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The purpose of this paper is to explain Donut Express’s ethics programs and overall ethical environment, which is a fictional company. The paper creates real world moral and ethical issues that a company of this type would face in today’s society. Along with examples the paper explains how the company would deal with issues in the legal environment of today’s society. The paper also evaluates the internal ethics programs that are used based on the code of ethics, training, monitoring and enforcement.
The Donut Express is a company that is visited by all members of society. How does the company deal with customers of different backgrounds? Ineffectively dealing with customers or managing a team of individuals with different personalities and working styles can result in unnecessary challenges and lead to a company’s failure. (Warner, 2007) The Donut Express seems to be operating efficiently and making stakeholders a good profit. The questions are does the ethical standards, training programs, monitoring process and the enforcement of the Donut Express enough to keep the company out of legal trouble. The quality of training and the enforcement of standards are major factors in determining long-term profitability of a small business. (Elam, 2008)
Donut Express, like many other businesses is constantly trying to adapt to the changing ethical standards of society and business. As stated in the article What makes a business company ethical? by author Jack Mahoney:
One way in which to find tangible ethical expression within business is in the development of structures within companies which formalize and give permanence to their determination to behave ethically and to do so, in the popular term, “proactively,” seeing problems before they arise or setting the conditions which may prevent problems from arising in the first place. (Winter, 1994)
At this point in time this is one of the greatest hurdles for Donut Express; identifying the possibility of future ethical impediments. Up until now the Donut Express had accepted their active code of ethics as the status quo, but their code of ethics did not give them adequate information on how to deal with new ethical situations. It was a framework that was more internalized than all encompassing. With the change in the economic climate, and fewer customers spending money on expendable items such as donuts, Donut express had to start considering how their decisions would impact public perception and build customer loyalty. They are still profitable, and they buy many of their ingredients from local suppliers helping boost their local economy and keeping people employed.
Because of the decrease in demand for their products, they are now faced with the ethical dilemma of lowering the immediate cost of items and possibly quality by purchasing from foreign suppliers who sell comparative supplies for a much cheaper price. These decisions could also have legal ramifications because of the contracts held between Donut Express and their local suppliers. Switching to foreign distributors could be viewed as unethical by the community because it takes support away from local businesses, this could cause a shift in the public perception of the business and cause Donut Express to lose even more customers. On the other hand, if they continue to purchase the more expensive products from the local suppliers, they may eventually see an increase in customer loyalty because their customers will see them supporting the community, but is it worth it for the company to wait it out in the long run?
Internally, Donut Express is also dealing with personnel issues with employees needing certain uniform considerations due to religious reasons and other employees not understanding why this person does not have to comply with the dress code in the same way they do. In response to what they view as unfair, they have been harassing and singling out this employee. In order to deal fully with these issues Donut Expresses has implemented a new ethics program that will provide a more structured layout of how the company will deal with all current and future ethical and moral issues and any legal ramifications that result from those issues. No dress code can cover all contingencies so employees must exert a certain amount of judgment in their choice of clothing to wear to work. (Heathfield, 2006)
Donut Express allocates significant resources to ethical and legal compliance and has worked closely with the Ethics Resource Center, located in Washington D.C., to develop formal ethics and legal compliance programs. Beyond the Corporate Sentencing Guidelines, other legal and regulatory standards have also spawned significant ethics and compliance programs developments. (Smith, 2003) These compliance programs ensure a good relationship between ethics, morality, and social issues in the legal environment. As with any organization, Donut Express is responsible for any legal issues that may arise within the organization and proper documentation, training, and communication will help eliminate legal matters. Many people may argue the fact that ethics and law do not work hand in hand but on the contrary they do. One of the difficulties of the law, and of “tort” or civil law in particular, one never knows if one’s behavior might be liable until a lawsuit is launched and ultimately resolved.
