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Ethics And Ethics : The Case Study Of Worldcom

Decent Essays

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

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