The case study of WorldCom divulges two issues that led to the collapse of the company, namely unethical leadership and a lack of reporting mechanism – linked to poor communication within the company. Conger and Riggio (2012, p. 58) note that leaders who practice with integrity “treat ethics as “a driving force of an enterprise”. Consequently, the ethics program to be designed and implemented needs to consider the role of leadership and communication to make the ethics program effective. Other considerations pertain to ways to make the program sustainable and plausible through the indoctrination of the staff. The program needs to be singular and independent like any other department within the organisation so that there are structures and mechanism dedicated entirely to dealing with ethical matters.
The first recommendation that will set the tone for the company when it comes to ethics is to include a value statement into the ethics program. Ferrell and Fraedrich (2016, p. 225) contend that a value statement is unique because it establishes the abstract values of the organisation that guide the employees as opposed to laws created for compliance. They further note that both the value and compliance programs can be integrated to complement each other, the value program is momentous for building a culture that can last even without the need for complying with the law (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2016, p. 225). Thus, the values included in the ethics program will set the standard
Past research has discovered that managers react to ethical dilemmas according to the situation. If specific values that are related to ethical behavior can be identified, they would offer strong tools for managers who want to retain high standards of ethical behavior in their society.
Business practices, in addition to guidelines on the matter of probable controversial impediments are a component of organizational ethics. This type of ethics is frequently motivated by the law; a copious amount of organizations practice ethics in order to be accepted by the community, not to mention in order to ensure a successful business. Ethical values can have a focal point on organizational concerns which assist the company in adhere to respectable practices within their establishment or corporation.
Every business develops a set of ethical principles that they abide by. The business ethical principles intentions: it construct the business certainty in the community , maintain the employees liveried in what the business attempt to have as structural conducts and aid the employees consume principles to make ethical choices that guards the business. In a culture with a diverse assessment structure and augmented judgment visibly by companies with changeable ethics and interests, there appears to be further difficulties on business individuals to make tougher ethical assessments. In our day-to-day performances, we depend on on our ethical principles to monitor us in the correct path and do the correct things. The substance of any efficacious and perpetual business is they segment a mutual ethical matter concentrating on presenting and generating value along with allocating their business values with the citizens they network with on a day-to-day basis.
Ethics, ethical values, and social responsibility should all work in unison in a corporate business structure. These key traits are better defined as maintaining overall good business morals, obtaining employees who possess personal ethical values, and finally to behave ethically and with sensitivity toward social, cultural, economic and environmental issues. For a business to better ensure these quality business traits a code of ethics should be adopted by the business. In the cases of Bernie Madoff and Enron, the most well-known financial scandals in history, I feel, gave a major hand in pushing business all across America to have and enforce the code of ethics.
Ethical leadership is vital for the success of any business; this case study illustrates that the lack of moral values and a healthy ethically incline corporate culture, can lead to scrupulous behavior from the CEO all the way down the company. Scrushy had a demanding and cunning personality, and it was easy for his to influence others in his business to go along with the fraud. Also, having Stanwick and Stanwick, (2013) an active board of directors does have a positive impact on the performance of the firm. Also, good corporate governance supports the ethical requirements established by the stakeholders. A moral leader must cultivate a real ethically driven organization, which has no tolerance for unethical behavior.
A company must have an effective ethics program to ensure that all employees understand its values and comply with the policies and codes of conduct that create its ethical culture (Ferrell, Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2008, p. 211). In order to develop an effective ethics program, it must contain certain items. It must first have a code of conduct
According to Johnson (2012) leaders are powerful role models, and policies will have a little effect if leaders do not follow the rules they set. In Enron case, corruption and ethical misconduct were deeply embedded in their business culture where profitability was more important than ethics. In this paper, I will address the factors that had led to the development of the culture of profit before principle at Enron. Also, I will create my personal code of ethics that will guide me in my professional and personal decision making and doing the right thing when faced with ethical challenges.
An initial new hire and employee ethics training has to be develop and administered. Also on-going ethics refresher training for use throughout the employees career with Company Q will need to be incorporated in the program. Systems will be developed and put in place to monitor, audit, and report ethics violations. A time-line to re-evaluate these programs and their effectiveness towards meeting the companies social responsibility goals will be established. Based on the evaluation a revision or revamp of the program if necessary will be initiated. The ethics program needs to be reviewed and understood by all employees and expectation for compliance very clear. This can be accomplish by tying compliance in some form to employees and leadership individual performance goals. Shareholders all the way down to entry-level employees will benefit from the ethics program which will also put the company on track to being more socially responsible. Once a code of ethics is in place and training has been given, then Company Q can begin developing trust within the company and employees as well as the community. Continued education and training will enable the company to become more socially responsible.
Employees ought to consider the future guaranteed activity in going up against with an ethical issue is by residing with the code of ethics as a type of rules. Indeed, in the WorldCom case be that as it may, there were no in composed approaches for the administration practices and tenets itself yet the code of ethics. In this manner, employees in WorldCom had no formal direction to lead them to an ethical choice in standing or resisting their bosses, for example, Sullivan, Myers and Yates. As a certainty, The IFAC's Code of Ethics (2006) is produced in the long run after the WorldCom corporate embarrassment keeping
It is only during moral lapses and corporate scandals that interest groups and the broader public ask themselves the fundamental ethical questions, who are the managers of the organization and were they acting with the ethical guidelines. For a long time, the issue of ethics was largely ignored, with organizations focusing on profit maximization. However, this has changed, and much attention is now focused on ethics management by researchers and leaders. The issue of ethics has arisen at a time when public trust on corporate governance is low, and the legitimacy of leadership is being questioned. Leaders are expected to be the source of moral development and ethical guidance to their employees.
Today’s business world presents numerous ethical issues. In today’s world above board/moral ethics in organizations do not often materialize intuitively. Organization must strive to provide employees with a clear understanding of the overall company vision. This will aid employees in practicing the code of ethics, policies and procedures in the workplace. Companies must be unwavering in continuously delivering the uppermost ethics of provision in which customers, applicants and employees are entitled to under fair business practices. One major core value is to uphold responsible and fair business practices.
Ethics programs take the organization several steps above compliance when not only complying with the law, but adhering to the values of the organization and society by encouraging members to always do the right thing (Nelson, 2012). Values such as respect, integrity, and honesty help to guide business decisions (Ruddell, 2004). Ethics programs can be involved in conflict resolution when competing values cause an ethical dilemma (Nelson, 2012).
Ethics ensure that a company achieves its mission, vision, goals, and objectives in such a manner that they give a company a sense of direction and framework. Ethics ensure guidelines are creating that bind the entire organization into one common thread, govern the action of the organizational employees, and avoid deviation from the desired strategic path. Five ways a company can ensure ethics is including in their strategic planning are
In difficult financial times, companies face various moral issues to try to keep up with their competitors. Although these issues have a direct impact on employee decision making, businesses rarely address how employees should assess the ethics of their actions and incorporate ethics into their decisions. Often this can be alleviated by creating and maintaining a corporate culture with a focus on
Values and ethics are essential in the workplace. It establishes how a company is run and remains profitable. Leaders are the key to demonstrating and creating the organization’s culture, ethics and values. It has to start at the top of the organization including the Chief Executive officer, board and owners. Leaders’ internalization and manifestation of the values in how they operate have a great influence on the employees. Every organization must start with a foundation, a code of conduct, code of ethics and a statement of values ( Ferrell, O.C., John Fraedrich, and Linda Ferrell).