The Necessity of Proper Controls - Essay Example

The outbreak of salmonella food poisoning can lead to a significant reduction in sales and possible legal problems.

To ensure that the rest of the employees are able to understand the need for proper control of the company’s resources, the top executive should not only strive hard to become an effective leader but also communicate the rationale why each employee should actively participate in the implementation of organizational controls (Bateman & Snell, 2012, p. 23). Anybody can be a member of the top executive but not all are able to become effective leaders. In line with this, effective leadership is important not only in terms of persuading the rest of the employees to support the need to implement proper controls but also in terms of establishing a strong working relationship with the low-ranking employees and winning their trust. On the other hand, effective two-way communication is necessary so that the top executives could gather honest and direct feedback from the group of workers. By listening to the main concerns of each employee, the top executives will have a better idea of whether or not the rest of the employees have developed a clear understanding of the importance of proper control.

To make sure that the implementation of proper control is successful and that each employee is complying with the established controls, the top executives should conduct internal management audits on a regular basis (Bateman & Snell, 2002, pp. 122 – 123). By setting up a standard with regards to their expected work performance, the top executives can have a benchmark when assessing each employee’s work performance (Bateman & Snell, 2002, p. 124). Based on the expected target goals, the top executives will be able to effectively monitor the levels of each employee’s work performance.

QUESTION #2: Other than personal greed, what do you think has led to ethical breakdowns in many high-profile organizations?
Bazerman and Tenbrunsel (2011) revealed that personal greed is one of the main reasons behind the development of top-down corruption practices. Other than personal greed, other factors that can lead to ethical breakdown include having a “weak board of directors”, exerting too much pressure on sales and financial goals, and the inability of the top executive managers to point out or detect factors that may lead to unethical work behaviors (Bazerman & Tenbrunsel, 2011; Carroll, 2006).

The board of directors plays a significant role in establishing and implementing ethical leadership within a business organization. In fact, Carroll (2006) explained that the process of establishing a strong business and work-related ethics should first start from the top management officials. With this in mind, the process of having a weak board of directors can somehow indirectly increase the risks wherein unethical work behaviour will become a norm or habitual practice within a business organization.

According to Carroll (2006), exerting too much pressure on sales and financial goals can lead to the development of unethical business practices. Because of excessive pressure placed on the sales team, Bazerman and Tenbrunsel (2011) explained that the top executives may unconsciously end up making biased judgments and decision making particularly with regards to business or work ethics. For example, the process of implementing a specific and unrealistic sales target may force the salespeople to make use of unfair business strategies in order to meet the company’s sales target. In line with this, Bazerman and Tenbrunsel (2011) discussed the business ethical consequences of imposing unrealistic sales targets among automobile mechanics. Aside from potentially degrading the quality service given to each customer, implementing unrealistic sales targets may force the automobile mechanics to overcharge the customers in exchange for their repair services (Bazerman & Tenbrunsel, 2011).

Lastly, the process of not being able to acknowledge or identify factors that can trigger unethical working behavior can lead to the ethical breakdown on the part of most high-profile business organizations (Bazerman & Tenbrunsel, 2011). Since the top management executives are the ones who set the ethical rules and policies, the ability of the top executives to point-out factors that can lead to unethical working behavior becomes very important. By doing so, the top executives could anytime control and prevent ethical breakdown within the business organization. Read More