The Society for Business Ethics and Institute for Global Ethics
ETHICS RESOURCE
PART 1
1. Society for Business Ethics
The Society for Business Ethics (SBE) are a varied, international group of students, academics as well as business professionals from all fields of study, engrossed in the research, discussion, teaching as well as application of ethical business practices. The organization facilitates a setting for the parties interested in research, teaching or the real-world application of ethical principles and ideas to the management of businesses. The idea of forming the SBE was conceived in 1978 but a number of philosophers during a convention that was held in Washington D. C. Two years later, the organization was established and was later on incorporated as a non-profit organization in the year 1997 (Society for Business Ethics, 2019).
The fundamental objective of an organization is to provide a medium and environment in which moral, legal, empirical and philosophical problems of business ethics might be willingly deliberated upon and analyzed. This is also a means through which the parties with an interest in and apprehensive of business ethics may have an interchange of ideas and perspectives. In this regard, SBE partakes in the promotion of the study, dialogue, and debate of business ethics. This is attained through the publication of the Business Ethics Quarterly, which is an academic journal, and organizing a conference every year, which acts as an environment for exhibitions, workspaces and panels emphasized on ethical business patterns, practices as well as procedures.
The Society for Business Ethics endeavors to maintain the contemplation and discussion encompassing business flourishing and buzzing. In order to achieve this purpose, the organization develops and sustains a welcoming and accommodating association amongst teachers, researchers, and practitioners in the branch of knowledge of business and organizational ethics. The organization significantly promotes and advocates for the enhancement in teaching of business ethics within universities and organizations. SBE also nurtures a better understanding between administrators of colleges and universities and the parties participating in teaching and research in the area of business ethics (Cambridge University Press, 2019).
The main objective of the Society for Business Ethics comprise of the following:
1. Endorse the study of business ethics
2. Endorse a medium and platform in which moral, legal, practical and philosophical issues of business ethics might be forthrightly discussed and examined
3. Endorse an approach by which those vested in and worried with business ethics can interchange ideas
4. Facilitate the development of ethical business entities
5. Advancement and sustenance of a friendly and collaborative association amongst teachers, researchers and professionals in ethics
2. Institute for Global Ethics
An organization in operation for more than 20 years now, the Institute for Global Ethics has laid emphasis on its dynamisms and drives on assisting individuals think through the ethics of everyday living by providing implements and structures to help examine the world surrounding them. The fundamental interest of the organization lies in the provision of efficacious tools and procedures in every sector of the social order across the globe. The approach undertaken by the organization concentrates on people’s outlooks and mannerisms with regard to their cultures and settings (Institute for Global Ethics, 2019). By having an approach that can be easily modified and one that is centered on inquiry, the Institute for Global Ethics can assist every kind of organization in enhancing decision-making and associated behaviors, and reinstate dialogue in the event where decisions are difficult or conflict-ridden. The main mission of the organization is the promotion of ethical conduct in persons, organizations and nations through extensive research, public dialogue and practical action. Through each and every training and consultation conducted, the organization is accomplishing its mission by providing real-world tools to facilitate the creation of ethical capability and values of integrity not only in home and school settings, but also in the workplace setting and the society as a whole (Institute for Global Ethics, 2019).
The IGE partakes in a lot more than simply discussing on what is right or wrong. By conducting the different training and consulting services the organization prompts the groups to take into consideration why ethics are important and matter, delve into their shared ethical values, comprehend the role that values play in ethical decision-making, appraise the moral courage necessitated to act, and deliberate upon how all of these constituent parts have an effect on the organization’s culture. Institute of Global Ethics perceives ethics as a process. More so, a process that is basic devoid of being unsophisticated, intricate but not problematical. In addition, owing to the reason that ethics is a process, the minute that it is learnt then the ethics can be applied to whatever ethical questions that may come about in the forthcoming periods. According to IGE, a culture of integrity is created when an organization is filled with individuals making better decisions. That is, it forms a supportive, constructive environment that builds morale, cultivates internal and external trustworthiness and enhances reputation (Institute of Global Ethics, 2019). The organization offers the general public with the implements and structures necessitated to circumnavigate the tough ethical decisions they experience including seminars, consulting, research and assessment and speakers.
