Business Ethics of Al-Jazeera Media Station - Case Study Example

Business Ethics of Al-Jazeera Media Station Name: Course: Tutor: Institution: Date: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Ethics Committee 3 3.0 Values Statements 4 4.0 Code of Ethics 5 5.0 Behaviour of Ethical Employees 6 5.1 Discrimination 6 5.2 Sexual Harassment 6 5.3 Insubordination 6 5.4 Gross Negligence 6 5.5 Side Deals 7 6.0 Communication of the Ethics Program 7 7.0 Ethics Audit; Monitoring and Evaluation 8 8.0 Reporting and Whistle-blowing 9 9.0 Crisis Management 9 Steps of Crisis Management 10 10.0 Conclusion 11 References 13 1.0 Introduction Strategic management and the rise of increased global businesses competition resulted to the concept of increasing need for organisations to develop unique strategic competitive edges that are not only unique but also sustainable in the long run. As such, a majority of the Multinational organisations resulted to the application and use of corporate social responsibility programs (CSR). One among the most common CSR programs initiatives in management includes the adoption of ethical practices in organizational management. In this regard, ethical practices incorporate the development of ethical decision processes. In order to ensure that a firm operates a legitimate business, it requires business ethics. Business ethics act as a guide in relation to the application of moral values within the firm. The stipulated rules and regulations, or the code of conduct protects the firm and its stakeholders against infringement of moral codes (Arsenault & Castells, 2008). As such, this paper seeks to evaluate the business ethics at Al Jazeera Media. Al Jazeera Media is a Qatar based media station, which competes at the same level as other global media stations such as the CNN, Fox News and RT. The media station mostly reports on Arab News and it gained relevance due to its reports on the Afghanistan war. 2.0 Ethics Committee An ethics committee of individuals who are mandated to ensure that business ethics within the firm are adhered and that issues that alert the moral code of conduct are dealt with appropriately. In the case of Al Jazeera, the ethics committee will include the assistant firm manager, the human resources manager and supervisors from the other departments within the firm. The reason for selecting them is based on the fact that the individuals are obliged with ensuring that their employees adhere to the rules and regulations of the firm. The selection of members for this committee will be conduct by the board of directors and the chief executive officer. The individuals within the team will serve for a period of three years, from which another selection process will be conducted. In an effort to ensure that the committee has experienced members the firm will carry out periodical training about business ethics. Following the training, the members will take a test to ensure that they comprehend their roles as the ethics committee. The principal roles of the ethics committee include, ensuring that all stakeholders within the firm adhere to the stipulated code of conduct. The committee is responsible for advising the firm on best practice in relation to ethical standards. The ongoing activities of the committee include training employees about the code of conduct of the firm in order to ensure that they adhere to the ethics policy. The committee is carrying out an environmental scan in order to establish ways through which it can improve its performance within the firm. 3.0 Values Statements Organisational operations and strategic objectives in the market are guided by the respective organisations value statements. As a media station, Al Jazeera is expected to provide reliable news reports concerning issues taking place in various parts across the globe. As such, its principal value statement is ensuring that its news reports are based on true and honest information collected from the various areas it operates. Integrity is the other value statement that the media station needs to adhere to in order to avoid the legal issues that accompany provision of misleading news reports, which can highly disrupt the peace stability within the area where the information is collected. Professionalism is highly appreciated in the media firm; it has a virtual team that ensures all its activities adhere to the stipulated levels of professionalism in the journalism career (Al-Jazeera, 2014). 4.0 Code of Ethics Among the ethical issues that the selected ethics committee at Al Jazeera media will address include: any form of discrimination within the firm, sexual harassment for men and women, insubordination, gross negligence and side deals. Discrimination is one of the factors that prevent a number of individuals from performing as required. Discrimination emanates from cultural diversity, gender and age, and thus, the ethics committee will formulate strategies to help deal with the issue of discrimination within the firm. Sexual harassment is the other ethical issue that limits the performance of individuals as they are in constant fear of being harassed. Unlike previously where the issue affected female employees, currently, the issue applies to male employees too, and this is the reason why, the ethics committee will handle it from both sides. Insubordination involves the use of foul language and lack of respect to an individual’s seniors regardless of the differences the two may have. As such, it is a critical ethical issue that the Al Jazeera ethics committee will address and apply the necessary disciplinary measures to ensure it does not recur within the firm in the future. Further, the committee will be required to deal with issues of gross negligence, which are likely to become a cost liability to the firm. Gross negligence occurs when individuals knowingly neglect their responsibilities and expose the firm or fellow employees to danger. For instance, a journalist reviewing a secret investigation about a militia group goes against the integrity values of the firm and needs to be addressed. Finally, the ethics committee will address the issue of side deals, as they are against the employment contract and can compromise the operations of the firm (RJI, 2014). 