Ethical_Organizational

Ethical Organizational Johnny Fuller, Chris Palmer, and Randal Cunning MGT/216 February 15, 2008 Paul Malard Introduction The organization ethics program examined is Taste Wine and Coffee Bar. Moral and ethical issues faced by establishments that serve alcoholic beverages can become extensive. Bars and restaurants have the ethical and moral obligation of serving adults of a certain age depending on the state’s legal drinking age. This is not only a moral responsibility, it is a legal obligation. Other legal and moral obligations include limiting patrons when their level of inebriation may become a hazard to themselves or others. When customers are obviously too drunk, employees must “cut-off” the clients for their own safety and the safety of others. The relationship between ethics, morality, and social issues in the legal environment will be explored. One ethical and social issue is the communities need for respect and order. Communities oppose establishments that stay open very late in residential areas with disorderly patrons. Loud and disorderly customers create unethical and moral dilemmas. Taste will be a fixture in the community that gives back when applicable. Social events for families and neighborhoods as well as community programs may be in conjunction with other businesses a part from the wine bar itself. Taste will require ethics training, monitoring, and enforcement. Employees will attend a class or provided with information on ethical work practices. The class will review how to deal with unruly customers. A formal code will be instituted for ethical business practices. New employees and recruits will receive formal training and a copy of the ethics code for dealing with clients. Managers will review guidelines on how to treat employees equally. Ethical decision-making will be reviewed for a variety of topics. Sexist environments and sexual harassment will not be tolerated and punishment for these actions will be expressed. Discrimination will be reviewed. Checking for identification is a task that is in code of ethics. Ethics will be measured by the actions of the employees and the interaction with customers. Whistle-blowers will be rewarded and given in the form of money or paid time off from work. Open communication lines will be essential for creating an ethical and moral environment. Unethical behavior will be reported to the proper authorities. Code of Ethics A Code of Ethics will be used for dealing with any potential or existing ethical predicaments. Taste will have its own formal code of ethics. Local authorities and governments may also have a code of ethics and will be implemented into Taste’s code of ethics. The code of ethics will include several topics concerning ethics, morals, and legal issues. Honesty in the workplace will have its’ own chapter. Discrimination and harassment will be explicitly described along with the punishments for those actions. Termination will be the applicable punishment. Different cities and states have certain rules specific for businesses that serve alcohol. The Legislature recently gave cities the option of allowing their bars and restaurants to stay open until 2 a.m. If a city does so, each establishment must decide whether to pay the state up to $600 for a license for the extra hour of business (Brandt, 2003). This is an example of city and state government affecting ethics. This example was in Minneapolis. The code of ethics will contain the laws and moral situations that arise in this type of environment. The code has to be conducive for economic success in the particular area of the business. Ethical standards must be upheld. If the code of ethics cannot be adhered to, liabilities, and lawsuits can be a destructive possibility. Ethical standards should help productivity and profits. If these standards hinder productivity and economic success is compromised, restructuring or dismantling of the company should take place. The code of ethics will be in the form of a book. Most of the issues covered will be common knowledge that accompanies decency and moral behavior. Some of the issues questionable and need to be relayed to employees will be available in the form of documentation. Reinforcement of the code of ethics will be done through open communication lines as well as rewarding positive actions that reveal the high standard of ethics that Taste promises to uphold. The code of ethics will also contain the decision-making systems and all ethical situations will be in accordance to the code of ethics. Dilemmas not included in the code of ethics will be included when a suitable solution is found. Training Ethics training will remain a fixture in Taste’s everyday operations. New employees will attend a class and a test will be administered to ensure the information is understood and relayed properly. Many of the ethical dilemmas encountered will have on the job training. Not every situation with ethical questions can be anticipated. For this reason, training will be an ongoing process. Even well trained employees will have questions on ethical business practices from time to time. Taste will address any ethical dilemmas with the best options. Orientation to Taste’s values will be done through discussions, training sessions, and examples. Management is expected to set examples of high standards. Training is focused on fair employment practices and discrimination will not be tolerated. Taste will train all employees and managers to show equality to all races, religions, genders, cultures, and harassment. Ethical dilemmas that focus on the business will be emphasized. How to handle customers who are too inebriated is the main focus. “Minors” will be a big part of ethical training and employees can check identification. Training will include what to look for to detect fake identification, how to detect minors, explanation of minors within the facility, facility operation hours, and all State laws. The majority of the training will be done by management. Dimensions Ethics & Integrity of the Taste Wine and Coffee Bar consist of 