The approach undertaken by the Institute of Global Ethics to conduct ethical training is dependent on one basic and substantiated principle, which is that ethical values go beyond background or nationality. The approach taken by IGE to decision making delineates ethics as a process that broken down for the applicability of everyday dilemmas faced by participants. By cutting up decision making in a practical setting, IGE’s process facilitates participants with the capability to pinpoint true predicament and that regardless of how challenging a situation might be, it can be resolved through the application of simple and proven ethical formulas. IGE ties together some of the oldest, most fruitful philosophies in ethical deliberation to diminish devastating circumstances to a sequence of controllable steps. This transformation of intellectual ethical ideas to material, realistic, everyday usefulness lies at the heart of IGE's philosophy. The framework employed by IGE purposes to ensure a situation is simplistic. On a personal level, the organization diminishes challenging, demanding choices to a distinct sequence of steps, restructuring the predicament and permitting the decision maker to have a clear mind. Nonetheless, on an organizational level, adhering to IGE’s process gives rise to a culture of ethics and generates a setting in which undertaking the right actions is never castigated owing to the reason that this is what is expected by the organization (Institute of Global Ethics, 2019).
3. Ethics Resource Center
The Ethics Resource Center (ERC) is non-profit and non-aligned research organization, devoted to independent research that progresses high ethical standards and practices in both public and private institution. For almost 9 decades now, the ERC has been a cradle of information and direction for ethics and compliance professionals across the world. Imperatively, the information rendered by the organization serves as a yardstick for corporations when appraising the success of their own programs for ethics and compliance. The ERC undertakes single organizations for both public and private entities, and thereafter provides publications of the results attained to assist businesses and government agencies to comprehend trends, inclinations, existing gaps and also the best practices in ethics and compliance.
The ERC strives to strengthen ethical leadership that is existent across the globe by providing cutting edge experience and services through research, education as well as partnerships. ERC is deemed to be the oldest U.S. organization dedicated to this purpose and is a major resource for institutions committed to a strong ethics culture. The main vision of ERC is to achieve “an ethical world.” According to the organization, business and organizational ethics is centered upon the proposition that the ideal and most efficacious ethics programs mirror useful insight and knowledge, examining the complete range of human interrelations and decisions. So as to achieve this endeavor, the ERC has established that its fundamental mission is to be a trailblazer and catalyst in cultivating ethical practices in individual and institutions (White, 2008). Consequently, the organization’s mission supports the goals and objectives of inspiring persons and organizations as spreaders of ethics, and to foster the generation of ethical communities. The definitive goal and objective of the ERC is to assist both individuals and organization in the creation of global ethics institutions and affiliations. As a result, these will provide individuals and organization all over the globe with the resources they require to educate themselves on ethical behavior and conduct in the present day world (White, 2008).
The ERC stocks uncountable ethics and compliance resources. The ERC discharges a number of publications, survey and articles, in addition to providing services to help companies develop, implement and measure their ethics and compliance programs. The ERC offers training as well as support services to assist business leaders to capitalize on their ethics and compliance programs. The ERC has generated the services team that are somewhat of a standard to provide direction on generating and issuing workplace ethics surveys, ascertaining ethics and compliance risk and measuring efficacy of programs. There is a great deal that must be taken into account when developing and sustaining an efficacious ethics and compliance program. These sorts of services rendered by the ERC, make it simpler for business executive, HR leaders and ethics and compliance professionals to comprehend the information gathered from workplace surveys and ascertain the subsequent steps to overcome the identified challenges.
