Assignments
Business Ethics Assignment: The Corporate Culture
Read Decision Point: Creating an Ethics Program, pages 108 and 144
Choose one of the following companies (or any company that has been in the press) and write a 2-3 page, APA style critical analysis of the ethical issues involved in the case.
Legal Cases:
• Tyco
• Imclone
• Global Crossing
• WorldCom
• Adelphia
• NYSE and Richard Grasso
• Merrill Lynch
• Health South
• Marsh and McLennan
• Al Dunlap and Sunbeam
The analysis should include the following:
• A short description of case
• Identification of the ethical issues involved (what was the alleged ethical wrong done, and why is/was it wrong?)
• A statement, in their own opinion, of whether it was wrong or not, and more importantly, why?
• Thoughts on what could have been done to avoid the problem - do we need more laws & government regulation? What internal controls might have prevented this situation?
• Was the problem more a matter of individuals gone wrong, or was it more systemic and organizational?
Opening Decision: Creating an Ethics Program
Imagine that you work in the Human Resources department of your company. Your CEO has asked the HR department to develop an ethics program for the firm, and you have been assigned responsibility for creating it. You have been asked to report back to your CEO in two weeks with a draft version of a code of ethics for the company, a summary of other elements that the ethics program will include, and a proposal for how you will be able to assess whether the program is working. Your CEO also asks that you come prepared to explain what role she can play in promoting ethics and to ensure the success of the ethics program.
You begin your research and quickly find that there are a number of potentially desirable and somewhat overlapping outcomes of effective ethics programs:
1. Discovery of unethical/illegal behavior and reduction of meltdowns, resulting in avoidance or reduction of fines/criminal charges (also applies to several of the items included below):
2. Awareness of ethical and legal issues.
3. A resource for guidance and advice.
4. Accurate reports of wrongdoing.
5. Greater customer loyalty, resulting in increased sales and better reputation.
6. Incorporation of values in decision processes.
7. Greater employee commitment and loyalty to the organization, resulting in higher productivity.
8. Satisfaction of external and internal stakeholder needs (all resulting in more effective financial performance). Play the role of this HR person in several different types of businesses: a fast-food restaurant, an automobile dealership, a retail store selling consumer electronics, a government agency, and a large international corporation.1
• List the issues you think should be addressed in a code of ethics.
• Other than a code of ethics, what other elements would you include in an ethics program?
• How will you define "success"? Are there any facts that you will need to gather to make this judgment?
• How would you measure success along the way? How will you measure whether your ethics program is "working" before you reach any end objective?
• Whom will you define as your primary stakeholders?
• What are the interests of your stakeholders in your program and what are the impacts of your program on each stakeholder? How might the measurement of the program's success influence the type of people attracted to the firm or people who are most motivated within your organization?
• How will you answer the CEO's questions about her own role in promoting ethics?
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also Include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.
Attachment:- Decision-Point.rar