Baseline Organizational Ethics - Essay Example

Baseline Organizational Ethics Affiliation: Baseline Organizational Ethics Chart Business, Organization, Group, Etc.
Affiliation
Ethical Level Compared to Ideal Model
Behaviours that Promote Ethical Behaviour
Behaviours that Hinder Ethical Behaviour
IBM
None
High
Corporate values and good organizational culture
Long hours
P&G
Intern
Medium to High
Effective communication and corporate values
Not disclosing all information
Total
None
Low
Compensation to oil spill victims
Environmental pollution and slave labour
American Express
Intern
High
Ethics training and organizational culture
Ineffective communication
Foxconn
None
Low
Increased allowance
Slave labour and minimum wages
A. What relationships, if any, do you observe between the ethical behaviours of the organizations in your table and the ethical policies, processes, or standards that may exist? Discuss how this compares with the same relationships that existed in at least one of the publically traded companies that exhibited notable ethical lapses in the past.
The highly rated companies such as IBM, P&G and even America Express all have been following the set and stipulated set of ethical policies and standards in their industries. For P&G for example, the workers having effective communication with the management is what has led the company to its great expansion and standardized consumer products as the ethics for the consumer industries demand. For IBM, even though its workers are subjected to sometimes longer working hours, the ethics in the technology industry permits that as long as the workers are compensated for long hours and they agree with them or they are included in their employment contract which is what IBM has done.
As for Total for example, the environmental ethical guidelines are clear on the procedures and the precautionary measures required of the oil companies and these ethical policies have been neglected. The oil spill for example necessitates immediate compensation and public apology as well as participation in cleaning exercises of the environment but that did not immediately happen until the affected parties moved to court and the French judicial authorizes ordered their compensation and cleaning. The same case can be compared to BP which had a similar incident of oil spill in the ocean and they delayed in cleaning exercises until stringent measures were used including threats of closure before action was taken which is against the set ethical standards and policies.
B. What are the primary factors that contributed to your ratings of the five companies, groups or organizations? Discuss how the examples you noted compare with similar policies, procedures, or standards that contributed to the ethical lapses in the publicly traded company selected for part a, of this assignment.
I have interned and worked even part time in some of these companies and organizations and therefore have first-hand information on their ethical practices. A comparison of this information between these companies I have worked in and the set ethical standards is what has made me rate them as carried out in the table above. For those I have no first-hand experience, the media has been on the forefront on condemning them for not meeting the ethical standards and numerous documentation of these companies and having third parties relate similar information has made me rate them.
Companies such as P7G cannot even begin to be compared with BP in as far as ethics are concerned. Take for example American Express, the ethical training is compulsory for employees and this training is not a one-time event as refresher courses are constantly provided even though the risks in the job are less than those that BP holds. In BP, most employees especially those working in the oil drills are not formally ethically trained and taught the ethical standards expected in their line of work and hence in event of unethical behaviour, they do not find the need and rush to make the necessary arrangements to alleviate the situation (Chan and Gosden, 2013).
C. What changes need to be made in your organization in order for it to become more ethical?
Ethical training need to be the first priority where all employees including the management can be educated on not only the importance of ethics in business but the current set ethical policies and standards in their industry including the legal penalties for failing to adhere to them. Changes in organizational culture to include the importance of ethics should be incorporated as well and set up through examples from management (Ferrell and Fraedrich, 2012).
References
Chan, S. and Gosden, E. (September 7th, 2013). “Corruption found in BP Gulf of Mexico settlement programme.” The Telegraph. Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/10293369/Corruption -found-in-BP-Gulf-of-Mexico-settlement-programme.html
Ferrell, O. and Fraedrich, J. (2012). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making & Cases. New York: Cengage Learning. Read More