Please Plagirism is Prohibited . To assist with your inquiries about ethics in b
ID: 395822 • Letter: P
Question
Please Plagirism is Prohibited
.
To assist with your inquiries about ethics in business you are asked to prepare a report about a current ethical issue which affects any well-known company (but not a cocoa company) you choose.
You are required to do the following:
1. Research the ethical issue affecting the company you have chosen to research
2. Produce a report about how that company could improve the ethics of its operations while meeting its objectives and making sure there are good employer/employee relations
3. Design an ethical code for the chosen company.
Your research, report and proposed ethical code are required to be accurate, factual, clear and well-referenced.
Explanation / Answer
The ethical issue is related to the automotive giant Volkswagen which programmed the so called "clean diesel engines" to clear the emission tests that conformed to the latest emission levels, whereas in real terms , these engines emitted 40 times higher than the limits. The act was committed to put up with the pressure of selling over 10 Million cars by 2018. By the time the scandal broke, there were already scores of cars sold in the US itself, playing havoc with the environment. In the beginning, the top management blamed the lower rung employees for the act what was a meticulously planned scandal, but later went on to suspend several top executives, along side spending of $30 Billion in fines and corrective measures.
The main issue behind the scandal was management's greed and unrealistic targets that prompted the employees to resort to manipulation of engines to clear emission tests and make false promises to the customers to improve sales, without caring about the consequences. The company should have had in place adequate measures to prevent such pactices, but in fact, such fraud would never have been possible without the top brass not being involved in it. It should have developed a culture of transparency and supremacy of ethical behavior, with top leadership being aware of the ground realities and taking ownership of the proceedings, instead of making scapegoat of junior employees.
The company can move on, while learning from the emission scandal, and employing checks and balances at all possible points to avoid the breach of the laid down norms, fixing clear responsibilities, ensuring transparency in actions and communication between levels to avoid such events in future.
The ethical code may consist of following points.
(a) Clear statement of mission and vision of the company with necessary elaboration to every employee of the organisation.
(b) Statement of line of authority and responsibility to everyone to avoid ambiguity.
(c) Establishment of comprehensive Code of conduct for every employee at the workplace with penalties specified for violations.
(d) Establishment of code of conduct for everyone while dealing with external authorities like customers, governments, regulatory authorities, suppliers, partners and other stakeholders with penalties for violation.
(e) Code of conduct elaborating on regulatory compliance, fiduciary duties, and adherance to the core value of the organisation.