PART 2
Research and summarize two scandals that impacted the business environment. Choose Fannie Mae, in J.P. Morgan. Write a two-page summary of your findings for each company. Support work with at least 2 sources
Fannie Mae Scandal
All corporations are expected to conduct ethical practices and business activities. The accounting scandal undertaken by Fannie Mae was one of the major unethical practices in the market. Fannie Mae together with Freddie Mac have a close association with the federal government. These are corporations that purchase big pools of mortgages and fund them in an attempt to diminish the cost of mortgaged for average low-income households. This is accomplished under a federal charter, owing to the reason that there is a mission for these corporations by the federal government to try and ensure that homes are affordable for the average citizen in the United States (Hume, 2004).
Fannie Mae, being a major housing corporation misinformed a huge number of investors regarding risky subprime loans. Together with Freddie Mac, these two corporations were sponsored and monitored by the government and ended up being involved in the subprime mortgage crisis scandal. Fannie Mae has had numerous unethical matters associated with the organization’s business loan practices. The corporation was progressively more engrossed in cultivating and safeguarding its homeownership agenda. In addition, the corporation employed extreme politicization and petitioning and largely depended on political contributors to support their mortgage notions and conceptions. In the end, the CEO of Fannie Mae, together with Richard Syrion, the CEO of Freddie Mac, ended up being fired and indicted with unethical business practices together with wrongful utilization of government funds. Furthermore, the actions of these executives significantly resulted in the 2008 financial crisis. Basically, Fannie Mae’s executive officers were in violation of the ethical codes of practices within the financial industry by being deceitful regarding mortgage circumstances faced by the entity.
The company’s financial disclosures demonstrated subprime issues that were substantially smaller as compared to the real results. Imperatively, these were fraudulent actions as they misdirected the real property market, giving rise to numerous investors purchasing homes and housing projects by means of mortgage financing. Notably, these houses being purchased by investors were offered at comparatively cheap and economical prices. These material misstatements took place in the course of a period of time of rising interest rates on mortgage or financial loans offered by financial establishments. Consequently, this had a major impact on confusing and distorting the market regarding the risk that lay ahead if the investors went on with their primary investment decisions. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac played a key role in the housing market plunder, as they provided mortgage loans that failed to be in conformity with established standards (Hume, 2004).
The executive officers of Fannie Mae were unethical in regard to providing false information to the state regarding subprime loans. Consequently, both major investors and the general public had trust and conviction that it was less risky as compared to other prospective investment choices. The adverse effect of these unethical practices is that there was an unrelenting increase in housing credit, which facilitated the sustained expansion of the mortgage housing market up until its unexpected and precocious collapse. This adversely impacted numerous citizens. This is largely for the reason that in the course of the financial crisis, privately owned corporations were removing and redeeming themselves from the market whereas Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were expanding their activities. As a result of increased interest rates on mortgage, a great deal of people ended up defaulting on loan repayment. This gave rise to numerous financial institutions to cancel the loans, plummeting the real property market into a financial collapse. These events climaxed to the financial crisis of the 2008 in the United States, which rapidly expanded and progressed to adversely impact other markets across the globe (Khan, 2004).
Enron Scandal
With regards to this case study of Enron, there are several aspects related to ethics which include omission or concealment of information and the confinement of organizations. In particular, in this case, the aspect of ethics comes in at the point where managers or individuals with leadership positions in the firm have go to make a decision between implementing what is beneficial to them individually or to the company as a whole. Ethics advocates for the responsibility towards the interests of the shareholders.
