Code of Ethics: PrintMark - Case Study Example

OF ETHICS Introduction PrintMark is textiles manufacturing company with head quarters in Bentonville Arkansas. The company however has operations across the country with opening in up to 13 states. Founded in 1986, PrintMark has grown over the years from being a single retail shop to become listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company employs up to 7,000 employees across its branches. The company is considered a major competitor in the textiles manufacturing industry but still believes that it could take its opportunities to become even larger than it currently is. There have been several business related decisions and action that have taken place within the company, all of which focus on growth. In the current premise, the company has plans of going international by opening retail shops in Mexico, where it would supply it with printed textiles from the United States. Guiding principles The need for the company to have a code of ethics is influenced by a number of guiding principles. These guiding principles generally define the rationale under which the code of ethics has been prepared for the company (Flores, 2010). The guiding principles are given as: The need to become internationally standardized by having benchmarks for measuring value creation The need to foster internationally accepted business principles, including corporate governance The need to focus on the needs of non-shareholder stakeholders by conducting business in a manner that is considered acceptable by these stakeholders The need to creating a business environment that is competitive enough to ensuring that the company maximizes its opportunities to make profits to meet the expectations of shareholders The need to operate in an environment where the actions and inactions of all people within the premise of the company can be measured by a single standard Purpose of the Code Based on the guiding principles that have been set above, the purpose of the code of ethics is to ensure that PrintMark would have a set of reference document that spells out the companys values, ethics, objective and responsibilities (Magloff, 2014). This means that the purpose of the code of ethics is multi-variant as it covers not just one aspect of business operations but as many of these aspects of possible. By values, the code would seek to outline the key philosophies that inform the company’s actions. By ethic, basic rules on the dos and don’ts of the company will be clearly reflected. By objectives, the specific goals that the company wants to achieve within specific time frames will be indicated. The purpose of the code of ethics in giving the responsibility of the company also defines the role the company holds itself as playing within the larger social context (Flores, 2010). Core values The core values of PrintMark reflect the motivation for the company’s actions and the modalities that informs the decisions it takes within the larger world in which it finds itself. The values are also multi-variant and includes Quality: The quest to produce long-lasting products that are free of any forms of defects and questionable outcomes Standard: To become a yardstick by which others in the industry will be measured in terms of the need to meeting customer needs Value creation: The company seeks to create value for its customers by offering products that can be considered to be the best that money can buy Cooperation: By joining forces and collaborating with all identifiable stakeholders and interest groups in ensuring that the company does not become self-centered but people centered Growth: To create an environment where the company can grow together with its customers and all other stakeholders. Diversity: To accommodate as many differences as possible, whereby it will be possible for people from all walks of lives to be brought together to function effectively. Training and Education Ladd (2011) acknowledged the fast changing nature of the modern business environment and indicated that companies that do not put its house in a position to outpace the changes cannot succeed. Most of the changes that are being experienced have focused on customers who are becoming sophisticated by the years and a business environment is that highly opened to competition as a result of globalization. Consequently, training and education within the human resource has been found to be one of the most effective ways of creating human capital to match up with the changing business environment (Stanwich & Stanwick, 2009). This is because through training, the human resource is equipped with skills, knowledge and competencies that make it possible for them to take advantage of the new business environment. Consequently, training and education acts as one of the core pillars of operation at PrintMark. Training and education are also considered necessary for all employees, no matter their years of experience or academic attainment. Training and education is actually seen as a continuous process, where as constantly as possible, in-service training, seminars, conferences and on-the-job training sections will be conducted for employees on the fundamentals of the code of ethics and why they are necessary for organizational management and growth. Definitions 2 There are some key points and topical themes that the code of ethics focus on. To make these points and themes better understood, the following definitions have been given to clarify their implication and usage in the context of PrintMark. Trust and credibility: The possibility of the company to leave an employee with very important and vital information, equipment, resources, funds, and materials and be rest assured that these things will not be used in the wrong way and will be available for return at any point that they are needed. Respect: The ability to see all people within the company as equally important and relevant, a thus approach and interact with all other people in a manner that is considered acceptable by these people to the most logical conclusion. Open communication: The company believes that information is an important asset needed for people