Ethical Leadership Task 3

Ethical Leadership Task 3 A1. Code of Ethics Most companies today have a well know code of ethics. I choose to analyze Target because they are a well-known company and I personally like shopping there. Analyzing the code of ethics for Target, we can see they take their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) seriously. Target covers many areas within the code of ethics. For example, non-discrimination, diversity, health and safety, and respecting others within their workforce. For the community, their code of ethics calls for caring for the planet, investing within the community, and respecting human rights. (“Our commitments | Target Corporation,” n.d.) Targets code of ethics describes a sensible structure of their commitment to the environment, their community, and their workforce, which are areas of CSR. (Trevino & Nelson, 2016) A2. Code of Ethics with Legal Mandates Target takes legal matters seriously by complying with all financial, environmental, and business laws. The code of ethics addresses preventing bribery, providing accurate financial statements, competing fairly, avoiding money laundering, and accurate timecard reporting. Target prevents bribery by complying will all anti-bribery laws. Employees are never to authorize, offer or pay a bribe to anyone. Employees are trained to recognize bribes in many forms and strongly encouraged to report any suspected bribes taking place. Target provides complete and accurate financial information by following all U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules and regulations. They follow all internal control procedures when reviewing and approving financial and business records to make sure the information provided is accurate and complete. Target competes fairly by following antitrust laws and by making deals with integrity and fairness. They train their employees to recognize improper situations, how to remove themselves from the situation, and how to report it. Target complies with all anti-money laundering laws where they do business. They train their employees on how to recognize and report suspected money laundering schemes. Finally, Target follows employment laws, including those involving hours worked and time reporting. They train their employees on how to accurately record their time for their time worked, and how to report suspected time reporting fraud. (“Our commitments | Target Corporation,” n.d.) A2a Ramifications when noncompliant There are many ramifications for a business when they become noncompliant with legal mandates. If a company is found to be doing business unethically, they can be awarded fines which could cost the company a great deal of money. If a company is found to be doing business with a company that has been found to be doing business unethically, it could have a great impact on the company even though they were not involved in the unethical behavior. Just doing business with an unethical business could cost the business its reputation and lost of business. Finally, extreme non-compliance can lead to a business going out of business permanently. (Trevino & Nelson, 2016) A2b. Ethical Safeguards Target has several ethical safeguards in place to prevent unethical behavior. Communicating responsibly is just one of the safeguards in place at Target. Target understands that words have powerful meanings and just a few untrue words could damage their reputation. Employees are responsible for their own opinions, are required to never share non-public information, and to communicate ethically and with respect at all time to fellow employees. Another safeguard in place is protecting physical assets. Physical assets include merchandise, buildings, tools, equipment, and cash. These assets are carefully tracked and secured from theft and damage. Employees are required to follow all security procedures to secure Target assets, and they are encouraged to report any unethical behavior regarding the misuse or theft of assets. (“Our commitments | Target Corporation,” n.d.) A3. Ethical Culture Target’s ethical code helps facilitate the development of an ethical culture by making sure everyone is valued and respected. Target calls this inclusion acumen; where all employees and customers can feel welcomed and know that they are valued no matter what the situation is. Target focuses on equality and ensures that every employee has the opportunity for advancement, training, and feels included in all areas of their work. (“Our commitments | Target Corporation,” n.d.) A4. Raising Ethical Concerns Target has an open-door communication policy; this means that employees are encouraged to speak with their managers if they have a concern or an idea. This policy states that if their concerns are not met with immediate manager, they can go to a higher level of management or human resources to express their concerns. Target also has put into place an ethics team where employee can contact their integrity hotline online, through email, or by phone; all reports of ethical concerns can be report anonymously through the integrity hotline if desired. (“Our commitments | Target Corporation,” n.d.) A4a. Resources Likely Used The resource I would likely use to report an ethical concern would depend on what type of relationship I had with my immediate manager and whether the issue was regarding my manager or not. If the relationship is trusting and respectful, and not about my manager, I would go to them to express my concerns. However, if I did not feel comfortable going to my manager