Ethics, Compliance, and Training Discussion:
Read chapter four in the textbook and Ethics, reputation, and compliance gain as corporate priorities (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. In the article, Hagel (2015) stated
The demand for greater transparency from consumers and stakeholders across the world has pushed the areas of ethics and compliance up the corporate list of priorities in recent years. In addition, the risk to reputation and potential damage that can be done if evidence of unethical practice is discovered have increased significantly with the advent of social media. (para. 2)
Based on the importance of transparency, your organization (you can represent any organization, McDonalds, Starbucks, ESPN, etc.) has asked you to create a training presentation on ethics and compliance to be presented next week. Referencing the Hagel article, the Gonzales-Padron textbook, and at least two other journal articles, present an outline for your training as a response to this thread.
- Create an outline describing the information that you would include in your training presentation.
- Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
Your response must be a minimum of 300 words.
Reply to Edwards Discussion with 150 word minimum:
Companies need to create higher codes of ethics and compliances with stakeholders to make shareholders and customers feel at ease. “Financial return was a driver of ethical performance, perhaps because consumers are willing to pay more for products from companies they see as generating a positive social and environmental impact” (Hagel, 2015). Starbucks will be able to continue to sell their beverages and food items at a premium price without sending customers promotions if they have an open line of communication. Having a higher code of ethics and compliances will allow the company to generate more lines of revenue by creating new products and services.
About 8 years ago, the company found itself in an unethical act by not being honest with consumers about the ingredients in their beverages. “A Los Angeles judge has ruled against Starbucks and other big-name coffee sellers in a lawsuit filed back in 2010 by a not-for-profit group alleging that the companies were required to warn consumers about carcinogenic chemicals in their products” (Higgins, 2018). This lawsuit could have been avoided if the company did not hide any warnings that their coffee can give.
“Transformational leadership is built on trust, where unethical acts aren’t acceptable. Starbucks leadership possess transformation leadership style because of the belief in personal identification by influencing the inspirational level of leader and followers’ perceptions about the internalization of the organization” (Orta, von Feigenblatt, Lemus & Rivero, 2015, p. 34). Unlike upper management, lower level employees work directly with customers, which means they need to be a part of the decision-making process when new guidelines and polices are created.
“Starbucks placed “people over profits,” shareholders were still an extremely important constituency group. The company’s ability to differentiate a commodity product through quality, image, and social responsibility allowed the company to profit” (Argenti, 2004, p. 103). Have an open line of communication with shareholders during meetings and email about new research that can benefit the company and threats as well.
Argenti, P. A. (2004). Collaborating with Activists: How Starbucks works with NGOS. California Management Review, 47(1), 91-116.
Hagel, J. (2015, Mar. 1). Ethics, reputation, and compliance gain as corporate priorities. Retrieved from https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2015/mar/business-ethics-and-compliance.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Higgins, T. (2018, Mar. 30). Starbucks, other California coffee companies may have to put cancer warnings on cups, packaging after lawsuit loss. Retrieved from https://magazine.promomarketing.com/article/starbucks-california-lawsuit-cancer/
Orta, M., von Feigenblatt, O. F., Lemus, E., & Rivero, O. (2015). Starbucks Corporation: Leading innovation in the 21st Century. Journal of Alternative Perspectives in The Social Sciences, 7(1), 23-38.
Reply to Jeffreys Discussion 150 word minimum:
Volkswagon,
Thank you for choosing me to create a training presentation on ethics and compliance. Hagel (2015) mentioned that safeguarding the reputation of a company can be a primary motivating factor when companies are looking to establish and embed ethical standards. However, there may actually be several factors involved in making ethical decisions such as: the reputational views of stakeholders, financial return, and regulatory or legal compliance.
Gonzalez-Padron (2015) described that ethics and compliance primarily focuses on keeping organizations out of trouble. Unfortunately, Volkswagon knows all too well about ethical troubles with the recent emission scandal. According to Patra (2016), The Volkswagon Group (VW) confessed to manipulating emission tests in the United States in 2015. The company installed software into millions of diesel fueled vehicles that would give far better emission test results than what they actually have during normal operating conditions.
Hagel (2015) mentioned that training staff and communicating ethics policies as being important steps to improving ethical behavior. Therefore, this training presentation should be very beneficial. Rogerson (2018) wrote that VW violated several principles which we will go over here to prevent any further scandals.
- Unethical software should not be developed, installed, or approved. The emission software was deceptive and caused damage to the environment and health due to nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution.
- Software is typically developed as a team. Any team member should disclose information or notify authorities of any potential dangers resulting from unethical software being developed.
- Do not cover up fraudulent claims concerning software or related documents. Do not be deceptive. If you have knowledge of any such activity, please bring it forward.
- Identify and document any issues or concerns regarding false claims or software.
- Ignorance cannot and will not be a valid form of defense.
- Obey all laws even if they affect the prosperity of VW.
- Avoid making deceptive, misleading, or false claims.
- Report significant violations to appropriate authorities.
References:
Gonzalez-Padron, T. (2015). Business ethics and social responsibility for managers [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/
Hagel, J. (2015, March 1). Ethics, reputation, and compliance gain as corporate priorities Journal of Accountancy. Retrieved from http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2015/mar/business-ethics-and-compliance.html
Patra, B. P. (2016, March). The Deliberate Deception: Case Study on Volkswagen Emission Scandal. Vilakshan: The XIMB Journal of Management, 13(1), 139-148.
Rogerson, S. (2018, March). Ethics Omission Increases Gases Emission. Communications of the ACM, 61(3), 30-32.
