Ethical Standards and Social Responsibility at Transport for London - Case Study Example

Ethical Standards and Social Responsibility at TfL Name Course Institution Date Ethical Standards and Social Responsibility at TfL Introduction Transport for London (TfL) is a statutory corporation that facilitates transport network in London. This agency has been running since 2000 when it was created. TfL controls Tramlink, Docklands Light Railway, the Underground, the London Overground and the London Buses. Of the above systems that have been named, London Underground is the largest and busiest system in London. Currently, more than one billion passengers use the London Underground on annual basis. This explains how significant this transport network is to the entire London region. The network has about 11 lines that make it easy to link with other suburbs to central London. This has worked with a lot of fairness to provide distribution in the entire London and its environs. Another significant network is the Dockland Light Railway. This network works hand in with the Underground. As a result, there are so many operational activities and costs that these two shares. Essentially, this is somehow smaller than the Underground considering the fact that it has only five branches. The third largest transport network is the Tramways. This is very crucial to the transport needs of Londoners. It links Croydon with the surrounding suburbs. These three represent the largest networks that seemingly dominate London. Nevertheless, there are many other networks in the region that serve passengers. Having provided an overview of TfL, it is important to introduce the issue of ethics and corporate responsibility. These two aspects have turned to be significant indices used in the corporate world. The success of an organization must be weighed against the effects caused to stakeholders in the process of achieving such results. In the current world, ethics has become one of the aspects of competitive advantage in the corporate arena. In essence, ethical standards are generally principles whose aim is to promote good behaviors like trustworthiness, reliability, fairness, etc. (Hartman 2004, p. 74). Every organization has a unique approach to ethical standards. They are based on the value system and what the organization feels is best in line with its vision. Most ethical standards are prone to exhibiting some form of ambiguity when it comes to interpretation. The same ethical standard may be interpreted differently by organizations and stakeholders. As a result, there seems to be no common ground for enforcing ethical guidelines (DeGeorge 2009, p. 192). Nevertheless, it is upon the management to foresee what is deemed to be good for the organization. The current trend in the corporate world has made many companies to emphasize the need of maintaining high ethical standards. Discussion TfL, just like any other governmental agency or organization is focused on achieving high ethical standards. All these efforts are made with knowledge of the significance of ethical standards of an organization. High ethical standards have been considered one way through which organizations are able to build a brand. In this section, we discuss the specific actions that have been undertaken by the company as a way of ensuring high ethical standards. Ethics in Procurement This statutory corporation has put in place several policies to ensure that it works within the expected ethical standards. With this in mind, the organization has designed several policies to achieve its objectives. The organization is more concerned about activities where unethical behaviors are more likely. One of them is in line with procurement. Therefore, the organization has put the appropriate policies in place to ensure that all goods, works and services procured are done ethically. Every employee that takes part in the procurement process is expected to familiarize himself with the provision in the compliance policy before starting work. The requirement about compliance in relation to this policy does not limit to the employees of TfL alone. It extends to consultants and agencies that provide either direct or indirect services to TfL. The issue of ethical sourcing is considerably very important to TfL. The organization is focused on ensuring that the human capital sourced for whichever role they play is done in an ethical manner. The same insinuation is actually true when it comes to dealing with suppliers. The TfL has introduced Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). This has laid down the specific operational standards that have to be met by the suppliers in order to be allowed to supply the required products. Such provisions are therefore embroidered in the tender requirements. Such are meant to ensure ethical sourcing is a basic consideration. The TfL procurement agents have a responsibility to scrutinize the pending products or services with the aim of ensuring that the ethical sourcing requirements are actually met. The corporation is committed to ensuring it is in a position to harness the best practices pertaining ethical sourcing. Ethical Code of Conduct of Employees TfL is concerned about the ethical standards that are supposed to be maintained in order to achieve its objectives. Such guidelines are surely in line with the vision of this entity. One of the key areas of concern is the conduct of the employees. The employees are such an important stakeholder