Corporate Ethics, An Informative Guide

What are Corporate Ethics? They are a set of codes. These codes are chosen by the company to guide them in making ethical business choices in the way they run their company. Why are they important in business relationships? In this article we will examine how these issues are answered and related. From a survey by AMA Corporate Values Survey (www.amanet.org, 2002,Oct 30) ethics rated the second highest in percentage with 76%. Customer satisfaction ranked the highest at 77% This tells the public that corporate ethics are highly valued in a company when choosing whether or not to do business with that company.

Who designs and sets the code of ethics to be used? In most companies, it is the management that chooses and sets the tone of the company's inward and outward appearance to other companies. Encouraging employees to follow the chosen code of ethics is primary to the success of the company. How effective management is in carrying out this can vary from company to company. One excellent example of an ethical business is Chick-fil-a. One of the corporation's main code of ethics has been to remain closed Sundays to honor God. This has never changed since Chick-fil-a has been in business. Their example is to be commended.

The codes of ethics is considered an official declaration of what the company's major values and ethics are. The employees are expected to follow these codes which are usually posted and/or a copy given to each employee when hired. Any amendments are made known by memo or company meetings. Not following these codes of ethics may be grounds to be let go, because how well the company's code of ethics is enforced help other companies decide if the company is reputable enough to do business with.

Codes of Ethics should include safety issues, health issues and security monitoring; be in compliance with all laws, both federal and state; provide the best product or service possible. These codes are standard and should not be omitted. The writing of the full code will differ accordingly by the type of business the company runs. Always remember, for maximum enforcement, codes of ethics should be shown by management's example and for positive reinforcement with employees, publicly reward employees who follow them.

Reference

Robbins,S.P.& Coulter,M., Management(9th ed.)2007, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall (pp 134-135) Retrieved May 27, 2007

AMA Corporate Values Survey Retrieved May 27, 2008 from www.amanet.org, (2002,Oct 30)

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