One of the ways in which the Enron case is related to ethics is the aspect the managers or executives consider and highly regard profits and financial matters at a higher level as compared to ethical matters. For instance, to begin with, the traders at the company unlawfully and illicitly influenced the energy prices in the state of California so as to produce revenues and proceeds for Enron. This would be done by creating power failures for power plants all over the state and as a result increasing the level of demand for power at a very fast rate. As a result, the energy prices increased and the company made huge profits. For instance, in the case study a trader is documented calling a certain power plant and telling them to cause power failure for a number of hours. This caused blackouts across the state and steeply rising prices and this made the traders laugh. Another aspect concerned with ethics is the manner in which Andrew Fastow, the Chief Financial Officer of Enron manipulated the financial structure of the company. Fastow created several companies and firms in order to conceal the level of debt that the company had and also to increase and augment the stock prices of Enron (Li, 2010).
At the top most level of the organization, Jeff Skilling who is the CEO of the company exploited and made the most out of accounting ambiguities and dubious procedure and processes to upsurge Enron’s profits. Simply because Skilling had been granted permission and given consent by the Securities and Exchange Commission to employ mark to marketing way of accounting, did not imply that it was ethical to do what he did. This form of accounting permitted Enron to documents and report revenues and proceeds from future transactions in the current financial statements. In a fiscal year, the company reported and documented fifty three million dollars in profit from a transaction with Blockbuster video just as they had declared it. However, the deal never actually went through and neither did the stated returns either. In as much as this way of accounting was deemed legal, Enron employed it in a manner that was not ethical (Petrick and Scherer, 2003).
Additionally, Skilling acted out of interests for himself and those in high levels in the company. This is because, once they has ensured the stock prices had increased greatly, they sold their shares and obtained great profit levels but left the consumer penniless. At the time when the stock prices of Enron kept falling, those in top management has already departed with profits. This was unethical as they should have safeguarded the interests of the shareholders or the owners. Additionally, the company has instituted an unethical organizational culture. At the outset of every financial year, the company gave rewards to the topmost employees that generated profit and did not bother or care how such profit was made and fired or sacked the bottom 10% of the workers who had the poorest profit returns (Healy and Palepu, 2003). As a result, the employees started to gamble and come up with unethical ways they could get away with just as long as they generated and brought in profit for the company. This scandal by Enron significantly rocked the accounting environment to the extent that it forced the need to generate new rules and regulations and this gave rise to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Nelson, Price and Rountree, 2008).
PART 3
Go to www.ethicssage.com, go to categories, and choose 2 articles of interest, provide a summary, Summary should include an abstract, 15 facts
Article 1
Abstract
Article 1: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Changing the Way Audits Are Conducted
The article by Mintz discusses the manner in which artificial intelligence is transforming the way audits are undertaken. Artificial intelligence (AI) in a broad sense takes into account technologies that aids in making machines to be smart. AI facilitates the continued trend in progression of technology that has released the practical applications, numerous of which can augment the decision-making process. Auditing is an indispensable function for establishments, but a great deal of it is monotonous. It advances itself to the usage of technology to examine big data and choose which areas of the audit to concentrate on and the most ideal way to gather the data necessitated to guarantee that the audit meets professional and ethics standards. Accounting firms are investigating with AI, in which machines exceed undertaking the mundane tasks and update basic decision-making.
There are numerous aspects to take into consideration in the inclusion of AI into the field of auditing. This encompasses how organizations can establish accountability of oversight corporate governance systems within an AI setting. There is also the consideration as to how the use of an AI system impacts the role and responsibilities played by the CFO. The author also considers whether AI systems be utilized to endorse the agenda of management that might consist of occupational or deceitful financial statements and how AI systems can be employed to facilitate distinct audit routines. Furthermore, the author presents the question on what the role and responsibilities of the system of internal controls can be over financial reporting in an AI environment. This can be associated with management’s obligation to evaluate whether internal controls in an AI system are functioning as intended and the external auditor’s role in revising management’s report and coming to an independent assessment, as obligated under Section 404 of SOX.
