How to Develop a Code of Ethics for Business Essay

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Game Time Sporting Goods: Code of Ethics

Game Time Sporting Goods is a family owned and operated sporting goods store that has been in business for more than 25 years. It has four local outlets around the city and two main warehouses. It has more than 150 employees including head management and members of the Board, who are in the majority members of the family that founded Game Time.

In order to provide guidance on business ethical culture and employee ethical training, Game Time has chosen to develop a Code of Ethics that expresses the core principles, guidelines, purposes, values, educational drift, and definitions related to what it means to work for and be a part of the Game Time family. The Game Time motto is "God First, Family Always, and Business for the Sake of Sport" and this motto underlines the core values that we have come to associate with Game Time Sporting Goods.

One of our main goals throughout the year is to practice good corporate social responsibility. CSR is a determining factor in our relationship with the community and it helps us to recognize who we are and what we mean to the community as well as what the community means to us. Giving back to the community that helps to sustain us is our mission and the main reason we are always supporting, endorsing and sponsoring various sporting events, teams and camps in our local community.

Mission Statement

The mission statement of Game Time is this: Game Time Sporting Goods aims to provide the best in sporting equipment and service that money can buy. It is our mission not only to provide the kind of goods that families and individuals have come to expect but also to provide customers with the service they wish that they could get in every sector. Ours is a hands-on commitment to excellence in order to get you ready for game day so that you are on the field and able to give your all to the game you love. In order to facilitate this mission, we have developed a "spirit of mission" (Samaan, Verneuil, 2012) to which all our team members are united. Not only does our "team spirit" equip us with the right mindset and attitude that allows us to serve our customers better but it also can be one of the best facilitators towards implementation of CSR.

A spirit of mission within an organization creates an atmosphere of collective consciousness in which everyone at every level is a willing participant in the company's movement towards an ethical goal and objective. The company's aim, whether to provide a service or produce a product, is deemed beneficial to society, and the achievement of this aim is effected by way of ethical means, such as a virtue system or culture within the corporation/organization. This means providing guidance (corporate guidance for stakeholders) in terms of the value and importance of organizational culture maintenance and quality management.

Guiding Principles

Organizational discipline and "spirit of mission" are intimately linked in an organization's successful operation (Samaan, Vernueil, 2012) and greatly impact the implementation of CSR programs. The spirit of mission is collective in the sense that it is the motivating factor, the common interest, among individuals within an organization, driving them to achieve a specific aim or common good. Each individual adds to or takes away from the total spirit of mission. An apt metaphor may be found in the idea that each individual is a cylinder in an engine. If all cylinders are firing, working together and according to the precepts to which they are bound, the spirit of mission can be said to be operating optimally. In our case, our guiding principles are what serve to keep our engine functioning. The guiding principles of Game Time are based on the idea of servant leadership (Northouse, 2016; Hunter et al., 2013). Servant leadership holds that self-managers are responsible for living up to the ideals and the ideology they set for themselves, whether it is a spiritual, philosophical, or political/social truth: that standard is used to act as a parameter for their actions, a guide for their behavior. They place that standard above themselves and submit to it the way that their subordinates submit to his/her authority. Servant leadership is about leading from behind. It does not challenge persons by setting the example or the bar; it assists people to grow by being there for them, by being supportive, by demonstrating kindness and charity and humility and helpfulness.

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It is this good example that helps followers to grow into healthier persons. When applied to sports, servant leadership is a great guide for helping a community to grow and flourish.

With this in mind, the principle of serving others first is the main principle of guidance at Game Time. The second principle is to have fun while serving others. This philosophy is modeled on the Guide of successful businesses like Southwest Airlines, which has based its guiding principle on always have good customer relations (which starts with having good employee relations) (Gallo, 2013).

Purpose of the Code

The purpose of this code is to ensure that the spirit of mission that makes Game Time thrive is always in force. This code serves as the strategy for attaining success within the corporate structure that has been established.

Core Values

The core values of Game Time are 1) God -- which means always recognizing the spiritual in our lives and being thankful for what we have; 2) Family -- family is what makes us who we are and without family none of us would be where we are; we treat everyone like family because we feel like we are all part of one big family; 3) Fun -- Sports aren't sports unless they give fun and enjoyment so we like to keep that in mind as we help to serve our clients.

Training and Education

Our training and education program consists of a week-long orientation course in which new employees are introduced to veteran staff members and "shown the ropes" of what it means to be part of the Game Time family. This will include ethical training in terms of understanding the core values, the meaning of the motto of Game Time, what is expected of team members.

Definitions

We take our corporate social responsibility seriously here at Game Time, so it is essentially that we define this term for our employees and team members. What we mean by corporate social responsibility is the implementation of programs that effectively, directly and indirectly impact the "social, environmental and economic environment in which" Game Time thrives (Castka, Bamber, Sharp, 2015, p. vii). In this context, we view Game Time as influential in the development of a "better world" (Friedman, Miles, 2012, p. 1). By using our ethical foundation (Code of Ethics) for a business model, we have gained substantial market share and public trust because we are viewed as being good for the environment and for communities (as well as delivering a good product) while other companies in our sector (as well as other sectors) have come under fire and social pressure for not living up to an ethical standard (Pearce, Doh, 2015).

What Employees It Covers

Our Code of Ethics covers all employees. Everyone who is on the Game Time team is expected to follow and adhere to it.

Implementation and Communication

Our Code of Ethics will be implemented as a strategic part of our top-down process of management. Using our servant-leadership approach, our managers will demonstrate our Code of Ethics for all to see with the expectation that their approach will be the example that their team members follow. We will communicate this code through example, in our actions and in our words. The community will come to expect it from us. When you work for Game Time, you do not just work for Game Time: you also work for the whole community.

Enforced and Reported

Because we take our Code seriously, we expect you too as well. That is why we do not tolerate any deviation from the Code. If you are not having fun in a positive and refreshing manner that reinforces our community objectives and workplace standards, then we will have a talk with you about whether you are right for Game Time. We want only those members of our community to join our team who truly understand and embrace the spirit of mission that we are cultivating. Our approach is not authoritarian: there will be no reporting or enforcement -- just a talk and a fair and honest discussion. We treat everyone with fairness, first and foremost our employees.

That is why our regulation method of enforcement and reporting is based on the self-reporting model. If you feel that something is off, come and talk to us about it. Periodically we will also do self-evaluations in order to better strengthen our workforce. These self-assessments are meant to help us see who is.....

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