whose behavior may seriously affect the image of the organization. That is the reason TfL is focused on ensuring that in the discharge of the laid down roles and responsibilities, the employees abide by the ethical standards as well as the legal obligations. This ethical code of conduct points out the various behaviors expected of all employees, the ethical standards and the vision of the organization. The ethical standards that have been set are meant that TfL achieves its goal of conducting business with honesty and integrity. This is basically based on the understanding that TfL as an entity is answerable to all the stakeholders in different capacities. The Nolan Principles This outlines some of the principles expected of individuals in public service. TfL has applied the Nolan Principles in its code of conduct in order to give the employees the required guidelines. TfL is involved in offering services to the public and this is where Nolan Principles come in. One of the principles expected to be followed by the TfL employees is selflessness. This is meant to remind the employees that in their service delivery, they should not expect financial gain in return. Neither should they expect the gain on their friends or family. This at the end works to eliminate corruption and ensure that service delivery is universally done. Another principle that TfL are expected to abide by is integrity. The employees are expected to keep off any engagement with the public that will compromise their service delivery in return. This is because TfL is concerned about the overall image it portrays to the public. Another principle is objectivity. This is expected to be applied when it comes to issuing of contracts, making public appointments, recommending individuals for receiving awards, etc. ought to be done based on qualifications. In other words, employees are expected to shun favoritism at all times. In addition, TfL has also embraced accountability in its service delivery. An employee of TfL must always be ready for any public scrutiny that is recommended. This is because the employees are answerable to the general public and must be ready to respond to concerns relating to their performance. Another Nolan Principle that has been embraced is openness. The entity is expected to be open on issues relating to their service delivery. The employees are only expected to conceal information if it is against the interest of the general public. Apart from openness, there is the principle of honesty. This is also important when dealing with service delivery to the public. Any private interest that the employee might have in any dealership must be declared as early as possible. This is to reduce any conflict that might arise from that deal. The last principle adopted by TfL from Nolan is leadership. TfL is expected to emphasize these principles through leadership by example. This will ultimately make it easy to influence these principles to all employees in the organization. Therefore, the senior management has a very big role in ensuring that these principles are being applied well. Part B Organizations have diverse approaches to evaluating ethical standards. In essence, guidelines are set by the management and specific compliance rules are also put in place. With time, the company will be focusing on evaluating the level of compliance. Inasmuch as there are different ways of evaluating the success of ethical standards, there are those common indicators that are utilized in almost all sectors. One of them is monitoring the employee actions. An employer will be interested in gaining knowledge on how the employees are handling their duties (Werhane, & Cording 2002, p. 77). This will govern all areas of interest that the employee is involved. The aim is to understand the level of compliance to the code of conducts. One sure way of evaluating that is through reviewing of customer feedbacks. This is an avenue where the customers are free to express how they feel in relation to service delivery in the organization. The design of the feedback questionnaire should make it possible for the management to identify the employee who was involved in service delivery. The feedback ought to be reviewed to understand the extent of violation of code of conduct. It must enable the organization understand how dissatisfied the customer could be. In relation to corporate responsibility, there are diverse activities that organizations participate in. The underlying thing is that organizations take part of their revenues into the hands of the community or society. This can be through funding facilities that will exist for the common good of the society (Hartman 2004, 77). Such may include hospitals, football stadia, swimming pools, gymnasium, etc. In addition, the organization may also choose to support educational facilities. Such facilities may include construction of schools, libraries and purchasing of educational equipment. The program can also choose to finance the education of the poor students in the community. When an organization resolves to extend its social responsibility campaign through the above means, it is possible to evaluate the success of such programs. For instance, the company can assess the literacy levels of the society to gauge the progress. The support of needy students is aimed at increasing the level of literacy and numeracy. Therefore, when academic findings are carried out on the academic progress, it can provide crucial