Amazon\'s Code of ethics

Amazon is a company that takes its social responsibility to stakeholders seriously. As it is a company that operates all over the world, it recognizes that it has a truly global role to play in making the world a better place. That is why it focuses on sustainability as one of its core corporate social responsibility (CSR) objectives (Amazon Sustainability, 2019). Its other CSR programs include working with Feeding America, Worldreader’s LEAP 2.0 program to promote education among underserved populations, and “Girls Who Code,” to help promote gender equality in the IT industry. Underlying these CSR programs is a Code of Ethics that seeks to promote compliance with all local, state and federal laws and to foster a strong ethical spirit among its workers.
The Code of Ethics for Amazon first focuses on compliance with all external lows of the city, state and federal government. Secondly, it focuses on removing conflicts of interest. For example, it states that employees should act in the best interests of Amazon and their own personal interests should not interfere with the company’s. Third, it explicitly states that insider trading will not be tolerated as it is against state and federal law. It acknowledges the need to guard against discrimination and harassment in the workplace, and it emphasizes the need to keep the workplace clean, safe and healthy (Amazon Code of Ethics, 2019). Price fixing, bribery, financial integrity, and how to report violations are all also addressed in the company’s Code of Ethics.
It is my belief that the leaders of organizations do have a duty to all stakeholders rather than just to stockholders. Stakeholders are the lifeblood of an organization. They make up the workforce, the communities where the company does business. They play a fundamental role in the company’s success and without them there could be no way for the company to really establish itself for the future. Thus when a company like Amazon devotes itself to helping to feed hungry Americans, or to promote literacy around the world, or to engage in sustainability to help ensure that future generations have a world to live in, the company is simply doing its part to keep the cycle of life going smoothly and efficiently.
Amazon is thus aiming to reduce its carbon footprint and promote recycling with its new recyclable mailer. It is aiming to help communities grow the skills they need to be progressive and successful. It is focusing on stakeholders and not just on stockholders, which is good. When companies only focus on stockholders their biggest concern is the price of the company’s stock. They will take billions of dollars every year and spend it on stock buybacks in order to pump up the price of the stock. The purpose of this is simply to enrich shareholders, and executives are shareholders who typically hold many shares in the company—so they are essentially enriching themselves through their share buyback program.
Amazon on the other hand aims at working with suppliers who are dedicated to respecting human rights, who welcome diversity in the workplace and who provide safe workplace environments. Amazon may still have a ways to go, however, as many workers in Europe protest Amazon’s unsafe workplaces and the stringent conditions under which they are expected to work. Amazon being an American company is likely not of the same culture that Europeans are used to, so what works in America in terms of the workplace culture is not necessarily going to work in Germany. Thus, Amazon does still have some room for improvement and it should focus on supporting its German workers.
References
Amazon Code of Ethics. (2019). Retrieved from https://ir.aboutamazon.com/corporate-governance/documents-charters/code-business-conduct-and-ethics?c=97664&p=irol-govConduct
Amazon Sustainability. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.aboutamazon.com/sustainability