Given Company|
Ethics Program|
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Patti BowenWestern Governors University|
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Given Company Ethics Program
A. INTRODUCTION
Our Code of Ethics Program is designed to uphold the interests of every stakeholder of Given Company. Our mission is to uphold a high level of integrity by maintaining high company standards, values and principles to ensure the company meets its mission of being a good corporate citizen who is socially responsible. Our program provides effective guidance for daily decision making for all levels of personnel in an effort to establish and promote long-term relationships within Given Company and with our customers and community. The overall goal of the program is to be diligent in establishing a culture
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Examples include, but not limited to, funds, transactions, assets, credit, property, records, or communications.
Gifts, Favors, Discounts, Entertainment, Kickbacks
All business must be conducted in the best interest of Given Company. Employees are not allowed to accept unsolicited gifts, favors, discounts, entertainment, and/or kickbacks, from any person or institution conducting business (active or future) with Given Company. All business activity must fall within the scope of routine business. Any activity that is for personal gain, personal motive, or would impair an employee’s judgment is strictly prohibited. Employees are expected to report any and all gifts, favors, discount, and/or entertainment as per company policy and regular business reporting practices set forth by the company.
Consequences for Employee Misconduct
Violations of company standards, policies, procedures, and ethics program guidelines, could result in employee reprimand, probation, suspension, salary reduction, demotion, or dismissal. In addition, employees may be held responsible for damages and/or losses, or referred for criminal prosecution or civil action.
C. ETHICS EDUCATION AND TRAINING
The goal of Given Company is to ensure all employees understand and comply with the established mission, values and standards of the company as presented by the company’s ethics program and policies and procedures. Given Company is
Violations of Company X rules of acceptable behavior will be viewed as misconduct, which upon review can constitute immediate suspension. Pending further review and investigation some
We as business owners, management and or in a role of authority must set, address and comply with a solid foundation of ethics. “A code of conduct is the single most important element of your ethics and compliance program. It sets the tone and direction for the entire function. Often, the code is a standalone document, ideally only a few pages in length. It introduces the concept of ethics and compliance and provides an overview of what you mean when you talk about ethical business conduct.”
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.
Minor infractions may be addressed with counseling and a warning, more serious infractions may result in the employee being counseled and sent home to change into appropriate clothing. If an employee is sent home, they will be considered off the clock. If more than half of the work day remains, the employee is expected to return to work. Employees are to be given every opportunity to correct their behavior, however repeated violations of the dress code will result in disciplinary actions up to and including termination.
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
A code of ethics highlights the responsibility and accountability standards of each and every employee within the organization. These codes are also motivating factors that guide the employees’ behavior, set the standard regarding ethical conduct, and build an organizations trustworthiness within
If the violation continues there will be a formal write up made and the department head will be made of the situation. If the employee is still not complying they will be terminated. Not all situations will be the same. Depending on the violation the employee may be terminated immediately and will be escorted off the premises.
Codes of ethics are direction that every members of an organization has to follow and obey. They are very important pieces of an institution because they regulate member’s interaction with employees and clients (Longest & Darr, 2008). Similar as to any countries’ constitution codes of ethics contain a preamble to help defines the fundamental purpose and guidance principles of the organization. As for the American college of healthcare executives, their codes of ethics serve as standard of conduct for members of the organizations. It also includes standard of ethical behavior to easy the relationship for members of the institution (ACHE, 2011). Every organization drafts their unique codes of ethic with different purpose.
Company X believes in upholding and maintaining the highest level of ethical behaviors and complying with all federal, state and local laws. This Ethical Program Policy is to clarify and ensure consistency of all standards of Company X. All employees are important contributors to the success of our company. We expect all of our employees to adhere to the Ethics Program as outlined in the employee handbook and in this policy.
Urges the creation of a code of ethics by every corporation, to insure that the company's ethics are met by employees. ( Although a corporate code of ethics cannot prevent unethical behavior, but it can have an impact on employee decisions. If a worker knows that a certain course of action violates his company's ethical code, he is likely to give more thought to whether or not he should pursue that course of action)
As seen in the YouTube presentation, John violates the company ethics policy and is horrified to see his wrongdoings on the front page of newspapers. The wrongdoings involved falsifying expense reports, accepting free tickets, telling racy jokes, and using business for personal gains. These actions are unethical and are against accounting and business standards. The Gap Code of Business Code and the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct are two texts that show, from a business perspective and accounting perspective, that these actions are not tolerated.
How a company conducts business is important. The U.S. Security and Exchange commission has established guidelines for publicly traded companies so investors and creditors have easy access to the information they need to evaluate the risk to invest or extend credit to a company (Kimmel, Weygandt, & Kieso, 2007). In this paper Hewlett Packard’s ethics policy, U.S. Security and Exchange compliance, financial ratios reported in their 2006 and 2007 annual reports, and filing with the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission are examined.
The next part of subpart C is about bad conduct and what all is considered bad conduct. This includes criminal offenses for dishonesty, giving false information, soliciting your service, giving a false opinion, and not signing a tax return they have prepared.
do not comply with the Code of Ethics, they will be subject to discipline and could even be
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