Other societal and ethical issues considered in using AI systems include whether AI robots will take over the work of accountants, whether expert training will be necessitated in the audit environment, the implications for data privacy and the ethical use of personal data, as well as the effects of utilizing AI systems to audit with regard to the necessity to carry out degree of professional skepticism essential in addressing the objectivity and due care standard in professional codes of ethics. The challenges for accounting, auditing, and financial reporting in an AI setting are significant and extensive. One way to distinguish it is to accentuate the necessity for capability, diligence, and ethical practices. A second way is have trust and also conduct verification.
Article 2: Can Ethics Be Legislated in Accounting?
Abstract
Government guidelines, whistleblower safeties, GAAP reporting principles, and internal control requirements are pointless and not of great value or worth what has been assured is not carried out. A healthy financial reporting system is reliant on the implementation of laws and the presence of an ethical culture in organizations that support correct and dependable financial reporting.
Lacking in an ethical culture, no legislation is likely to be efficacious in the implementation of financial reporting standards and making certain that the internal controls are functioning as intended. A fitting instance is Halliburton’s own ethical requirement that supposed to safeguard confidential grievances, which was overlooked when the corporation outed Menendez after he notified the SEC. Overworked, underfunded, and, relatively forthrightly, missing in a commitment to guarantee ethical behavior and GAAP-conforming financial reports, the Commission surrender to pressures from Halliburton and accelerated the day of reprisal against Menendez. The SEC has experienced failure time and time again to undertaken positive and effective measures by acting of fraud that has been detected. A fitting instance is the Committee that failed to take into consideration years of grievances from Harry Markopolos, a Boston investigator, about Bernie Madoff’s financial activities. The SEC chose as an alternative to treat him as a crank.
The SEC has failed over and over again to do something productive by follow up on detected fraud. At this point in time, it is imperative to take into consideration COSO’s freshly informed ERM Framework, Enterprise Risk Management – Integrating with Strategy and Performance. The main question that is asked in this regard is whether it will promote an ethical organization culture, the fragile connection in the internal controls of numerous corporations that committed fraud at the onset of the 2000s, Halliburton, and numerous financial institutions during the great recession. The changes made to the ERM Framework in 2017 accentuate the significance of enterprise risk management in strategic planning. Based on the chief executive of COSO, the genera objective is to persuade a culture of risk consciousness. The Framework addresses the development of ERM, the advantages that can be attained, and the necessity for organizations to enhance their approach to managing risk.
Extensively taking into consideration the Framework with regard to corporate culture, ERM gives the suggestion that each entity ought to connect its organizational culture to its strategy and risk enthusiasm. Nonetheless, the major issue in this particular perspective is that ERM framework fails to position a great deal of focus on the ethical dimension of making strategic decisions, choosing, in its place, for an emphasis on the entity’s determination for risk in regard to its strategic objectives. This approach to developing an ethical culture permits management to generate a culture in each state of affairs after first defining its readiness to accept risk in developing strategic activities. This is ethical doctrine at its worst.
According to the author, ethical behavior cannot be legislated. COSO will not be able to give an assurance to an ethical outcome. Internal controls have restricted value if management habitually overrules them. GAAP requirements are overlooked when management’s objective is to tell its side of the story, instead of report the financial results in an exact and dependable manner. There are no simple solutions for the reason that ethical governance hinges on an ethical culture and a tone set from the top that aberrations from ethical standards will not be accepted. This is the most effective way to entrench ethics into the culture.
PART 4
Go to business-ethics.com, go to popular stories, select 2 articles= one report. Write a two page summary summary of the two article
Report 1
Article 1
The article by Lindenberger (2018) provides an insightful discussion of business ethics in higher education from a different perspective and why the author as a lecturer considers this approach to be an optimistic one for forthcoming periods. According to the author, reliant on the manner in which it is taught to students, traditional ethics can be boring and lackluster especially when delving deep into history and the technical components of ethics. Bearing this in mind, Lindenberger (2018) developed a course strategy that comprised of different aspects. First, there is the need to lay emphasis on the practical aspects of ethics and offer students insights they can employ in their everyday jobs. Secondly, the strategy considered the teacher as the facilitator. This was attained by detailed group discussion that permitted the students to consider numerous perspectives and directly learn from their peers. Third, guest speakers were scheduled to offer an assortment of perspectives and experiences and also provide the students with a chance to ask real questions and obtain real solutions from actual professionals.
