Chief Executive Officer and Ethics Program

1. Is there an ethical violation, dilemma or concern and, if so, what is it?

Consider an organization you were/are currently involved with. After providing a short overview of your organization, reflect on the Seven Levels of an Ethical Organization, found in the Gebler article and slide deck, and write a paper answering the following questions (not more than three pages - format of your choosing):

2) What does it mean for an organization to be ethical in its communication and practices?

2. Give some examples of ethical issues that you have experienced in jobs, and explain how HR did or did not help resolve them.

The author of Proverbs confirms to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6, ESV). Employee ethical concerns are to be dealt with according to internal process and procedure, such as employee and contractor agreements. First, I would find an ethics hotline for the company. These hotlines are meant to allow employees and contractors to report possible wrong business practices and discrimination. Next, I would inform my direct management of the findings. After this discussion, I would consult the appropriate legal counsel about next steps understanding that the CIO may retaliate but morally, I have to report the issue. Employees must be trained on the ethical and legal implication of falsifying information and proper way to respond to differing opinions (Kaupins & Park, 2011). As seen in Proverbs 21:6 " The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death" (ESV). My trust is in the Lord and He will glad my decision and protect me. A job is temporal but my faith is eternal. God will provide employment is I lose my job for reporting the issue. Additionally, he will be by my side to guide me through the legal ramification of reporting the tampering of business data and

Analyze three of the punishments that corporations undergo when they have acted unethically (i.e., name them, define them, explain what they are). In addition, explain three threats to running an ethical corporation. Finally, from your own perspective, explain whether or not a corporation should have to function by the same codes of morality that individual people in society have to abide by or if they should be allowed to get away with certain actions that people in society cannot get away with.

I and two other individuals have agreed to start a business that will provide management consulting services to nonprofit organizations. Because of the increased scrutiny on actions of corporations and those who act on behalf of organizations, we have determined that it would be essential to have our ethics program developed before we start offering our services. A business as a moral agent must prove that it has an effective ethics program to protect employees, the corporation, and businesses that the company will serve. It is also important to have an ethics program to support the ethical values of our corporation and to make it clear to employees what is acceptable behavior, and to make clear what policies and standards are to be

Your workplace will have it’s own policies and procedures in place detailing and to who you should report your suspicions to and the correct course of action to follow.

Signatures are obtained on the Verification of Training forms and are to be submitted to Human Resources for retention in the employee’s personnel folder. Employee misconduct will be monitored in by supervisory review of actions taken by employees, by conducting yearly surveys and also by implementing a reporting system. In our monitoring, we will be reviewing compliance and targeting deviations to our established ethical behavior. When the method of surveys is utilized, they will be nameless and must be completed within the thirty day allotted time. One feature of our reporting system is the establishment of our APEX Ethics Hotline, (800) 555-5555. This line is monitored by the Ethics Office and is open to anyone, the public, employees and customers to anonymously report unethical behavior or to ask ethics questions. With this system we are able to effectively monitor and evaluate unethical behavior and to take corrective action as required. The Ethics Officer compiles this data monthly and reports to the CEO with the trends and analysis.

During your time with the company you may run into situations that you would like guidance on.

In your work experience so far (internship or otherwise) what ethical issues have you seen or experienced? How did you handle

Ethics is the application of one’s personal beliefs and the impact on how a person makes decisions regarding the relationships involving a company. The most common agents that involve a person’s decisions are owners, employees, customers, clients,

Martin Marietta took a hands-on approach in creating their Ethics Program, but monitoring 60,000 employees “ethical decisions” took a large workforce. In 1986, a committee including Martin Marietta and several other defense contractors created “A Defense Industry Initiative on Business Ethics and Conduct (DII).” Martin Marietta placed their entire company under a voluntary disclosure program, which required all employee misconduct to be reported, monitored, and resolved. To achieve this task, an audit committee was formed which tripled in manpower between 1986 and 1991. George Sammet was placed in charge of the Ethics program by insuring the employee’s complaints, questions, and concerns were heard and dealt with. “Ethic Officers” were placed at all of Martin Marietta’s branches to handle employee related issues. Ethical complaints could be made anonymously or vocally to field “Ethic Officers.” Once complaints were made the ethic officers would report them for investigation through audit, personnel, security, or legal staff. Almost half of the complaints which were reported were personnel related cases including salaries, promotions, and poor supervisory skills. But, with such an elaborate program, employees quickly became aware of possible retaliation for reporting issues. Once the issues were reported, they then needed to be dealt with. This could include verbal or written reprimand, transfer, or possible

Ø Give some specific examples of ethical issues that confront businesses and how these might be addressed.

b. What are some of the reasons for the ARC's ethical dilemmas, and how can the organization guarantee that these problems will not recur in the future?