Ethics has become more prevalent in organizations over the past 20 years and serious consequences can occur if ethical dilemmas are improperly handled. Due to the seriousness of unethical behavior the fact remains that most ethical issues in the workplace turn to the law for resolution. For example, a Donut Express coworker notifies management about a sexual harassment incident that occurred with a well-liked repeat customer. Although pre-existing ethical manuals are in place the specific topic of sexual harassment with customer involvement doesn’t exist. Management’s responsibility is to defuse the situation and stop the behavior and notify authorities of the situation. Management may also notify the Ethics Resource Center of the procedural documentation error. To be productive in the workplace and to be an efficient manager, it’s critical for an individual to be aware of when you or someone else has crossed the line and established an inappropriate relationship. (Thompson, 2007)
To eliminate this type of behavior effective communication could come in handy. Effective communication occurs not when the message is sent, but when people receive it and understand it. Important policy needs to be communicated in short brochures that highlight important rules and communicated in person in staff meetings, orientation programs, training sessions, and even posted in stores.
To ensure an excellent customer service experience and pleasant work environment all employees at Donut Express are asked to sign a waiver stating that he or she read all policies and procedures and agree to abide by the rules and regulations. Should ethical or legal issues occur, the employees are responsible for notifying management and all allegations are to be submitted into an investigation computer system, Nip It, where all ethical matters are tracked from start to finish and kept on file for up to 6 years.
Recognizing the importance of conducting business in an ethical manner in order to assist with continued future organizational success, Donuts Express has implemented a formal code of ethics that outlines the expected conduct of all levels of staff members.
Within this code of ethics, the Donut Express has implemented the core values of the organization which include integrity, sustainability, teamwork, customer centricity and excellence. Each value contains important points/questions that must be asked of oneself when making decisions relating to the organization.
Building on these five core corporate values, we are able to promote an atmosphere of quality ethical conduct and decisions by all staff. Once evaluating the questions presented in each of the core values, the ethical decision-making process becomes clearer. It allows staff guidance in answering the final questions required to an ethical decision-making process.
In addition to the ethics program in place for Donut Express, additional annual training is provided and required of all staff members in order to ensure that corporate core values are always clear to staff and that all decisions follow the ethical guidelines outlined above.
In conclusion the Donut Express is a company like any other company that has to deal with many people of all different walks of life, but with good training and high ethical standards helps the Donut Express succeed. Success is measured on many of different types of scales, and one of them is how to improve a company when society is steady changing. The Donut Express has mastered the art of improving itself for the future though keeping some of the business local, and by changing some policies to help deal with moral and ethical issues.
Like all businesses the Donut Express has a legal team that helps with all the things that helps keep the business making money and not losing it to lawsuits brought on by the public or employees. One way that Donut Express keeps legal problems at bay is by effective communication, it helps the company out when they are put into certain situations, it also keeps the employees involve. Having employees that are involve with the helping and abiding by the rules will always be a way for a company to stay away from legal troubles. To help deal with the legal troubles having a formal code of ethics helps the Donut Express bridge the gap between what and how an employee should act and deal with ethical issues within the company. The code of ethics is a good foundation when teaching employees about ethical issues that arise within a company and how they should be handled, because if we follow the code, it would be easy to point out legal and ethical issue that a the Donut Express would face. The only way that this type of issues can be pointed out and handle is by yearly training of employees, and keeping policies in places where they can be seen at anytime. By conducting all of these different types of issues have helped the Donut Express stay on top of the business world even when times have become work for the consumers.
Elam, S. (2008). Small Business Success. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/news/small.business.success
Heathfield, S. M. (2006). Dress for Work Success. Retrieved from http://humanresources.about.com/od/workrelationships/a/dress_code.htm
Klebe Treviño, L & Nelson, K. (2007), Managing Business Ethics. Straight Talk About How to Do It Right, (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
Mahoney, J. (Winter 1994). What makes a business company ethical? Business Strategy Review, 5, n4. p.1(15). Retrieved from General OneFile via Gale:
http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS
Ogloff, James, Simon Fraser, Olley, Maureen. (2009), The interaction between ethics and the law: The ongoing refinement of ethical standards for psychologists in Canada. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pdh&AN=cap-39-3-221&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Smith, T. (2003). Ethics and Compliance Programs. Retrieved from http://www.singerpubs.com/ethikos/html/pastarticlesbysubject.html
Thompson, M. K. (2007). Sexual Harassment Management. Retrieved from http://www.amanet.org/training/webcasts/sexual-harrasment-110207.aspx
Warner, E. (2007). Dealing with Different Personalities. Retrieved from http://www.idea.org/personality.html
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