5.0 Behaviour of Ethical Employees 5.1 Discrimination Al Jazeera Media embraces and respects diversity, which means that the company expects zero discrimination either in terms of race, gender, age or sexual orientation or nationality among its employees. Employees that feel that they are discriminated should alert the ethics committee or the HR department. 5.2 Sexual Harassment Al Jazeera Media upholds high moral standards and respects individual sexual orientation and gender. Thus, in a situation where an employee encounters sexual harassment, he/she should inform their immediate supervisor, the HR department or the ethics committee. 5.3 Insubordination At Al Jazeera Media, integrity and respect are the facts that determine the manner in which stakeholders within the firm interact and work with each other. Thus, in a situation where insubordination occurs, the involved individuals will be dealt with through the HR department and the senior management. Insubordination can lead to immediate dismissal. 5.4 Gross Negligence Al Jazeera Media upholds respect to one’s responsibility and at no time does the company tolerate negligence. Thus, in a situation when damage or other stakeholders are exposed to danger due to gross negligence, individuals will be handled by the senior management. Gross negligence can result to immediate disciplinary action and dismissal. 5.5 Side Deals Al Jazeera Media requires its employees to adhere to the stipulations of the employment contract, which they sign after joining the organization. Therefore, individuals who fail to respect the employment contract by forming side deals with competitors or other individuals will be dealt with by the HR department and the senior management. 6.0 Communication of the Ethics Program The selected ethics committee at Al Jazeera Media will introduce the established code of conduct to employees through training and the provision of individual manuals which explain in detail all the factors that the company has incorporated as part of its code of conduct. However, although the principal communication process of the code of conduct is the ethics committee obligations, it must liaise with the senior management to enhance its successful and appreciations by the employees. Thus, the role of the senior management in the communication process will be to ensure that all employees have received the information, and are aware of what is expected of them. Per se, the presence of the senior management in the process of implementing the code of conduct will illustrate its seriousness. The three important activities that should happen on an annual basis to make sure existing and new employees keep thinking about the firm’s ethics policy while at work include, group training, general staff meeting and a team get together. Group training involves the consolidation of all employees in a training program that focuses on business ethics and other critical matters that the employees need to know. General staff meeting also involves all employees who meet together and deliberate on the issues that have been happening throughout the year and the performance, as well as the ways through which they can improve performance. Lastly, the team gets together is a team building activity, where employees and their managers get together and carry out diverse activities outside the firm and share on issues that affect the ethical conduct of the firm. 7.0 Ethics Audit; Monitoring and Evaluation The goals of Al Jazeera Media ethical issues include enhanced interpersonal interactions and effective communication, enhanced levels of integrity and maintenance of professionalism. The firm will measure progress in regard to the achievement of these goals through continuous evaluation of the ethical issues raised by employees. Per se, the business ethics goal aligns with the goal of the firm, which is to enhance the performance and productivity levels of employees and gain competitive advantage. In this regard, the ethics committee will monitor the performance of employees to establish whether it will achieve the stipulated goals concerning ethical issues. The evaluation program the Al Jazeera Media will apply in order to evaluate and conduct an ethics audit is the balanced scorecard (BSC). This is a strategic tool for planning and management performance; thus, it offers a model that helps planners establish the factors they need to focus upon and quantify performance. Therefore, the ethics committee will utilize it to evaluate the performance of employees in relation to ethical issues. Balanced Scorecard for Al-Jazeera Goal Employee Performance Comment Interpersonal Skills and Communication Increased levels of interaction and teamwork Achievement of the intended goal Enhanced Integrity Improved performance Employees adhere to the stipulations of the Employment Contract Professionalism Improved quality of work Employees apply their expertise 8.0 Reporting and Whistle-blowing In order to ensure that the code of conduct is applied and employees adhere to it, the ethics committee will select individuals to monitor ethical issues likely to occur and remain unnoticed. This process will be done through the involvement of whistleblowers, who will report directly to the ethics committee members, without the knowledge of other employees. These individual will include individuals from various departments, so as to ensure that monitoring of ethical issues is carried out in all the departments. The whistleblowers will thus act as the eyes of the code of conduct application and adherence. After receiving the information, the ethics committee will commence an investigation, in order to establish the relevance of the information provided. The investigation findings will help determine the appropriate action plan to take by the firm, in regard to the ethical issues at hand. In order to protect the whistleblowers, the ethics committee will ensure that the information remains confidential, until it is completes its own investigation. 