Lastly, the strategy encompassed the use of multimedia and assimilated technology as well. This included integrating videos to liven up the setting and also included the use of electronic devices and technology to facilitate extensive research on ethical standards. The structure of the course comprises of two parts. The first one encompasses the completion of a project that involves an ethical dilemma from the student’s past experiences and pinpointing lessons learnt from such an experience. The second part encompasses partaking in a project necessitating the application of individual knowledge in evaluating ethical performance of a corporation of one’s choice. Both give the student insight and also a chance to apply such knowledge in real world experiences. The results attained thus far have shown positive responses from students and has provided them with a material basis for navigating ethical matters in the real world and this provides optimism for the future.
Article 2
The article by O’Brian provides an extensive examination into the Theranos scandal. The owner of Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes started the company in 2003, when she 19 years old with the main objective of disrupting the healthcare industry using blood-testing device that she endeavor to invent. However, in June 2018, Holmes was arraigned for fraud together with the company’ COO, Sunny Balwani. This was fundamentally owing to her publicizing of financial forecasts that never occurred centered on know-how that she never provided. The article significantly questions the role of the board in decision making for the organization.
O’Brian (2018) asserts that two things are perceptible from the downfall of Theranos. First, the board members were set up for failure owing to the lack of independence. Secondly, the board structure was poor as they did not play their role of being an advisor to the CEO, by advising Holmes on whether she was a responsible leader and her capability as a leader during difficult times. The board members perceived Holmes to be an exceedingly smart, remarkably young-woman focused on the company at all times. However, the downside in trusting a CEO is a wunderkind is in giving credit that is not yet due and that is not earned. It generates false confidence that can wreck a corporation if disregarded.
Some of the cracks and shortcomings of the Theranos board included a reflection of more traditional responsibilities, board members lacking fiduciary responsibilities and also lacking pertinent expertise, and failure to examine the responsibility of management as audited financial statements had not been prepared for almost 8 years. Aside from the mistakes of the board, Holmes’ style of leadership was authoritarian. She fired a board member that challenged her and got rid of employees who were concerned or resisted her decisions and instructions. In the end, Holmes’ vision backfired and led to her downfall.
Report 2
Article 1
The article by Allen (20180 discusses the ethical question as to why health insurance corporations do not care about their clientele’s big bills. More often than not, experts end up faulting the failure of patient’s to play bills on the high prices charged by physicians and hospitals. However, they fail to analyze the key role played by insurance companies who are the intermediaries between patients and medical provider. In spite of insurers being extensively seen as unwavering custodians of health care dollars, this is not usually the case. Actually, they frequently consent to paying such high prices, but in the end fail to do to and pass such expenses to patients as they take up healthy profits (Allen, 2018).
In the contemporary setting, approximately 50 percent of Americans obtain healthcare benefits via their employers, who depend on insurance companies for the management of plans, curtaining of costs and providing fair deals. The financing of the healthcare industry as a whole is done by patients through taxes, insurance premiums as well as cash payments. However, patients are unable to ascertain the amount they will be paying. A worrying aspects is that in the present day, patients pay progressively more for monthly premiums, and subsequently, when they capitalize on services, they end up paying higher co-pays, deductibles and coinsurance rates. Basically, consumers are paying for everything but fail to see what they are paying for (Allen, 2018).
These insurers and providers have a mutually beneficial relationship and there is not a great deal of enticement on the part of any of these two to decrease the costs. Insurance companies might also give in to high prices owing to the reason that they usually are not the ones paying the bill. The insurers basically manage the benefits, handling claims and giving employers accessibility to their provider networks. In this regard, insurance conduct horse-trading deals with hospitals so that they can also increase their rates. Patients, obviously, are unaware of how the behind-the-scenes bargaining has an impact on what they pay. By maintaining costs and deals clandestine, hospitals and insurers escape questions regarding their profits.