information that will help the organization carry out its review. Increase in the level of literacy is aimed at reducing the poverty levels and other challenges facing the society. Failure to eradicate poverty implies that education might not have revolutionized the society and this may be considered a flop. Another way of evaluating the effectiveness of the ethical standards put in place is to check the level of productivity. The company that is fairing on well in relation to ethics and corporate social responsibility is expected to reflect that in productivity. The success of ethical standards is centered on productivity in the long term. Therefore, the company must assess how responsive the profitability of the organization has been in relation to ethical standards that are operational. This is based on the understanding that satisfied customers must be able to reflect that through repetitive consumption or purchase. Increased customer loyalty is such an index that can never be differentiated from customer satisfaction (Shaw & Barry 2012, p. 129). Organizations are committed to monitoring the movement of customer loyalty levels. Such statistics do no lie in relation to customer satisfaction. This is closely tied to effective ethical standards. Therefore, having discovered the various aspects that can be used to gauge the effectiveness of ethical standards, the organizations must be able to put in place the specific parameters that are supposed to be used to attain this objective. Comparison with TfL TfL is a very established statutory corporation. It is for the purpose of ensuring high performance standards that the company seeks to ensure high ethical standards. In order to ensure that the preferred standards are working, there must be measures on the ground to assess the effectiveness of the ethical standards that have been implemented. In overall, the contentment that is expressed by the customers tells a lot in relation to satisfaction of services rendered. The feedback given by the employees in relation to how their seniors have been handling them also communicates a lot. For this reason, TfL has put into place the different reporting avenues for the customers and the employees. The customers are expected to raise an alarm on what they feel is breach of the law or any act committed by the employees that contravenes the general public expectation. After receiving the complaint, there are procedures that will be followed to ensure that the issue is addressed with the expected expediency. After investigation, recommendations are made on how to address the situation. The same is true when it comes to employees. They are expected to report any act committed by the management that breaches the laid down provisions. This might be in contract award, procurement process, scrupulous deals, etc. The employees are encouraged to raise such concerns through appropriate avenues to ensure that privacy is guaranteed and the matter is dealt with the required expediency. These are some of the practical measures that TfL has put in place to ensure that high ethical standards are maintained. At the end of the year, the complaint report is released and the appropriate evaluation begins. The organization will be concerned about the overall trend of ethical standards. It will seek to find out whether the complaints are reducing or not. This is done to gauge the position of the company in relation to ethical standards. After that, the senior management will be tasked with making the appropriate recommendations drawn from the report. Such shall be implemented for future purpose. In conclusion, there is actually much that can be said about TfL in relation to its commitment to maintaining high ethical standards. The company has highlighted the role that such programs play in its success. The practical measures that have been put in place show that the company is serious about this issue. Seemingly, the management of this organization has an understanding of what it takes to succeed in service delivery in public. It is quite obvious that competition is very stiff. Every organization seems to be looking for an avenue to have a competitive advantage over other players in the industry. Ethical and social responsibility represents an avenue that an organization can use to communicate how unique it is when it comes to service delivery. It is one of the cheapest ways through which the organization can successfully market its brand. This is based on the sensitivity of customers in relation to the products they prefer. The increased level of competition has also made consumers to be sensitive in order to make the right choice of where they want to shop. Social responsibility can be one of the attraction points if well undertaken by the organization. References DeGeorge, R 2009, Business Ethics, 7th Ed., Pearson, New York, pp, 188-217. Ferrell, O.C., Fraedrich, J. & Ferrel, C 2010, Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making & Cases, Cengage Learning, Mason, pp. 318-347. Hartman, L 2004, Perspectives in Business Ethics, McGraw-Hill, New York, pp. 72-88. Oram, D 2010, Designing for Sustainability: Negotiating Ethical Implications.IEEE Technological and Society Magazine, Fall, p31-36. Shaw, W. & Barry, V 2012, Moral Issues in Business, 12th Ed., Wadsworth Publishing, New York, pp. 121-133. Werhane, P.H., and Cording, M 2002, Ethical Issues in Business: a philosophical approach. 7th.edn, Prentice Hall, New York, pp. 67-93. Read More