9.0 Crisis Management Al Jazeera Media Station operates in a highly risky business, which requires the company’s employees to apply high levels of business ethics (Black & Roberts, 2011). Among the risks the firm is likely to encounter in regard to the nature of its business operations is reporting classified information that is likely to cause riots. Reporting of classified information unknowingly is a risk that can affect the reputation of an organization and its employees. Appropriate investigation prior to reporting any information is the best way for Al Jazeera to overcome this challenge. For instance, reporting on a secret government undertaking or intruding on the privacy of an individual in order to make money is a crime and a risk to the media station. The other risk that can influence the operations of the media station is attack from individuals who believe that the media is spreading information that can affect their business. For instance, a huge number of journalists have fallen trap to kidnappers, especially those that report about militia groups and drug traffickers. For this reason, is the duty of the firm to ensure that its employees are protected. On the other hand, since this is a risk outside the reach of the firm, the ethics committee needs to train the staff members’ ways to overcome such attacks. Steps of Crisis Management As already argued in this report, crisis management is an imperative component in organizational management practices success. In this regard, it is imperative for organisations to develop and establish appropriate crisis management frameworks. However, it is imperative for organisations to develop appropriate structures enhancing increased ethical practices. Therefore, based on this theoretical perspective, the Aljazeera media organization has developed a crisis management framework incorporating five key steps as discussed below Step one: formulating a crisis management committee, which is in a position to assess and establish the likelihood of a crisis. The team will comprise of employee relation’s personnel, the HR manager, the representatives from the management and technical personnel. In other words, all departments need to be represented in the crisis management team. Step two: Formulation of crisis management plans- this allows the team members to establish the roles of the team and the strategies it will apply to deal with the crisis. Step three: Identification of the guidelines for collecting information and carrying out internal investigations. In order to work as a team, members of the crisis management need a leader who directs the operations of the team. Step four: Provision of regular training for the members of the team ensures that the individuals possess the expected skills to deal with the crisis (Herrick, 2012). Training helps address the risks the team might be required to deal with; the strategies of investigation a crisis and the systems to approach while carrying out the investigation process. Step five: Formulation of crisis communication strategies- communication is a vital element in the management of crises, as it helps team members to collaborate and brainstorm on the strategies they will apply in order to deal with the crisis. 10.0 Conclusion In conclusion, this paper evaluates the development and adoption of unique organisational competitive edges in the highly competitive global market. In this regard, the report focuses on an evaluation on the role of corporate social responsibility programs in management. In particular, the report focuses on an evaluation of ethical practices in management. In order to develop a practical approach to ethical practices in organisations, the study focuses on the case of Aljazeera Media Station, which operates in a highly risky industry. The paper began with the formulation of an ethics committee, obliged with ensuring that the firm deals with ethical issues appropriately. Value statement followed, whereby the values that the company observes, were identified through its website. The formulation of a code of conduct and the ethical issues that it will address followed. Further, the communication process and ethics audit followed. The paper established the balanced scorecard as the appropriate model for utilization during the evaluation process of the performance and application of ethical standards. Finally, the paper expounded on the reporting process of ethical issues and the crisis management process the firm will apply. References Al-Jazeera, 2014. Al-Jazeera Media Station. Retrieved from . Arsenault, A., & Castells, M. (2008). Switching Power: Rupert Murdoch and the Global Business of Media Politics A Sociological Analysis. International Sociology, 23(4), 488-513. Black, J., & Roberts, C. (2011). Doing ethics in media: Theories and practical applications. New York: Taylor & Francis. Herrick, D. F. (2012). Media management in the age of giants: Business dynamics of journalism. New Mexico: UNM Press. RJI, 2014. Qatar Code: Code of Ethics of the Al-Jazeera Television Station. Retrieved from . Read More