01-08-2012, 01:40 PM
Relation between ethics and corporate excellence
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Ethical behavior is merely making good business decisions
Ethical Behaviour is important for everyone. It applies to all relationships—between managers and non-managers, staff and clients, volunteers and students, board members, and the executive team, service delivery partners, suppliers and contractors.
The purpose for developing ethical behaviour is
It is beyond legal and regulatory requirements.
It not only illustrates the spirit of the law and culture of the organisation, but it also identifies the key principles and values that will guide our day-to-day activities and decision-making.
It attempts to provide a framework for examining our behaviours through private reflections and in discussions with others.
It emphasises key principles and values that are to be honoured by the individual and the organisation as a community.
It encourages self-evaluation and taking responsibility for our own behaviours, how we treat each other as individuals, how we treat our clients, our relationship with external groups, and the policies and procedures we develop as an organisation.
Influence on ethics and compliance
• Compliance is an important mechanism that supports effective corporate excellence
• Compliance with regulatory requirements and the organization’s own policies are a critical component
• Monitoring and maintaining compliance is not just to keep the regulators happy, it is one of the most important ways for an organization to maintain its ethical health, support its long-term prosperity, and preserve and promote its values
Program design factor associated with ethics compliance
• A high-performing compliance and ethics program is best organized as an integrated capability assigned to business functions/units while managed and overseen by individuals with overall responsibility and accountability.
• Compliance can be a daunting challenge, but it is also an opportunity to establish and promote operational excellence throughout the entire organization and significantly improve the overall operational performance.
• a compliance and ethics program supports the organization’s business objectives, identifies the boundaries of legal and ethical behavior, and establishes a system to alert management when the organization is getting close to (or crossing) a boundary or approaching an obstacle that prevents the achievement of a business objective.
• the compliance and ethics program should strive to deliver tangible benefits and outcomes to the organization. Every organization is unique and has its own objectives. As such, several objectives of the compliance and ethics program will be unique as well.
How to develop codes of ethics
Focus on business practices and specific issues:
What actually ends up in a company’s code of ethics will differ from one firm to the next. However, these are things to consider including: conflicts of interest to avoid, accuracy of financial statements, sexual harassment, workplace safety, environmental standards, and rules and regulations specific to your industry and company. “A good rule of thumb is that ethics codes should call attention to key domestic and international regulations that apply to the organization,” says Diane Swanson, professor of management at Kansas State University.
Tailor it to fit your business.
Ideally, a Code of Ethics should be custom-made for your organization. Ask yourself, what makes your Code specific to your organization? Is there anything that differentiates it from similar documents devised other firms in your field, or in other fields? If not, what makes it your Code, other than the fact that your logo is at the top?
Include employees in developing a code of ethics:
Nothing may be more ineffective than a code of ethics that comes down as an executive mandate. When considering those issues that should be part of your code of ethics, ask others throughout your company what they think is important. Not only will that strengthen the overall scope of the code of ethics, but employees will also be more accepting of ethical guidelines into which they had input
Train your people to be ethical:
Even the most thoughtful code of ethics is of little use if a company doesn’t know what it really means. That makes employee training particularly important. Arrange for classes, seminars or meetings to lay out the specifics of your code of ethics and what it means to everyone’s daily activities. “Ethics training should include vignettes and stories that come from the company, so that the subject is real for everybody everyone from the mailroom to the corner office,” Peterson says.
Post your code of ethics internally, and set up a reporting system:
While you don’t want to encourage a network of snitches and informants, employees will need a way to let someone know about any ethics breaches they may see. Peterson recommends a two-tier system. First, she suggests a complete open-door policy so that employees know that information is always welcome. Moreover, consider accepting anonymous reports. That, too, may help overcome some employees’ reticence to report ethics code violations.
Consider appointing a compliance person:
Obviously, a company’s ethics should be of concern to everyone within the organization. But, if it’s feasible, it can be advantageous to appoint a compliance officer whose responsibilities include investigating ethics problems. If nothing else, that can make it much simpler to know to whom employees should pass along suspected ethics missteps