Essentials of Business Ethics E-Book

Denis Collins

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Serie: Essentials Series
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 253

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

The essential guide to creating an organization ofhigh integrity and superior performance With the high-profile corporate scandals that have taken place in recent years, corporate ethics are more important to a business than ever before. The failure of ethical leadership in an organization is very destructive-it demoralizes the workforce, breeds public distrust, and ultimately results in organizational decay. Based on more than two decades of consulting, teaching, and research, Denis Collins's Essentials of Business Ethics is designed with appreciation for your demanding professional obligations, with easy-to-find, at-your-fingertips information. Its nuts-and-bolts presentation provides you with practical "how-to" examples and best practices on every area of managing ethics inside your organization in a handy, concise format. This brief yet powerful guide presents executives and leaders with timely discussion on: * Human nature and unethical behavior in organizations * Determining the ethics of job candidates * The differences between a Code of Ethics and a Code of Conduct * The best practices for managing diversity * Using Management-by-Objectives to establish work goals that encourage ethical behavior * Performance appraisals that reward ethical behaviors * Aligning community outreach with the company's mission and assets * Handling the environmental change process * How to manage three internal communication mechanisms for employees to report potentially unethical or illegal behaviors: an Ethics & Compliance Office, Ombudsman, and Ethics Hotlines Providing a five-step ethics job-screen process and an ethical decision-making framework, as well as guidelines for conducting a variety of business ethics workshops, Essentials of Business Ethics is the only guide you will need containing all the relevant facts on business ethics, all in one place.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Essentials Series

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Foreword

Preface

General Overview

About the Web Site

Acknowledgements

PART 1 - Background

CHAPTER 1 - Human Nature and Unethical Behavior in Organizations

Daily Occurrence of Ethical Dilemmas

Competitive Advantages of Ethical Organizations

Managing Morally Imperfect People

What is the Extent of Unethical Behaviors at Work?

What Types of Organizations and Operational Areas Have Ethical Problems?

Why Do Good People Behave Unethically?

What are the Costs of Unethical Behaviors?

What is Human Nature?

Summary

Notes

CHAPTER 2 - The Ethical Foundation of Capitalism and the Optimal Ethics ...

Adam Smith’s Capitalism and Business Ethics

Federal Sentencing Guidelines

The Optimal Ethics Systems Model

Summary

Note

PART 2 - Getting Everyone on Board

CHAPTER 3 - Hiring Ethical People

The Five-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Summary

Notes

CHAPTER 4 - Codes of Ethics and Codes of Conduct

Difference Between a Code of Ethics and a Code of Conduct

Importance of Code Expectations and Awareness

Prevalence of Codes of Ethics and Conduct

Code of Ethics Content

Code of Conduct Content

Effective Codes

Annual Code of Ethics Assessment

Summary

Notes

CHAPTER 5 - Ethical Decision-Making Framework

Rotary International’s Four-Way Test

Raytheon’s Ethics Quick Test

The Ethics Decision-Making Framework

The Five Ethical Theories

Persuading Others

Ten “Ethical Hazard Approaching” Signs

Summary

Notes

CHAPTER 6 - Ethics Training

Extent of Ethics Training

Who to Train

Web-Based Ethics Training

Facilitating an Ethics Discussion

Ethics Training Options

Assessing the Ethics Training Workshops

Summary

Notes

CHAPTER 7 - Respecting Employee Diversity

Competitive Advantages of Diversity Management

Four Layers of Diversity

Implementing a Diversity Initiative

Best Operational Practices for Managing Diversity

Diversity Training Problems and Solutions

Diversity Discussion Guidelines

Diversity Training Exercises

Summary

Notes

PART 3 - Daily Internal Operations

CHAPTER 8 - Ethics Reporting Systems

Undesirable Employee Reactions to Ethical Issues

Ethics & Compliance Officer (ECO)

