| |
| |
|
Ethics Information |
|
|
|
How To Build A Business Ethics Program
Recent corporate financial scandals have highlighted the importance of business ethics and legal compliance. Yet a recent National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) survey of 280 corporate CEOs and directors found that "only one of three directors felt that they were highly effective in ensuring legal compliance". Ethics in Business Most companies realize that they need to develop and implement a business ethics and compliance program. An effective program can: ? Establish a code of conduct that reduces risk of criminal behavior ? Detect wrongdoing, foster quick investigations, minimize consequences ? Demonstrate company's ethical/legal philosophy during an investigation ? Reduce fines if company is found guilty of wrongdoing ? Enhance company reputation and stature Looking at the Options But how do you build an effective program? Companies find themselves with three options to build the program: ? Develop in-house from scratch ? Hire an external consultant ? Use a pre-written manual And most of these companies learn a few lessons - sometimes the hard way. Making a Strong Company Policy Developing a program from scratch can be very time consuming and costly. Also, the company might not have the knowledge or understanding of the complexity involved. But hiring an external consultant is not always a cost effective option either. So what's left? Developing Your Business Ethics Program By using a pre-written template or manual, many companies have found it easier to develop their business ethics program. And to do this, they look for what a strong program needs. A highly effective tool for creating, organizing and implementing a sound business ethics and compliance program should provide: ? Sample policies and procedures ? Step-by-step instructions for the development of a program ? A business ethics training program outline with classroom materials and a detailed session leader's guide ? Business ethics and compliance officer position description ? Templates for employee involvement ? Sample code of conduct Implementing Your Business Ethics Program If the company board has committed to a strong business ethics and compliance program, the next step is to put the manual in the hands of corporate executives responsible for implementation. Used properly under advice of legal counsel, this efficient tool will yield a solid program that the board can understand, endorse, and monitor for effectiveness. With step-by-step guidelines and accompanying examples of policies, procedures, training program, and employee survey, an effective tool provides an excellent road map for implementing an ethics and compliance initiative. Maintaining a Culture of Ethics Companies should make certain that their ethics compliance manual provides fully editable MS Word files with sample policies, surveys, forms and training session outlines. Also, businesses should ensure their ethics compliance system manual is fully endorsed by The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) as a tool to maintain a culture of integrity. Chris Anderson is currently the managing director of Bizmanualz, Inc. and co-author of policies and procedures manuals, producing the layout, process design and implementation to increase performance. To learn how to increase your business performance, visit: Bizmanualz, Inc.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
What is a Ponzi Scheme? This is for those who don't believe me when I talk about the dangers of "mystery money" schemes.The terms "pyramid scheme" and "Ponzi scheme" are used almost interchangeably. Business Ethics There is much talk today about ethics in business - as there should be, but there should be more than talk; there should be a high moral code for all executives who are responsible to both their customers and their shareholders.I have been the president and CEO of one publicly owned company and also was president of another that was responsible to customers who traded equities. Business Ethics: Functional Choices Years of experience have taught me there is no such thing as "Business Ethics". If a person isn't ethical in the rest of their lives, their business ethics aren't worth the shoe leather they've worn out either. The Three Schools of Business Ethics G. Richard Shell, author of Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People, identifies three primary schools of ethics in negotiation. Ethics? How To Take the Measure Business When asked to write a small piece pertaining to ethics and integrity in the business world, my first inclination was to draw on personal experience.Everyone has bad experiences to relate. Ethics in Business...A Lost Art While watching Face the Nation one Sunday earlier this year, Bob Schiffer discussed the airline industry, his mother and ethics in business. Like Bob, I think it is a sad commentary today, that we have to police businesses. The Need to Survive; A Death Knell For Organizations Changing the driving force upon which business decisions are based is crucial in order to not only restore ethics in business but to truly improve the lives of those whom they were meant to benefit: executives, employees and consumers. After all, weren't business activities meant to improve the state of existence of human beings on this planet?So what is this driving force that I am referring to? Well its the "fear of not surviving". Brain Development and Due Process DUE PROCESSAfricans, especially Nigerians are stereotyped on the internet and offline in foreign countries as corrupt, cheats and thieves.Whenever I have to introduce myself to foreign contacts, whether online or offline, I must make visible effort to prove my contact wrong, because he or she instantly sees me as a scammer-419, another Nigerian cheat or thief. Diversity I know that diversity has been a big topic of conversation ever since the early 1990s when research supported the demographics that by the year 2000, 85% of the entering workforce would be female, African-American, Asian-American, Latino, or new immigrants. The fact that white males would be a minority entering the workplace was a wake up call for corporate America. The Armaments Industry and Holy (?) Roman Emperors "The time for fixing every essential right on a legal basis is while our rulers are honest and ourselves united. From the conclusion of this war we shall be going down hill. Financial Projections in Business Plans One of the most difficult sections to write in a business plan is the proforma and financial sections. After all it is most difficult to what exact costs you will incur or what level of sales volumes are actually achievable. Business Ethics: How The Sales Function Can Transmit Company Values I recently got a "thank-you" call from a man who read my new e-book Buying Facilitation."Boy," he said, "this method sure helps me close more deals and make more money. Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Work Ethics and the Customer This article relates to the Ethics in the Workplace competency, commonly evaluated in employee surveys. It gives examples of how employees and customers consider ethical behavior and sound values an integral part of your organization. Better Business Boundaries To get a new client, we might be inclined to make concessions no matter what the cost: offer a second or extra long sample session; reduce fees; set session times we don't want to work. We might leap at any opportunity before looking at the possible return on investment of time. Minding Your Global Manners To say that today's business environment is becoming increasingly more global is to state the obvious. Meetings, phone calls and conferences are held all over the world and attendees can come from any point on the globe. Laws and Ethics?. Who's Kidding Who? Years ago I read an article by a renowned psychologist wherein he wrote his studies found one percent of all human beings would never lie, cheat or steal. One percent would always lie, cheat or steal and given the right set of circumstances, the rest of us would likely lie, cheat and/or steal. The Only Thing You Get for Free in Life is Hungry! My grandfather was a very wise man. Simple but wise. Ethics in Business - Please Have Some Is your business ethical?What I mean is "Does your business do the right thing when faced with that decision?" It's a simple question, which many businesses struggle with. I just don't understand the struggle part?I have worked for companies that believed they were ethical, and really have no clue. Enron's Ultimate Victim: Ethics FROM the 'MORAL HIGH GROUND', where we imagine ourselves, the Enron fiasco should have come as no surprise. Enron is simply a quintessential example of the degradation of principles such as trust, loyalty and ethical standards. The Views of Karl Marx VS Max Weber Compare and contrast the views of Karl Marx and Max Weber with regards as to what motivates people to work.Karl Marx: [1] Exploitation[2] Proletariat have to sell their labour-power[3] The machines of the industrial revolution eliminate creativity require only the workers own labour, work is alienated, workers alienated.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