or the concern was about them, I would use the online integrity hotline. B1. Personal and Organizational factors when Addressing Unethical Conduct There are many things an employee must consider before addressing unethical behavior. The first thing to consider is how strongly you feel about the situation. Analyze the situation to determine if it needs to be addressed or not. Second, make sure you ask yourself what your intentions are. Would addressing the situation be for the great good or is there a personal gain from addressing the situation? Third, you will need to consider how much power you have in the company and how many people you are going to have to convince. Developing strong social networks and trusting relationships with your co-workers and managers is important. Should the situation become where it needs to be addressed, having these relationships will help with addressing your concern. Fourth, analyze the benefits and the risks of addressing your concerns. Determine how you and the people involved will be affected by addressing the situation and if reputations or positions in the company will be ruined. Fifth, think about the timing of the concern and ask yourself if it is urgent or if it can wait so that you can better prepare your actions. Taking the time to prepare your actions may help you minimize any negative effects from coming forward. Finally, develop alternative actions you will take if addressing your concerns does not give you the anticipated outcome. Perhaps you will need to prepare to lose your job or leave your job if it comes to that. (Trevino & Nelson, 2016) B2. Internal and External Reporting Steps If the employee feels that it is necessary to blow the whistle on a situation, there are several steps they can follow. The first step should be to go to their immediate manager with the information if they feel comfortable doing so and the situation does not involve their immediate manager. If the employee does not feel comfortable or the situation involves their manager, they can go to the human resource manager or the next level of management. If the employee is not comfortable with reporting the situation to these people or they want to remain anonymous, they can call, email, or write the ethics hotline. (“Our commitments | Target Corporation,” n.d.) If the situation calls for it, there might be a need to go outside of the company to report the unethical situation. If the company is part of a regulated industry, there are regulators that oversee those industries and they can be contacted about the situation. Another option is contacting the media about the situation and letting them write about it to the public. Sometimes, leaving the company might be the best thing to do in an unethical situation to avoid all the stress and hardship that comes with blowing the whistle. (Trevino & Nelson, 2016) C. Advantages and Disadvantages of Whistle-Blowers Receiving Payments The False Claims Act was developed to help the government avoid being defrauded. Under this act, people who blow the whistle on corporate misconduct against the government to prosecutors can be granted 15-30 percent of whatever the federal government recoups from the misconduct. Since this law has been put into place, the government has recovered billions, making this an enormously powerful tool for employees to come forward and blow the whistle on unethical situations. (Trevino & Nelson, 2016) The advantages of whistle blowers receiving payments from the government come in many forms, but perhaps the best one is that you can receive money. Another advantage is that the government receives help in fighting the misconduct that occurs in businesses. Paying people to come forward in unethical situations encourages more people to be willing to come forward; especially when coming forward could cause great difficulty to the person doing the whistle blowing. There are some disadvantages of whistle blowers receiving payments. Money can be a huge motivator, but it can also be a disadvantage if people are only motivated by money. False claims can be made against companies in hopes of receiving a financial gain. The resources wasted in investigating these false claims is a huge drain and disadvantage to the government. (Trevino & Nelson, 2016) D. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines U.S. Sentencing guidelines have helped create a more structured model for how organizations do business. Fines can be imposed onto an organization for misconduct; therefore, senior management of organizations have become more accountable for the way they do business. These consequences the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines have put into place have compelled organizations to try and reduce unethical conduct themselves by putting into place a more rigorous ethical culture. (Trevino & Nelson, 2016) D1. Culpability Factors Three culpability factors that are used to determine fines under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines are: similar crimes in the past, the size of the organization, and obstruction of investigations. If the organization has committed similar misconduct within the past five years, the fine that is imposed is increased. The size of an organization and the degree in which senior management participated in the unethical misconduct increases the fines that are imposed. Finally, if there is an attempt at obstructing the investigation into the unethical situation by anyone in the organization, the fines imposed are increased. (Trevino & Nelson, 2016)