Article 2
The article by O’Brien discusses on the concept of civility and whether it can be or ought to be saved. Incivility is delineated as mannerism or language that is rude, bad-mannered, offensive or condescending. One of the worrying aspects is that incivility is on the rise and in infectious. This is applicable to all persons in the sense that just about 90 percent of individuals are overconfident regarding their self-awareness. Therefore, the downside to this is that people are unlikely to know themselves their impact or the manner in which other people perceive them or their respectfulness towards others. This infectiousness of incivility does not just pollute the workplace settings, it also contaminates the leadership and thereby adversely impacts employee engagement. According to O’Brien (2018), this highlights the significance of advancing our leadership capability, the importance of challenging our personal overconfidence and developing our awareness of ourselves and the manner in which respect pops up in our impact on others. The result is a greater level of personal wholeness in addition to more real and enthralling leadership presence.
So what can be done? Bearing in mind that civility can also be contaminated, there are a number of ways that leaders can be more respectful when conversing with employees. Being present takes into account making eye contact, attentive listening and choosing not to disrupt the person speaking at the moment. These gestures eventually build up and are replicated by others. As outlined by the author, it is presence that enables individuals to meet the inescapable challenges of life with equilibrium and confidence and not uncontrolled nervousness.
Report 3
Article 1
The article by O’Brien discusses Altruism. Specifically, the author makes the argument that leaders who have the belief that they have a responsibility to generate conditions in order for employees to prospect are not altruists. Rather they are simply goof leaders similarly dedicated to taking full advantage of financial success. They are aware of the correlation of the two and also comprehend that engagement takes place when employees have a feeling of acceptance and have a sense of being valued for their contributions. These leaders comprehend the role that respect plays in succeeding so that they concentrate on, and address issues such as prejudice, sexual harassment, and segregation before talented individuals leave or the organizational culture becomes toxic. In the event when major corporations or small ones fail to lay emphasis on respect and are in the news or become a cautionary tale it brings about the evident question of how the CEO of the company or the HR leaders could have perceived this aspect in a timely manner (O’Brien, 2018).
Information can be capitalized on to strengthen culture. The manner in which feedback is given, support rendered and values associated with behaviors impacts a workplace environment. According to research, some managers find it hard providing feedback. It is imperative for employees to be given constructive support and encouragement in order for them to ascertain what they are doing well have distinct recommendations for improvement. In this regard, managers ought to ask employees the kind of support they need. This generates a spirit of community and pinpoints values that are most significant to them. Furthermore, values need to be cultural building blocks with the ascertained behaviors. Basically, expounding on what is meant by the guiding principles could serve as a chance for teams to discuss how they treat each other. Information provides awareness and concepts for leaders to shape understanding, reinforce culture, learn from errors and work in tandem with employees to generate a sense of being in the right place and security so employees are interested to do their paramount work (O’Brien, 2018).
Article 2
This article by O’Brien discusses Wall Street’s flirtation with ‘Social Purpose’ and the conscience of Wall Street. Numerous questions have been asked regarding the morality and ethics of Wall Street. Milton Friedman asserted that business has one sole social responsibility and this encompasses using its resources and participating in activities intended to increase profits so long as it remains within the rules and regulation set , which means partaking in open and free competition devoid of fraud or dishonesty. The mannerisms of Larry Fink, BlackRock’s founder, chairman and CEO, which is the biggest asset management company with over $1.7 trillion in funds, indicates how sustainable performance can take place. The focus of the CEO is the bottom line and social good.
