Question

The readings and discussion this week focuses on the public ethical expectations business leaders in general. In recent history, several events around the world have contributed to an erosion of the public's perception of corporate America. Many people have financial stake in businesses, therefore it is crucial that we take this obligation to the public seriously. Recently there has been an increased emphasis on management acknowledging and accepting their responsibility of implementing corporate governance.

Many methods are used to maintain these standards in the business profession, including government regulations, ethics course requirements in schools, and professional societies or associations that maintain codes of ethics. What method do you think leaders find most effective or beneficial?

Answer 1

Following ethical practices and being good in the opinion of the stakeholders is an issue every progressive organisaton is concerned with. Compliance with regulations and following best practices in ethics presents the organisation to the regulators, partners, customers, legal entities and members of the business ecosystem in positive way, enhancing its credibility, trustworthiness and brand equity, which directly reflects in its financial performance, market share, growth prospects, customer preference, work culture and the positive image in the busienss ecosystem.

In my opinion, developing culture of ethics within the organisation is the most crucial aspect of the exercise. The process must start from the top management taking the ownership of the actions of every employee. The elements of this program must include the eduction and training of employees in ethical standards, compliance to regulations, ethical best practices in the industry and potential situations that might contribute to the violation of ethics. A culture which encourages ethical way of doing things should be developed at all levels through this exercise. The plan should also have provision for reward to best performers and a policy for zero tolerance for the incidents of violation.An appropriate channel for resolution of situations of ethical dilemma should be in place to guide the employees.

Other methods for maintaining ethical standards are the help of external consultants who are experts of the subject matter, and may come up with the best solution suiting the organisation and a mandate to maintain an ethical score for every employee in the organisation with suitable mechanism to measure it in his / her work domain.