Ethics and Sustainability
Banks are pillars in Australian Society. As Australia has grown and changed - so to has the banking industry. Besides everyday banking, banks are involved in a myriad of industries and provide onshore and offshore financial services such as financing large operations and moving into the insurance market.
CommInsure is one of Australia's largest insurers and is the insurance arm of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). CommInsure was embroiled in various deceitful practices such as misusing of medical reports including deleting files and pressuring doctors to change their opinions so that client claims can be rejected, changing the definition of diseases, delaying payouts, etc.
The program that ABC TV aired on CommInsure scandal will provide you an overview of the case.
This assessment is in two parts.
The first part requires students to work collaboratively to:
- Identify espoused levels of behavior by the CBA (from its Corporate Responsibility Report) and actual behavior demonstrated by CommInsure that breaches aspects of the CRR report.
- Identify sections of the relevant Code of Conduct within the CBA that have been breached by CommInsure.
The second part requires students to work individually to:
- complete an individual report based on the findings in Part A.
- submit the group table to Part A as an appendix to the individual report.
Instructions: PART A
Collaborative:
Groups (max 5) will generate a table that identifies differences between what:
- the CRR Report suggests should happen and CommInsure breaches and
- the CBA Code of Conduct and CommInsure breaches.
The table will need to be comprehensive as it forms the basis individual assignments and should have a column that identifies key references for individuals to use in their individual reports.
Identification of CommInsure breaches will require additional research by group members.
PART B
Individual:
Evaluate financial management policies and practices with respect to their social responsibility and social outcomes of their actions.
Did CommInsure consider the ramifications of their financial decisions on sustainability and social responsibility?
Ensure that your analysis is carried out with reference to corporate social responsibility principles, the corporation's objectives, code of ethics and ethical principles and theories. Specifically answer the following questions:
i. Describe CommInsure's practices and financial decisions
ii. Briefly describe the coverage of CBA's Corporate Responsibility Report (CRR).
iii. Evaluate the CommInsure practices relative to the CBA's CRR Report.
iv. Explain whether sustainability and socially responsible outcomes really matter to the CBA. If they do not matter, should they?
v. Identify ethical principles breached by CommInsure in comparison to the CBA's Code of Ethics.
vi. Discuss those ethical violations with reference to a stakeholder of your choosing.
Attachment:- Individual Assignment.rar