Ombudsman

Assist Lines

Whistleblowing

Summary

Notes

CHAPTER 9 - Ethical Leadership, Work Goals, and Performance Appraisals

Managers as Ethical Role Models

Great Place to Work Dimensions

Virtues and Leadership Practices

Work Goals

Performance Appraisals

Collection and Evaluation Issues

Performance Appraisal Feedback

Disciplining Work Rule Violations

Forgiveness

Summary

Notes

CHAPTER 10 - Empowering Ethical Employees

Go-Getters, Fence-Sitters, and Adversarials

Effective Teams

Systematic Team Problem-Solving Process

Connecting Employees to the Mission—Appreciative Inquiry

Daily Performance Reflections

Scanlon-Type Gainsharing Plans

Open Book Management

Profit Sharing

Stock Options

Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOPs)

Cooperatives

Summary

Notes

PART 4 - Being a Good Citizen

CHAPTER 11 - Environmental Management

Competitive Advantages of Being Eco-Friendly

Managing the Environmental Change Process

Environmental Management System (EMS)

Environmental Risk Assessment

The Natural Step (TNS) Framework and Cost Reductions

Product Packaging and Design

Green Buildings

Environmental Performance Indicators

Sustainability Reporting

Summary

Notes

CHAPTER 12 - Community Outreach and Respect

Business Case for Community Involvement

What to Give

Giving to Whom?

Team Building and Project Management Training Opportunities

Community Involvement Management Process

Community Reputation Assessment

Social Performance Reporting

Summary

Notes

Index

Essentials Series

The Essentials Series was created for busy business advisory and corporate professionals. The books in this series were designed so that these busy professionals can quickly acquire knowledge and skills in core business areas.

Each book provides need-to-have fundamentals for those professionals who must:

• Get up to speed quickly, because they have been promoted to a new position or have broadened their responsibility scope

• Manage a new functional area

• Brush up on new developments in their area of responsibility

• Add more value to their company or clients

Other books in this series include:

Essentials of Accounts Payable, Mary S. Schaeffer

Essentials of Balanced Scorecard, Mohan Nair

Essentials of Capacity Management, Reginald Tomas Yu-Lee

Essentials of Capital Budgeting, James Sagner

Essentials of Cash Flow, H.A. Schaeffer, Jr.

Essentials of Corporate Fraud, Tracy L. Coenen

Essentials of Corporate Performance Measurement, George T. Friedlob, Lydia L.F. Schleifer, and Franklin J. Plewa, Jr.

Essentials of Cost Management, Joe and Catherine Stenzel

Essentials of Credit, Collections, and Accounts Receivable, Mary S. Schaeffer

Essentials of CRM: A Guide to Customer Relationship Management, Bryan Bergeron

Essentials of Financial Analysis, George T. Friedlob and Lydia L. F. Schleifer

Essentials of Financial Risk Management, Karen A. Horcher

Essentials of Foreign Exchange Trading, James Chen

Essentials of Intellectual Property, Paul J. Lerner and Alexander I. Poltorak

Essentials of Knowledge Management, Bryan Bergeron

Essentials of Patents, Andy Gibbs and Bob DeMatteis

Essentials of Payroll Management and Accounting, Steven M. Bragg

Essentials of Sarbanes-Oxley, Sanjay Anand

Essentials of Shared Services, Bryan Bergeron

Essentials of Supply Chain Management, Michael Hugos

Essentials of Trademarks and Unfair Competition, Dana Shilling

Essentials of Treasury, Karen A. Horcher

Essentials of Managing Corporate Cash, Michele Allman-Ward and James Sagner

Essentials of XBRL, Bryan Bergeron

For more information on any of the above titles, please visit www.wiley.com.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Copyright © 2009 by Denis Collins. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Collins, Denis, 1956-

Essentials of business ethics: creating an organization of high integrity and superior performance/Denis Collins.

p. cm. - (Essentials series) Includes index.

eISBN : 978-0-470-48623-8

1. Business ethics. I. Title.

HF5387.C625 2009

174’ .4-dc22

2008054163

This book is dedicated to all employees creating ethical organizations.

