business ethics practices compliance auditing

Global Risks Climate change is something affecting all countries, with particular relevance to low-lying coastal regions. Island nations in the Indian Ocean, for example, and the dozens of nations in the Caribbean are at risk of inundation not just from the constantly rising sea levels from melting glacial ice in polar regions. Climate change leads to warming ocean waters, which in turn lead to more frequent and more severe storms.

In addition to island nations, low-lying coastal regions on mainland continents will also become increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Climate change does impact other regions of the globe and other countries, as weather patterns impact precipitation levels, which could lead to some regions experiencing more severe drought conditions and others more flooding; some regions might incur greater damage from forest fires too, due to the persistent lack of precipitation. Therefore, the risks of climate change are genuinely global.

In addition to climate change, pollution is a major environmental risk affecting population health throughout the world. Related to climate change, pollution refers to the carbon dioxide emissions that result from business practices such as factory emissions and the emissions from the organization’s transportation fleet. The carbon dioxide emissions could be curtailed with alterations to business practices, and collaborative partnerships with logistics firms. Similarly, organizations that pollute directly are adversely impacting public health in their communities.

Environmental concerns like poor air quality and poor water quality are evident almost everywhere in the world, but especially in countries with poor regulatory environments and poor governance, including the United States, China, India, and Brazil. Generally, any nation with a robust manufacturing base will reveal underlying culprits contributing to environmental degradation, climate change, as well as to deleterious public health outcomes. Organizations in those countries are also in a position to intervene, changing their business practices to become more aligned with ethical principles.

The Role of Ethical Decision Making All organizations have a direct responsibility to perform ethically and to engage in ethical business practices. Ethical decision making starts with senior management, which sets the ethical tone for the entire organization. Even with strong codes of ethics, leaders have the power and ability to engage in unethical business practices. The normative environment in the organization needs to reflect the values and principles set by the leaders.

Leaders become the role models for others in the organization, and with collective, collaborative decision making, all senior managers can work together to come up with ideal strategies and solutions. Organizations that fail to take action on business practices that exacerbate climate change, which fail to address problems like carbon dioxide emissions or pollutants, are direct culprits in creating the devastating effects felt by the residents of nations around the world.

Because climate change is a global issue that knows no geopolitical boundaries, organizations in one country can have a major impact on countries on the other side of the globe. Ethical decision making affects business practices that impact environmental risks at every level of the organization. From the decision to manufacture cheap disposable products made from plastic, to the decision to not invest in alternative energy options for manufacturing and transportation, organizations and their leaders are contributing to environmental risk factors leading to climate change and other problems.

When organizations defer responsibility, claiming that they are acting within the boundaries of the law or when they point fingers at their suppliers or logistics companies, they are making a decision to not care about their primary stakeholders around the world. The Impact of Business Ethics on Stakeholder Relationships Business ethics impact stakeholder relationships in major ways. Ethical business practices show respect for stakeholders.

Known as the stakeholder systems approach to business ethics, taking stakeholders into account is one way organizations can shift their moral reasoning to better reflect the mission, vision, and values purportedly embedded in the company’s ethical code (Mason & Simmons, 2013). Corporate social responsibility and environmental responsibility are both becoming strategic business practices that improve relationships with stakeholders by demonstrating respect.

Research shows how businesses demonstrating openness to change, flexibility and adaptability, and an ongoing commitment to innovation are in a position uniquely situated to promote environmental sustainability at all levels of business practice (Pedersen, Gwordz & Hvass, 2016). Stakeholders may also respond to ethical decisions by altering their own behaviors, resulting in a domino effect of changing values and social norms.

Organizations are in a position to set new standards of behavior among their peers in the industry and between competing stakeholder groups in government, target consumer audiences, and the supply chain. Because of their power, experience, and role, leaders in organizations have a direct impact on improving stakeholder relationships by practicing corporate social responsibility. Organizations that actively pursue innovative transportation and manufacturing solutions, and which change their business practices to reflect environmental ethics are also organizations that will develop a reputation that resonates with the stakeholders of the future.

Companies that resist change, which lack foresight or the willingness to work collaboratively with members of the community to resolve environmental crises, are those that will fail to compete ultimately in the global market. Creating an Ethics Program with Training and Compliance Auditing One way organizations can better respond to the need for improving corporate social responsibility practices with regards to the environment is through the creation and implementation of an ethics program.

An ethics program can include training programs that help inculcate environmental ethics and values among employees, empowering each person to take action accordingly. Not just about lip service to raising environmental sustainability standards, an ethics program is one that is dedicated to change, and to achieving desirable, measurable outcomes. Compliance auditing comes in as a means to assess the efficacy of any environmental ethics programs, and to see which training methods are working and which need to be improved or replaced. According to Heyler, Armenakis, Walker, et al.

