Code of Ethics Over a Period of Essay

Total Length: 1985 words ( 7 double-spaced pages)

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Code of Ethics

Over a period of time organizations around the world have realized the need to emphasis on making ethics as an integral part of their overall business strategy. While organizational activities in a corporate sector are carried out primarily from a commercial and a non-welfare point-of-view, lately management theorists and researchers have suggested that organizations that are socially responsible and ethically conscious are likely to have a far better goodwill, brand image and Public Relations

Besides the revelations made by management theorists and researchers, lately the government have also realized the need to take actions in order to protect the consumers and the society at large from the externalities that occur as a result of increasing capitalistic approaches. This is topped by increasing pressures by pressure groups and media campaigns. Besides corporate sector, practices and ethical standards by non-profit organizations have also come under government scrutiny. The society at large is particularly more concerned about the practices and the ethical code of conducts adopted by the non-profit organization because such organizations are generally financed by donors and tax payers' money (Carlson & Blodgett, 1997).

After increased scrutiny by the government, pressure groups and media campaigns, many organizations have felt the need to have a proper ethics program in place that could provide ample assurance to all stakeholders about their organizational practices. That said, it is also true that most organizations lack the professional capacity to devise such ethic programs on their own. This is where the role of management consultancy comes into the picture. Goodwill Management Solutions Inc. aims at providing consulting services for organizations. While the company will be catering to all kinds of organizations, its primary focus will remain on non-profit organizations. One important aspect of this management consultancy firm will be devising ethic programs for organizations (Denhart, 1988).

Code of Ethics

Goodwill Management Solutions Inc. believes in maintaining optimum standards of corporate governance and consumer satisfaction. The organization believes in adhering to highest levels of ethical standards that must satisfy all stakeholders while keeping in line with an organization's strategic plans. While the code of ethics and ethical programs for individual organizations will be devised depending on size, nature and managerial dynamics of the organization, a generalized code of ethics which will be incorporated in all ethic programs is given as follows.

The organization shall show complete compliance with the ethical standards laid out in this document, which shall be duely audited by reliable and recognized social auditors.

The organization is required to keep all its stakeholders, especially consumers, employees and the government aware of the mentioned ethical standards that the organization will be adhering to.

The organization must ensure that the said code of ethics is implemented at all levels within the organizations irrespective of hierarchal distinctions.

The organization must ensure that the staff members and the workforce at large is provided with adequate training in order to assist the implementation of the said code of ethics in the manner it is intended to be implemented.

The organization must ensure a corporate culture that encourages social affiliation and mutual respect among the workforce and the employees regardless of hierarchal, racial, gender, ethnic, cultural, religious, regional, socio economical or any other type of discrimination what so ever.

In an event of an employee complaining of facing any kind of hierarchal, racial, gender, ethnic, cultural, religious, regional, socio economical or any other type of discrimination what so ever, from another employee, the organization must look into the matter with a sense of urgency and resolve the issue with a decision that ensures security of the workforce at large.

Any kind of workplace harassment be it physical, verbal, mental, or sexual, must be discouraged.

In an event of workplace harassment being reported by an employee, the matter must be looked into and the culprit must be penalized according to relevant labor laws and code of ethics (Holloway, 1995).

The organization must ensure an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) under all circumstances.

The organization must respect the right of employees to be a part of a relevant union.

The organization must have a comprehensive grievance management policy in place and it must respect an employee's right to file a grievance with the union.

The organization must ensure that the wages and salary plans for the workforce are in line with the nature of the job and in accordance to market wage rates, and minimum wage rates set by the government.

The organization must respect an employee's right to non-monetary benefits depending upon the nature of the job.

The organization must respect an employee's rights as per the government's labor law. This may include adequate breaks and recesses, paid holidays, adequately compensated over times, maternity leaves etc.


The organization must have an adequate organizational health and safety plan and policy in place, in accordance with health and safety requirements, in order to ensure the safety of the workforce.

The organization must ensure that the work premises satisfy the need of adequate safety, security, health and hygiene conditions. This must include proper lavatory and sanitary facilities, fire alarms and fire extinguishing equipments, first aid kits, proper lighting and heating system with human friendly temperatures etc.

The workplace plan must be such that it is in compliance with health and hygiene standards including seating hours, computer usage practices, height related issues etc.

The organization must ensure that it has a proper hire and fire and redundancy plan in place. Unfair redundancies must be discouraged and inevitable redundancies must be duely compensated as per legal and ethical standards.

The organization must ensure compliance to all consumer protection laws at all times.

The organization must ensure that consumers and/or customers are not misled or misinformed about the product or services (Hoffman, Kamm, Fredrick & Pretry, 1994).

The organization must inform that the product and/or service offered to the consumer is in compliance with all human health and safety laws (Jewe, 2008).

The organization must informed that all financial transaction transactions are duely audited by a recognized auditing firm. The audited report has to be published if the organization is a public limited company.

The organization must ensure all activities pertaining to corporate social responsibility or any other charity related activities claimed by the organizations are duely audited by a social auditor and the auditor's report must be accessible by all stakeholders.

Ethics Training Program

In order to ensure an effective implementation of the above mentioned code of ethics guidelines, it is important that managers and the workforce at large have adequate training.

The training program would be a comprehensive one that will address various aspects of the implementation of code of ethics. The training program will aim to assure that the stakeholders, primarily the employees, are aware of their rights and the need to be considerate about the rights of other stakeholders (Ki & Kim, 2010). The training program will also train employees about effective communication skills required in an event they need to voice their concerns about ethical non-compliances. Employees will also be trained about their legal rights and how they can take a legal action and the correct procedures to report non-compliance (Robertson & Fadil, 1998).

Systems to Monitor, Audit and Report Misconduct

While Goodwill Management Consultancy Inc. assists in devising a code of ethics that is comprehensive enough to take into account all internal and external business aspects and stakeholders, it understands the need of having a comprehensive implementation and monitor and control plan in place (Williams, 2002). This is important in order to ensure that the organization complies with the set code of ethics guidelines in a manner it is intended to be implemented. The following Monitor and Control System will be made an integral part of the ethics program offered by Goodwill Management Consultancy Inc.

The organization must ensure that a thorough financial and social audit is carried out at regular intervals by recognized external auditors. The signed auditor's report must be made accessible to all stakeholders.

A reward and penalty code must be devised with the assistance of the organization's legal advisor which must be in line with the legal standards prescribed by the government. This reward and penalty code must be made a part of monitor and control plan to implement the said code of ethics.

Non-compliance with the code of ethics may result in legal action, monetary penalty, prison sentence, or termination of job depending upon the severity of non-compliance and the resultant effects of the non-compliance.

The organization must ensure that the workforce is fully aware of the organization's code of ethics and is capable of adhering to the code as intended.

The organization must ensure provision of necessary training and incorporation of necessary technology and systems in order to ensure effective implementation of the said code of ethics.

Communication systems within an organization must be effective enough to allow stakeholders to report non-compliance.

Regular meetings must be called where employees must be provided a comfortable and secured environment to put forth their suggestions and….....

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