Foreword

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that “Life is the sum of your choices.” While Emerson was reflecting on one’s personal choices, his thinking is clearly applicable to daily business decisions. A leader’s most important responsibility is to establish the ethical culture of the organization—that is, the values that underlie the behavior of all employees, partners, and other stakeholders.

Corporations may espouse laudable corporate values, such as quality, integrity, and community, but these all spring from ethics—essentially, knowing the difference between right and wrong. Values are what you believe, what you say, and what you do. If key stakeholders—customers and employees—perceive cognitive dissonance between those elements, then the leader needs to re-evaluate his or her thinking and actions to avoid disloyalty, mediocre performance, and high turnover. The strong, effective leader will accept that he or she is vulnerable to the possibility of making a mistake—a poor decision—and be prepared to take appropriate, swift corrective action. The effective leader is not so arrogant as to shirk accountability.

One of the most difficult challenges for an organization is to recruit individuals who demonstrate and sustain ethical behavior over time. At Physicians Plus Insurance, ethical behavior was a clear core competency required in all executive and management job descriptions, and was part of the annual performance review. The perception of ethical leadership has been measured annually for several years through an all-employee Great Place to Work® survey. The practice of ethical behavior is essential to high performance and long-term, competitive sustainability.

The topic of ethics is a difficult subject for leaders that is easily side-stepped, as it is human nature to avoid complex issues. Ethics is not a required course in most graduate business curricula. Emphasis is given to the “hard” business sciences, such as accounting, finance, marketing, information technology, operations management, and so on. But, in fact, ethics is the hardest subject to understand and it may take a lifetime of thought, concentration, and practice to master. It’s ironic that ethics is not the first prerequisite of business school programs nor consciously integrated into every course in the curriculum. As a precondition of graduation, students should write and defend a major paper on the topic of ethical leadership.

The most ethical enterprises practice transparency and fairness in decision-making; open, two-way communication between leaders and stakeholders; and accountability to stakeholders (customers, taxpayers, patients, congregates) who trust their leaders to do the right thing. The business leader’s most important job is to establish the organization’s ethical boundaries, convey clear and explicit expectations of the leadership team, and teach these principles to all employees, so that ethical thinking becomes part of the organization’s genetic code.

I presented the core values of Physicians Plus Insurance, embodied in our Code of Ethics, at new employee orientations. I made it clear that ethics is a matter of trust: If we lost the trust of our customers because of perceived ethical breaches, we would be out of business. Being an insurance company, adherence to this code could be a competitive advantage.

All employees were required to attend our annual ethics conference, and all managers received mandatory ethics training. Frequently, I would author an article in the employee newsletter addressing the topic of ethics, using real examples pertinent to our business. The Board of Directors, which has ultimate responsibility for an organization’s adherence to ethical standards, also grappled with an ethical dilemma as part of its regular Board agenda—sometimes it was hypothetical, but sometimes it was real.

The failure of ethical leadership in an organization is very destructive; it demoralizes the workforce, breeds public distrust, and ultimately results in organizational decay. Think about the legacy that you want to leave: Do you want to be remembered as a ruthless and heartless person who despoiled the value of the business entrusted to you, or as a leader who, through the daily application of ethical leadership principles, created value for stakeholders, including inspiring your employees to join you in leaving the world a better place?

In his previous book, Behaving Badly: Ethical Lessons from Enron, Professor Denis Collins observed that “ethical perfection is a goal that is always a few steps into the future, where it remains our entire lives.” By applying the wealth of practical advice in his latest book, you will be taking a giant step forward.

Martin A. Preizler

President, MPAworldclass

(www.MPAworldclass.com)

Former President and CEO,

Physicians Plus Health Insurance Corporation

Preface

A business is a community of individuals that transforms resources obtained from suppliers into products and services customers find useful. The same is true for nonprofit organizations and local, state, and federal government agencies. Their scorecards differ—a balanced budget instead of profits—but their activities are similar. Sufficient revenue must be generated, or activities will come to a halt.