(2016), is “the process of recognizing a need, considering alternatives, identifying a morally acceptable option (i.e. what is considered right in a given culture) and implementing it,” (p. 788). The implementation of the acceptable solution is the ultimate goal of a training intervention used in the organization. Training programs can be adapted to suit their respective audiences, with different training programs used for managers in different departments and their respective employees.

Some training programs will cover specific, practical steps that need to be taken to reduce pollutants or emissions, while others will require the creative thinking and innovative practices required to stimulate new ways of transporting goods, or new ways of developing products. Compliance auditing is a critical step in the ethical decision making process because it provides the all-important assessment and evaluation.

An ineffective training program is a waste of company resources, and can eventually harm the organization’s reputation if it does not achieve goals such as emissions reduction or a reduction in pollutants. Organizations that have the power to impact public policy can also participate more broadly in the compliance auditing process within their sector.

Training Goals The goals of an ethics training program will be to align the company’s business practices at all levels and from all departments with the company’s mission, vision, and values. If necessary, the organization may need to revamp its mission, vision, and values statement to better reflect environmental ethics. One of the specific goals of the ethics training program is to change leadership practices. Leadership needs to set the tone for all organizational behaviors impacting environmental outcomes.

Another goal for the training program will be to change individual behaviors. Changing individual behaviors in organizations can be facilitated by the implementation of an issue-contingent model for increasing “moral intensity,” the commitment to corporate social responsibility (Jones, 1991, p. 366). Objectives The objectives of the training program are to change the marketing and development practices in ways that eliminate wasteful products and pollutants, and promote and develop products that are designed in accordance with environmental sustainability principles.

Another objective is to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the organization by investing more heavily into alternative energy. Alternative energy resources need to be called upon wherever possible at every stage of production. To implement this strategy, leaders are requested to mobilize the innovation of their workforces and engage employees to come up with creative solutions. The ethics program will also be designed to meet the objective of changing individual transportation practices, with a robust employee car share or bike to work initiative.

Finally, the organization will engage in a training program that will meet the objective of reducing its contribution to climate change through improved food service practices that reduce the consumption of meat by company employees. Learning Methods and Activities Learning methods and activities used in the training program will include direct instruction using lectures and videos, as well as take-home material. The learning methods will be ongoing, involving a shift in company discourse and leadership practices.

Transformational leadership practices and methods will encourage each employee to take personal responsibility, while also providing employees with guidance as to how to reduce the organization’s carbon footprint as well as their own. Activities will include cooking classes that reduce meat consumption for all employees, classes in bicycle maintenance for those who can cycle to work, and the creation of a company ride share. Additionally, employees will be offered activities that stimulate creative thinking via the use of technological tools.

Learning methods will also be hands-on, allowing employees to actively participate in the development of innovative solutions for reducing carbon footprint and promoting sustainable business practices. When possible, the organization will solicit the help or advice of coaches and industry leaders. Guest speakers who can offer advice for changing employee attitudes and behaviors will help to change the organizational culture, which will in turn lead to learning about the importance of ethical decision making.

Behavioral management techniques will also be used to provide extrinsic motivation for employees at the onset of the training program. Employees will be offered incentives for ride sharing or cycling to work, or for eating vegetarian food in the company cafeteria. However, intrinsic motivation will be the key to changing individual and collective behavior in the organization. Human resources also needs to take an active role in the instructional strategies, methods, and activities that encourage employees to contribute to the new model of corporate environmental responsibility.

Program Evaluation Evaluating the training program will ensure that it is cost effective and achieving its stated goals. After conducting initial needs assessments for each individual company department, program designers will evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional strategies by measuring outcomes. To evaluate the training program, both qualitative and quantitative methods will prove helpful. Qualitative methods will include interviews with employees and in-depth case studies detailing entire departmental compliance. Quantitative methods will provide a large data set that rates everything from actual emissions to sales figures.

Evaluations will also entail measuring the number of employees participating in the ride share program, and also to determine the effectiveness of the innovations in transportation and logistics. The program will also be evaluated by assessing the marketing and new product development department, and also by communicating with major stakeholders. Program evaluation will take into account a costs-benefits analysis that will determine which instructional or training strategies or methods have proved most effective in achieving the measurable outcomes such as reducing emissions or carbon footprint.

Conducting Training Training will be conducted differently for each department and for each specific training need. Some training will involve innovation strategies: methods used to stimulate creative thinking using incentives for unique product design and development, or for unique approaches to logistics and transportation solutions. Other training will be.