29). What You Can Do to Improve Ethics at Your Company. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/12/what-you-can-do-to-improve-ethics-at-your-company

Plante, T. (2015, July 1). Six Ways to Create a Culture of Ethics in Any Organization. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/do-the-right-thing/201507/six-ways-create-culture-ethics-in-any-organization

Robins, R. (2015, May 5). Does Corporate Social Responsibility Increase Profits? Retrieved from https://business-ethics.com/2015/05/05/does-corporate-social-responsibility-increase-profits/

Running head: BUSINESS ETHICS

BUSINESS ETHICS

Week 3 Assignment

Business Ethics

WEEK 3

1. Define Corporate Social Responsibility.

Corporate social responsibility is activities that an organization does to the community as a way of giving back to the society which hosts the organization. Social responsibility is ways that organizations use to account for the benefits derived from the community and compensate for the disadvantages that the community members face for hosting the organization. Corporate social responsibilities make the community continue hosting the organization despite the negative impact of the firm (ArAs, 2016).

2. Provide four examples of a corporation’s legal obligations

The four legal obligations of a corporation include payment of taxes to the government of the host nation, registration with the government to help in regulating the numbers of companies in an industry, complying with the regulation requirements as stipulated in the rules and regulations of the nation and maintaining minutes of the meetings of the board of directors to capture all the decision of the management (Yermack, 2017).

3. Define and contrast the instrumental model of corporate management with the social contract model of corporate management.

Instrumental model of corporate management is the approach that the organization hold towards the owners of the firm. The aim of the instrumental model of corporate management to increase the satisfaction of the customers through improved goods and services and increasing the wealth of the shareholders. Instrumental model of corporate management aims at increasing the profit of the organization within a given time frame while social contract model of corporate management strives to meet the needs of the customers and the community members at large (Yermack, 2017).

4. List and explain the five major trends driving CSR

a) Reducing government in social responsibilities. Businesses are a task with the responsibility of meeting the needs of the society because of the minimal government role towards CSR.

b) Demand for greater disclosure. Most firms get pressure from the stakeholders to reveal the social responsibility of the firm to the host community before they start their operations.

c) Supplier relations. The interest of the suppliers has increased in knowing the role of the companies towards the society.

d) Pressure from investors. The desires of the investors have grown in knowing the role of the firms towards the society before making an investment decision in an organization.

e) Customers’ interest. The customers have woken up and desire to understand the role of the business to the society as a compensation for the negative impacts of the firm.

5. Explain why organizations are struggling to adopt CSR initiatives.

Organizations struggle to adopt CSR initiatives because of various reasons. The first reason is that the CSR initiatives require finances to implement but do not have direct gain to the organization. The second reason is that some of the CSR initiatives have negatives impact on the firm which most organizations are not ready to incur (ArAs, 2016).

6. Explain the term “triple bottom line.”

Triple bottom line is an accounting framework that contains environmental, financial and social parts. Triple bottom line is used by the organization to evaluate the performance of the firm through the three areas

Exercise

In this assignment, we shall examine the corporate social responsibility of Walmart Retail Company based in Bentonville, Arkansas. The corporate social responsibility of the organization relies on the three principles of the firm. The first principle is to build a platform where all the retailers can have the opportunity to buy and sell their products. The second principle is to ensure that the operations of the firms are sustainable and operations of the organization are cost-effective. The last principle is to allow all the retailers, suppliers, employees and consumers to meet their objectives in the business. The company has strived to achieve most of the goals of the organization (ArAs, 2016).

Walmart has some weaknesses in its corporate social responsibility. The company focuses more on the external stakeholders of the organization than the employees of the firm. Corporate social responsibility requires the firm to create right working conditions to the employees in addition to looking at the concerns of the suppliers and the customers. The company have had a fleet of court cases with the employees because of the poor working environment, unpaid overtime, and unequal wages for employees, discrimination, among others. The second weakness of the social responsibility of the firm is the provision of the low quality of products. Most of the customers lay more emphasis on the prices of the products that gives the firm the advantage to produce goods of low quality to satisfy the needs of the customers of low prices (ArAs, 2016).

There are some areas that the firm need to focus on in an attempt to improve its corporate social responsibility. The first step is to support the farmers at the lowest level as this will help to improve the quality of the products supplied by the suppliers. Most of the farmers cannot use the modern tool, thus lowering the quality of the suppliers to Walmart. The second area to focus on as a responsible organization is human trafficking in the supply sector. Some of the suppliers involved in human trafficking as a strategy to lower the cost of production, which is supplied to Walmart. Walmart needs to address the issue of forced labour and human trafficking to ensure that all suppliers comply with the labour laws (Yermack, 2017).

Unfair labour practices is another area of concern that Walmart needs to examine to ensure that all the employees of the organization and suppliers work under favorable condition. The managers of Walmart can enforce the laws governing employees and employers by signing a contract with only firms that adhere to all the labour laws as stipulated by the international labour organization. The organization need to terminate the contract with the suppliers who do not adhere to the rules and regulations

References

ArAs, G. (2016). A handbook of corporate governance and social responsibility. CRC Press.

Yermack, D. (2017). Corporate governance and blockchains. Review of Finance, 21(1), 7-31.

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