As the CEO of BlackRock, Fink expected that the companies in which his firm has an investment position to pinpoint their social purpose and assimilate it into their corporate strategic plans. Fink insists that his firm is progressively more assimilating environmental, social and governance matters into their investment process owing to the reason that these factors are pivotal to sustainable growth and more so because stakeholders are rightfully demanding for it. Basically, Fink insists that these companies ought to comprehend its role in the world and in the community.
Larry Fink is on the path of altering the direction taken by Wall Street. Imperatively, the CEO is holding corporations in which his firm invests or might invest, accountable to answer, with the involvement of the board, to consider their impact and their social purpose in order to ensure that the social purpose is assimilated with strategy.
References
Allen, M. (2018). Why Your Health Insurer Doesn’t Care About Your Big Bills. Business Ethics. Retrieved from: http://business-ethics.com/2018/05/26/1716-why-your-health-insurer-doesnt-care-about-your-big-bills/
Cambridge University Press. (2019). Society for Business Ethic: About Us. Retrieved from: https://www.cambridge.org/core/membership/sbe/about-us
Healy, P. M., & Palepu, K. G. (2003). The fall of Enron. Journal of economic perspectives, 17(2), 3-26.
Hume, B. (2004). The Accounting Scandal at Fannie Mae. Fox News. Retrieved from: https://www.foxnews.com/story/the-accounting-scandal-at-fannie-mae
Institutte for Global Ethics. (2019). Who We Are. Retrieved from: https://www.globalethics.org/Who-We-Are.aspx
Khan, M. (2004). THE SCANDAL IN HOME MORTGAGE FINANCING: A LOOK AT FREDDIE MAC. Corporate Research Project. Retrieved from: https://www.corp-research.org/e-letter/scandal-home-mortgage-financing
Li, Y. (2010). The case analysis of the scandal of Enron. International Journal of business and management, 5(10), 37.
Lindenberger, W. (2018). Business Ethics in Higher Education: A Different Approach. Business Ethics. Retrieved from: http://business-ethics.com/2018/07/03/1354-business-ethics-in-higher-education-a-different-approach/
Mintz, S. (2018). Artificial Intelligence (AI) Changing the Way Audits Are Conducted. Ethics Sage. Retrieved from: https://www.ethicssage.com/2018/05/artificial-intelligence-ai-changing-the-way-audits-are-conducted.html
Mintz, S. (2018). Can ethics be legislated in accounting. Ethics Sage. Retrieved from: https://www.ethicssage.com/2017/10/can-ethics-be-legislated-in-accounting.html
Nelson, K. K., Price, R. A., & Rountree, B. R. (2008). The market reaction to Arthur Andersen's role in the Enron scandal: Loss of reputation or confounding effects?. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 46(2-3), 279-293.
O’Brien, G. (2018). Can Civility Be Saved? Should It Be? Business Ethics. Retrieved from: http://business-ethics.com/2018/08/26/13495-can-civility-be-saved-should-it-be/
O’Brien, G. (2018). It Isn’t Altruism. Just Good Leadership. Business Ethics. Retrieved from: http://business-ethics.com/2018/05/26/13449-it-isnt-altruism-just-good-leadership/
O’Brien, G. (2018). Understanding the Theranos Scandal: ‘I Make All the Decisions Here.’ Business Ethics. Retrieved from: http://business-ethics.com/2018/11/04/1425-understanding-the-theranos-scandal-i-make-all-the-decisions-here/
O’Brien, G. (2018). Wall Street’s Flirtation with ‘Social Purpose’. Business Ethics. Retrieved from: http://business-ethics.com/2018/07/03/1322-wall-streets-flirtation-with-social-purpose/
Petrick, J. A., & Scherer, R. F. (2003). The Enron scandal and the neglect of management integrity capacity. American Journal of Business, 18(1), 37-50.
Society for Business Ethics. (2019). About Us. Retrieved from: https://www.sbeonline.org/about-us/
White, G. W. (2008). Ethics Resource Center. Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship, 6(4).
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