to make the right decisions about how to take decisions. Exchange of information is therefore expected to take place in a manner that free from any forms of asymmetry or disadvantage to others. Conflict of interest: This is a situation where any individual engages in an action that puts the gains and benefits of the person ahead of the company. People who use their portfolios to gain any form of advantage that brings them personal satisfaction and gain is also considered an act of conflict of interest. Financial management: The need for the company to attain growth must be guarded by all individuals in such a way that they avoid any form of financial waste. Avoiding financial waste is therefore the most outstanding form of financial management expected from employees, whereby people who are put in charge of funds and money are expected to create an increase rather than depreciation from what is given to them. What employees it covers The code of ethics that is prepared is to cover all employees across the length and breadth of the organizational structure. By implication, this will be a non-discriminatory code of ethics that appreciates the fact that each employee within the organization has a role to play in ensuring that the values and principles of the organization are attained. By making the code of ethics to cover all employees, it is expected that there will be proper checks and balance where each person will be accountable to the other. What is more, no individual would have the advantage of preaching virtue, while practicing vice because the code of ethics will become a fundamental regulation that will guide and guard the conduct of all people within the company. What is more, it will be possible to ensure that the goal of organizational growth is attained in a collective spirit that makes each person feel proud of the overall achievement of the company. How it will be implemented/communicated Dissemination, and for that matter the communication of the code of ethics to all people within the company is a very important aspect of the whole idea of having the code in place. To this end, the communication process will be done in a very effective way that ensures that each person gets access to the code and thus has no excuse to following what is stated in the code. In the first place, the code will be made available in softcopies and hardcopies. These shall be made available to individuals and to departments. The code shall also be placed at vantage points where everyone can access. After this, implementation will be made in a universal manner, whereby each person will be expected to be a police over the other person by way of adherence to the code. How it will be enforced and reported But more importantly, departmental heads shall be put in charge of monitoring to ensure that there is adequate enforcement of the code of ethics. To do this in a more formalized manner, departmental heads will be expected to give a report on their employees on their levels of adherence to the code of ethics. This report will be expected to be presented and reviewed on a quarterly basis. It will be part of the overall reviewing of employees and will form a core component of their employee performance assessment. Because the code of ethics is made to reflect what PrintMark expects from all its employees, the enforcement report could serve as a basis for taking human resource decisions about employees, including decision on promotion, dismissal, and demotion. By so doing, employees will have an intrinsic motivation to follow the provisions of the code of ethics, knowing that there may be consequences for them to face if they flout the provisions. Mission Statement Other pertinent elements you feel necessary to have a comprehensive Code of Ethics Outline of the Code of Ethics PrintMark has a comprehensive code of ethics, which is made available to all employees within the organization. Every employee is expected to pledge alliance to the company by reading and implementing the code of ethics to the letter. The core areas of the code of ethics are given as presented below. 1. Build Trust and Credibility (a) Earning trust and confidence of employees (b) Earning trust and confidence from customers (c) Earning trust and confidence from shareholders (d) Earning trust and confidence from the larger global community 2. Respect for all Individuals (a) Treating all people equal, regardless of their racial difference (b) Treating all people equal, regardless of their gender difference (c) Treating all people equal, regardless of their age difference (d) Treating all people equal, regardless of their portfolio difference 3. Culture of Open and Honest Communication (a) Seeking information from the right source only within the organization (b) Treating company information with the needed care against wrongful exposure (c) Sharing all important information that can help with the growth of the company with others (d) Freely producing information considered important for decision making and growth within the company 4. Upholding the Law (a) Selective disclosure (b) Competition (c) Health and safety foreign corrupt practices act 5. Avoid Conflict of Interest (a) Dealing with family and friends (b) Serving on an external organization that is considered a competitor (c) Corporate opportunities (d) Gifts and gratuities and business courtesies 6. Accurate use of Metric and Report Results (a) Universal coverage (b) Fairness in reportage (c) Accurate public disclosures (d) Corporate recordkeeping 7. Be Loyal 8. Effective financial Management 9. Administration References Stanwich, P. A.,& Stanwick, S. D. (2009). Understanding business ethics. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Ladd, J. (2011). The Quest for a Code of Professional Ethics: An Intellectual and Moral Confusion. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Flores, A. (2010). The Philosophical Basis of Engineering Codes of Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Magloff L. (2014). Examples of a Code of Ethics for Business. Retrieved June 2, 2014 from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-code-ethics-business-4885.html Read More