12 dimensions of activity that most typically fall under the heading of ethics and integrity. Vision and Goals that covers the organization’s concept of and approaches to ethics and integrity, which includes its formal articulation of the bar’s underlying philosophy about ethics and moral conduct, and how these expectations are within the fabric of the organization. These dimensions are on how Taste identifies and define its core ethical values and principles as well as how the bar integrates those values into everyday business conduct. Leadership covers the responsibilities of Taste leadership in to help shaping, guiding, and supporting the organization’s ethics and integrity initiatives. Taste examines how their leader and managers are held accountable for promoting ethics and integrity. This dimension measures the assessment of the bar. A motto of “Tone from the Top” at both the executive and governance levels is one of Taste’s mottos. The Infrastructures at Taste explores the way the organization structures or organizes it ethics and integrity function is structured, staffed, and resourced as well as its formal and informal reporting relationships. This dimension of the bar also includes the roles and responsibilities of the individuals assigned to implement the ethics and integrity functions. The Legal Compliance, Policies and Rules of the Taste Wine and Coffee Bar also includes the core laws, polices, rules, and guidance that compose of the legal framework of the bar’s ethics and integrity systems. This dimension assesses the internal framework that provides the floor for ethical behavior. This also includes the compliance with an external framework that is established by multiple jurisdictions and legal frameworks that is within the organization’s on which the organization operates This dimension includes the systems and controls the use to ensure and demonstrates that the employees and the bar are legally compliant. These essentials of the organization are to translate its legal commitments into concrete actionable guidance that is enforceable. Organizational Culture is also addressed at the Taste Wine and Coffee bar and consists of promoting ethical conduct of the organization’s mission, vision, structure, and its strategy. This dimension explores the degree of which Taste focuses on shaping its organizational culture (both of which are written and unwritten rules that dictates how the work is performed and how goals are reached), also if the culture activities promotes ethical conduct. This dimension also address and defined (which is the history and the traditions of the organization) and who “owns” and shapes its culture, how its culture is measured, what degree is measured, and to what degree does the employees find their culture helps support their ethics and integrity. In the Taste Wine and Coffee bar Disciplinary and rewards are also measured, and this helps to describe how the bar sets and enforces its standards for ethical conduct and behavior and integrity. This dimension addresses the rewards and punishments, incentives that promote the employees ethical behavior and helps to give disciplinary action that punish the unethical work conduct. This also includes how the organization promotes their employees for ethical conduct through its performance appraisal process, if good ethical conduct is linked to all compensation, and other types of non-monetary benefits. The measurements of Research and Assessment is encouraged and evaluated at Taste on how ethics and integrity are measured, this is if the organization undertakes research that will help support ethics and strategies that will create a culture of ethic and integrity, and the bar’s assessment processes around ethics, integrity, and organizational culture. With this dimension that includes the organization’s commitment to continue the improvement that is based on other methodologies. At the Taste Wine and Coffee Bar Confidential Advice and Support is a must because it helps to describe and shows how the organization provides confidential, neutral, professional, and independent ethics advice to their employees, supervisors, managers, executives, members of the governing bodies of the organization and their other stakeholders. Taste Education and Ethics Training helps make ethics and integrity awareness, skills building training, and education and the integration into the development of all employees. In this dimension there is the provision of ethical and skill building throughout the entire life cycle of all staff members to a degree that initiatives are integrated into the whole organization. Communication and Ethic is one of Taste important assets that describe how ethics and integrity is articulated and promoted internally and externally. This defines the key stakeholders’ and how they relay their message across to distinct audiences. Corporate Social Responsibility at the Taste Wine and Coffee bar covers its organization’s efforts by establishing links with investments in the communities and their stakeholders in which it interacts. This help to cover government relation, environmental consciousness, sustainability, and community’s impact (The Global Ethics & Integrity Benchmarks: (March 12. 