Building ethical organizations: resources and feedback integration

Organizational Reflections

Description of organization

We are a nonprofit organization specializing in meeting the needs of our clientele. Our clientele primarily includes residents of nursing homes, disabled citizens, and those that reside in senior assisted living communities. Our organization provides services by way of compiling a shopping list with our customers, and then grocery shopping for the customers. This is very convenient because our clientele will not have to travel out of the residence, and in a sense it makes their lives easier. Furthermore, this a benefit for the families of our clientele, who may worry about how their loved ones are going to eat, shop, and leave the house. We pride ourselves on our mission statement in which our goal is "Meeting the needs of our clients is our highest priority; selflessness is more than a gesture or act, it is peace of mind." We want to establish this mission statement as a foundation and build this foundation with our clients, to let them know that they are and will be our highest priority throughout the duration and time that call on us for our services.

Mission Statement

As our mission statement suggests, we offer peace of mind to individuals within the community who are senior citizens, disabled and wounded soldiers of war. We offer means of grocery shopping by picking up orders online and delivering services to our clients. Our mission statement serves a vital and strategic role in our organization that should never be neglected by the workers employed within the organization. The mission statement would prove the type of organization we seek to become, and in that we will have a common goal, which is helping, dedicating and committing ourselves to the people we are serving.

The mission statement will support the ethical system because in our organization, the staff will perform their duties, services, and responsibilities actively and ethically. Therefore, it means our employees will have in sense integrity because they are dealing with clientele monies. The clients are entrusting them to go to the store to shop for them, they are giving them money, access to their pin numbers on their credit cards and so forth, so honestly is an absolute necessity concerning meeting the needs of the clients. We as on organization expect proper controls and safeguarding of all resources given to them. Hopefully, this mission statement and the reputation and feedback that we receive from those we have served prove to others of the type of organization that we seek to become.

As the director, I would assist the organization and lead by example to provide a high level of customer service to the clients, and be a mirror to my staff so he or she can mimic my exceptional skills and carry that over into his or her work. Possessing a mission statement would provide a basis of how our company would conduct business. We definitely would strive to be the best and nothing but the best. In addition to our organization and supporting the ethical system, we know many times that clients will have us picking up prescriptions for certain types of medications for the ailments via the pharmacy, located in many grocery stores. I want to ensure that we would respect the confidentiality of clients and their records, including their prescriptions. We would not externally disclose confidential information or other nonpublic information without appropriate authorization. I wanted to point that out because I want family members and more important the client to feel comfortable in using our services, once again giving peace of mind. Last, I want to state that our organization does not condone dishonesty in any form by anyone, nor the misuse of funds from our clients. We encourage and expect reporting of any form of untruthfulness to be reported to managers, supervisors, and other appropriate personally so an investigation can be conducted. We constantly strive for constant improvement within the organization so we can better meet the needs of our clients, because when we can make clients happy, which gives them the peace of mind to know us as an organization is still committed to fully serving them and helping them in any way possible.

The message the mission statement sends to the community is that we are an organization that will help those who cannot help themselves. Also we are an organization that is built on making the lives of seniors, wounded war vets, and other with disabilities easier. Plus, this takes stress off of family members who in a position to shop for those we are serving. For senior citizens, we would involve their caretakers and those family members who are looking after them, so they can always be updated and know what is getting purchased, in a sense of keeping them in the loop of what is happening with their family members.

Values Statement

Our organization's value statement is very simple: "As an organization, we value and honor integrity, honesty, and personal growth with the willingness to here constructive criticism in order to continually self-improve to make the organization better. We as an organization are committed to customers whom we make a priority. We as an organization hold ourselves responsible for our customers and employees by upholding our commitment and providing beneficial results." We want to set our organization apart from similar companies by providing the best services and striving to become the best. The values that are put in place are core value in which every staff member should follow because doing so shows the professionalism in which the organization is and will set the organization apart from non-professional companies and organizations that are similar. The values are in a sense a guide to work by, and by following these values will instill into our staff that we are the best and let our clientele know that we are honest individuals looking out for their best interest.

The value relates to the organization's mission state is simple because they both form a climate in which the staff working for the organization can use as a tool or tutor to work by, and the clientele can look to about what to expect. The values and mission statement share a common bond of the in which for our organization is "Embracing diversity within our organization and celebrating and accepting the differences of our employees and clientele, everybody is different and everyone differences make them unique.

