Question

In 350 or more, A discussion of the ethical responsibility of a business to be transparent in its operations. How much is a business ethically obligated to divulge to the public?

Answer 1

Business ethics in any Organization, plays an important role. Ethical principles are both personally-driven as well as imposed upon us by way of the framework of Organizational values as well as the laws that have been formulated by the countries. In terms of the implementation of the ethics to ensure transparency in the Business operations, the role of HR is very significant. Business corporations of today are much bigger than in the past and the impact of their operations on the society is much larger. Further, the scope of operations of organizations has widened. A greater lot of the population is victim of bad actions by relatively few with disastrous consequence and the Ethical issues occur frequently in management. Here is when the HR needs to act proactively to ensure the smooth implementation of the management metrics.

The Organization, further, in order to ensure the transparency in the Business operations, need to conduct the Corporate governance in order to attract a good deal of public interest because of its apparent importance for the economic health of corporations and society in general. In case of Business ethics, Corporate Governance is about value maximization, subject to meeting the obligations of corporation’s financial without compromising on the code of ethics. Therefore, Professional judgment is necessary in any given scenario but it cannot be termed as the only condition to ensure moral decisions because the latter is based upon various other factors apart from the Professional codes as well. In certain cases, there could even be clashes of the Professional judgment with that of the moral judgments and hence it could be a insufficient condition. Corporate Governance could also be taken in high regards in an Organization to support the Code of Ethics. There are many cases where the law coincides with the Business ethics or ethical behavior of Organizations or individuals.

Sustainability is also one of the main focuses of Corporate Governance because once shareholders’ interests are taken care of, ethical decisions are regarded to and legally enforceable acts are ensured by Corporate Governance, there is an assurance for the long term survival of the firm and hence sustainability.

In the absence of exercising of the ethical values in the Organization, it has been observed in certain Companies that the employees are not motivated to perform in a direction that regards for the Business ethics as well, while achieving the Organizational goals. The concept of Ethical values has failed to be inculcated by the leaders effectively, owing to the lack of accountability that would make the leaders accountable for the unethical activities of their employees and as a result, the adherence to Corporate Governance is also not regarded well. In such cases, some managers resist Corporate Governance. All these actions could impede the transparency of the Business operations towards the society.

On the other side, with the presence of a strong ethical system of values in the Organization, certain managers believe in the Corporate Governance by adapting to the Ethic and compliance program which is a program that promotes the Organizational culture of ethics and values. Also it ensures the compliance to the Corporate Governance activities so as to build an Organization that regards to the ethical side of its activities and legal adherence.

When the Business centers in to the ‘Social purpose’ as its core area of accomplishments, then the Company attempts in creation of social value in order to achieve its Business goals. To this extent, the businesses ethically obligate themselves to divulge to the public the information that they feel, are relevant to the Public to ponder upon and to help them decide whether or not to undertake any relationships with such a Company.

Hence, in order to increase the Organizational behavior and culture, with the blend of Business ethics and Corporate Governance, various steps could be undertaken such as establishing ethics in Decision making, formulating Code of Conduct in the Business operations, etc. in accordance with the overall HR policies and issues guiding the Organization as a whole.