2009). Whistle-Blowing Whistle blowing in the Taste Wine and Coffee bar explores how the organization encourages individuals (both internal and external to the entity) to speak up and make reports of questionable conduct. This category explores the methods and protections offered to individuals who wish to make the organization aware of possible unethical behavior, misconduct, or illegal actions. It includes the making of both confidential and anonymous reports, and the systems used by the organization to protect whistleblowers from retaliation or retribution (The Global Ethics & Integrity Benchmarks: (March 12, 2009,). Language of Taste The language that exist in the Taste Wine and Coffee bar are to help motivate it employees through the creation of ethical behavior and good culture. It is essential and the subjective goal of the organization, to leave the employees openly to discuss any ethical situation or issues, and to extend the expectation far beyond attention or just too purely financial and marketing transactions. The new reality is for the employees to acknowledge that the managers play the most critical role in a successful, ethical company. The language employees speak is openly supported and each employee is committed to the ethical values of the company. The managers of Taste will commit to all employees in speeches, directives, company publications, employees meetings, and their personal actions. The manager in particular has a clear responsibility to help grow the ethical culture of the organization, and this will only happens This is the other position aside from the CEO who has the scope and can reach the external stakeholders and the internal employees to help build a culture of integrity and honesty. The bar has progressive policy development, along with employees training that is needed, with the selection, and controlled monitoring of performance all help create this. By giving the employee encouragement and the reporting of unethical and illegal behaviors will enable the manager to deal with these issues. In the bar there is compliance with ethical behavior that is necessary daily in an affirmative manner (PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 2006). Planning and Policy In the Taste Wine and Coffee bar the ethical consideration that is incorporated into planning and policy—making, is a clearly planned, written, and observed policy. This policy defines the ideas toward which all organizational effort should point that is a clear, comprehensive, and well-defined plans with rules, and practices that regulate the systems of the organization with access and information included in it. Taste good policy protects not only the information and systems but also take into consideration of all employees and other individuals in the organization. The bar also serves as a prominent statement to the outside world of its commitment to it employees. The development of policy making consist of a risk assessment that provides policy-- maker with an accurate and specific needs to the organization. Information is imperative to the decision maker to: identify the critical systems and the sensitive information; it incorporates the local state and federal laws as well as relevant ethical standards. The policy defines goals, objectives, and help to define institutional security, also set a course for accomplishing those goals and objectives. Make sure that it gives the necessary mechanisms for accomplishing those goals and objectives, and ensure they are in place. The legal and regulatory concerns, about the organizational characteristics, contractual stipulations, environmental issues and all user input can all be incorporated into the policy development. An effective policy and these other considerations are put into a clear set of goals and objectives, which will give direction to the staff as they perform their required duties. Enforcement The managers of Taste enforce the code of ethics they have trained each employee with fairness and professionalism. Taste values the professionalism of their establishment and therefore finds ethics one of the most important aspects of their business. The managers of Taste enforce ethics by holding weekly staff meetings to discuss customer and employee complaints, discuss in the weekly meetings how an employee would handle a specific situation if presented with a dilemma. For example, in a weekly staff meeting a manager will present the dilemma to an employee in which they would have to refuse serving a customer alcohol because he or she have exceeded the amount of alcohol they can handle without inflicting danger to him or herself or others. The employee would reenact the dilemma with the manager and the other staff members are watching. Once the dilemma has been reenacted, the other employees can give their insight of how they might have handled the dilemma. This gives each employee the insight to handling a situation and gives the employee an outsider’s perspective. Each employee can coach one another on different dilemma’s they are faced with daily. Another way Taste enforces ethics is by holding quarterly reviews with each employee. Each employee writes a self assessment that is reviewed by management, management writes an employee assessment, and management and the employee hold a meeting to discuss the assessment and how the employee can improve the work environment. The organization enforces ethics by acquiring employees to sign a code of ethics each year, which includes the repercussions if the contract were violated in anyway, and quality policies are posted throughout the establishment. Unethical behavior is handled in a strict manner and with fairness. Depending on the significance of the unethical behavior, punishment can start with management review; suspension without pay, or termination of employment. Management can order an employee to take specific courses to help with the situation. For example, if an employee is aggressive toward a customer or another employee the organization might enforce the employee to take anger management courses. Conclusion I believe Taste has established ethical, professional, and moral surroundings for their customers and employees. Taste has formed a code of ethics, training courses, rewards, open environment, and enforcement of their policies. Taste has made it possible for their employees to feel comfortable in reporting unethical behavior and rewards the loyalty to Taste. Taste helps employees by providing continual training courses to understand and train how employees should react in a dilemma. Employees are faced with sensitive situations daily and the training Taste gives the employees the ability to respond and behave appropriately. The code of ethics provided by Taste is significant to the employee’s success within the organization and helps establish a smooth running environment. 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