Code of ethics

The company's organizational ethics program includes a code of ethics, as well as training, monitoring, and enforcement. A key characteristic of the code of ethics is that it is tailor-made for our company rather than pieced together from other companies' codes (MacDonald, 2006). Although other codes of ethics were consulted, our company realized that it had to address issues that were peculiar to its business. In addition, the code provides a clear scope that includes every member of the organization from executive management to the maintenance staff and a mechanism for monitoring its execution that includes a framework for reporting violations without retribution (MacDonald, 2006). Training is vital to ensure that all employees are familiar with the code of ethics, and Our company periodically tests employees to ensure that they are familiar with all of its provisions. Monitoring includes self-monitoring, protected whistle-blowing, and corporate monitoring, because our company wants to ensure that no ethics violations occur. In addition, our company seeks input from customers, vendors, and other entities with respect to its ethics rather than relying solely upon its own internal monitoring systems. The code of ethics is also incorporated into the performance evaluation and reward system, so that employees' pay, raises, bonuses, and promotions are linked to their ethical behavior.

Our company recognizes that having and enforcing a code of ethics is only part of a successful ethics program; it is also essential to equip employees to make ethical decisions, because many issues that come up in business are not covered by the code of ethics. Although its code is fairly comprehensive, employees must make decisions every day regarding the way they conduct business and how they respond to situations, some of which enter a gray area that are ethically problematic. In order to facilitate the making of ethical decisions, Our company not only trains its employees in its code of ethics, it also trains them in ethical decision-making. The training involves having participants analyze various ethical dilemmas and choose from among stated alternatives to handle the dilemma, and then the choices are discussed within the group (Perri, Callanan, Rotenberry, & Oehlers, 2009, p. 70).

This ethical decision-making training forms the basis of the company's whistle-blowing program, as well. The program recognizes three stages of dealing with an ethical issue, with whistle-blowing being the last resort. The first stage involves the employee that sees the unethical behavior either discussing it with the employee that is committing it or with a supervisor. In some cases, employees will not be comfortable confronting fellow employees due to risk of physical harm or other retaliation, so the whistle-blowing program allows employees to report the unethical behavior to a supervisor, who is then pledged to keep the whistle blower's identity confidential. The second stage is used when the employee recognizes that he/she cannot safely use the first stage due to compromise on the part of the employer; in this alternative, the employee reports the unethical behavior to the supervisor, and the same confidentiality protection applies -- the unethical supervisor and the unethical employee will not be apprised of the whistle-blower's identity. Whistle-blowers are encouraged at our company, and whistle-blowers are rewarded appropriately in their performance evaluations, but the company makes a sharp distinction between true whistle-blowing -- reporting of unethical behavior -- and everyday backstabbing, which it does not allow.

The organization deals with unethical behavior in a variety of ways depending upon the behavior, but a premium is placed on dealing with it swiftly and effectively. As Green (2006) puts it, unethical behavior within an organization is a "dangerous virus." Unethical behavior can quickly and easily compound itself across an organization. Our company deals with such behavior by investigating the source, amending the corporate culture, rectifying the wrong that was done, and correcting the unethical employee(s) involved. Investigating the source identifies how, why, and through whom the unethical behavior was initiated so that the company can make changes that render a recurrence less likely. Amending the corporate culture is necessary if the culture gives place to the particular type of unethical behavior witnessed. Rectifying the wrong that was done demonstrates responsibility for the company's behavior and that of its employees. Correcting the unethical employee can take the form of explanation, punishment, or even termination, depending upon the situation and the employee's response to correction.

Our company's commitment to ethical operation and decision-making not only makes it difficult for unethical employees to succeed in committing wrongdoing but also encourages an ethical corporate culture in which high ethical standards are noticed, appreciated, and rewarded. This type of corporate culture is likely to attract more talented individuals to the company, because they will feel safer in assuming that they will receive credit for their work and will not be forced to participate in any activities that could damage their credibility or their career.

Organizational Culture

As far as organizational culture is concerned, the business will be made up of myself as the director and supervisor, and then the individuals that will actually be running the errands and grocery shopping for our customers. I will oversee all of the actions of the personnel, handle any complaints about any unethical goings-on, and also supervise my employees by attempting to occasionally check up on each one announced at specific grocery store locations and employee homes. I will also encourage our customers to review each experience they have with my employees, so that I get valuable feedback from the customers themselves about the way the employee handled the situation, and if the employee needs any improvement. Similarly, by getting this kind of information from the employees, I can also discover whether or not any other information needs to change, including the way certain things are done by myself or the company. Thus, the culture itself will be made up of the customers, myself as the boss, and the employees, and all will interact to make the company a success and to keep eyes and ears open to positive and negative feedback.