Design an ethics program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Design an ethics program - Essay Example There are many forms of business ethics such as the philosophy of the business. By this we mean that if the sole purpose of the firm is to maximize the wealth of its shareholders then they will not consider the interest of anyone else. Then there is the concept of corporate social responsibility which considers the rights of company and the society as a whole. Then there are ethical issues pertaining to the intra industry competition, corporate governance and the misuse of the ethics for one's own benefits. In order to overcome such ethical issues companies focus more these days towards the formation of their ethical program in the organization. They are diverted towards promoting non social values by addressing such issues on their company websites under headings such as social responsibility charters and the codes of social conduct and so on. There are mainly three ways in which the company can make this ethical program. One such business is ABC manufacturer of cereals offering products for children and family. The company also sells frozen waffles and pancakes. It is very important for them to generate an ethics program as over the years it has been seen that businesses and governments have to confront public, political and legal reactions in cases of misconduct. Compliance with the company's policies, regulations and procedures is an effective tool for the smooth functioning of the organization as well as its reputation of the business. Customers also perceive you positively. Successful organizations particularly lay special emphasis on it due to its benefits. It reduces widespread risk. It is sign of good corporate governance; it will facilitate the company in achieving its goals and long term prosperity. It will promote the values of the organization and help it in maintain its ethical health (Fraedrich & Farrell, 2008-09). There are mainly three ways in which ABC can make this ethical program. ABC can form specific rules and guidelines in order to regulate their standards for example a written code of conduct or it can form a statement which comprises of the missions and values of the business. Then there are some firms that apply corporate philosophy such as Hewlett Packard did, they defined it as HP's way of doing business. Like Hewlett many business organizations use this approach. Research has shown that there are a lot of benefits of such a program such as the prevention of misconduct, this will save the monetary losses and also gain customer trust. The business will be adaptive to organizational change. By implementing the rules they can come up with various other ways of mergers, acquisitions and adapting new technology. Prevent them from getting fines of billions of dollars and penalties which can be very costly. It will help boost the relationship with the stakeholders. Stakeholders are all the groups related to the business that have some form of interest in the business. The company will be able to get away with the corporate scandals if they have a defined compliance and ethics program. Moreover external auditors go through the compliance culture of the company while performing the audit of the company. They have their own