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Essay on A Corporate Code of Ethics is Not Enough

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After news of the scandal of Enron, one of the hottest items on e-Bay was a 64-page copy of Enron’s corporate code of ethics. One seller/former employee proclaimed it had “never been opened.” In the forward Kenneth L. Lay, CEO of Enron stated, “We want to be proud of Enron and to know that it enjoys a reputation for fairness and honesty and that it is respected (Enron 2).” For a company with such an extensive code of ethics and a CEO who seemed to want the company to be respected for that, there are still so many unanswered questions of what exactly went wrong. I believe that simply having a solid and thorough code of ethics alone does not prevent a company from acting unethically when given the right opportunity.

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It can include the rules for governing the company in cases of employees being caught lying, cheating, or stealing.

In creating a code of ethics, several questions should be asked. What is the purpose of the new code? What are the needs and values of the organization it is being created for? Who should be involved in creating this code? How is the code intended to be implemented? How and when will the code be reviewed and revised? The process of created a solid code of ethics matters just as much as the final product.

The company’s code of ethics must also make sense to its employees. The code must be written in a practical and understandable manner. It should provide clear action statements that indicate what should and should not be done. The code should be clearly integrated with the company’s mission and vision. It should be apparent to the employees how following the code of ethics will aid in accomplishing the company’s vision and the employees must see a tie that following the code aids in their personal success within the company (Hawkins 1).

Management Involvement

Having a company code of ethics alone simply is not enough. As the latest news has show, Enron had a very extensive code of ethics that went ignored. A tone must be set by senior management on a daily basis. If an employee sees a member of management padding an expense report, then they feel

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