Introduction
Typically, culture and ethics are essential in the management of an organization. Organization culture can be defined as the beliefs and values that help in the creation of a unique environment within the organization. It encompasses the way of doing things within an organization. Ethics is what is defined to be good or bad within the structures of an organization. It is the moral code of an organization. The organizational culture and ethics help shape an organization. The relationship between ethics and the culture is critical in the shaping of a suitable working environment in an organization (Fernando & Moore, 2015). The management often makes changes in the leadership style in order to achieve the company’s goals and vision. These changes may contradict with the organization culture and ethics. According to Demirtas and Akdogan (2015), they noted that ethics affected employee enthusiasm and can directly or indirectly affect their output changing the organizational commitment. This paper aims at focusing on some organization code of conduct using examples of some companies and how the wrong application affects the organization. Also, the paper will also look at the importance and role of culture that plays in the development of an organization and how it affects its leadership in the management of employees, and its customers.
Literature Review and Findings
In the literature review, there will be research on what is considered to be essential knowledge. A study will be conducted on the purpose of ethics and culture in an organization. Various articles will be provided to show the importance of ethics in an organization. The review will show how the significance of ethical leadership aid in achieving the goals of an organization. The paper will commence its study with an in-depth understanding of the importance of the organization culture and cultural framework which will be compared to ethics. The literature review will look at two pilot studies in business ethics namely: integrity and compliance and try to compare them to which is more important and beneficial.
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Organization Culture
There are many definitions about the culture of an organization, however, when you consult employees and managers, they will merely say organization culture is how employees conduct their day-to-day activities in the organization (Zulganef, 2015). The culture of an organization should not be underestimated since the form basis of stable organization. The norms and rules that are followed by the employees become habits forming a compelling influence. According to Zulganef (2015), culture provides the basis of rules that are used over time by the old and taken upon by the new employees in the organization while the importance of culture has clearly been identified and it is hard to distinguish the culture that will positively affect the managers and employees. Culture is a crucial component in the controlling and the coordinating of activities in the organization. Organization culture tries to bridge the gap between the behavior and the values of people which is highly reflected in the current and new employees (Zulganef, 2015).
Factors Shaping Organization Culture
The organization culture determines the overall pattern in which the employees behave within the organization. The theoretical framework needed in establishing the ideal lifestyle to undertake is crucial. Managers have to be very attentive in choosing the perfect culture to adopt in the organization. The method selected must go hand in hand with the morals and values which are in their everyday activities (Zulganef, 2015). There two theories that help in the development of a culture in an organization which are Hofstede’s onion model where culture is the core the value and takes the shape of an onion. The second theory is the Schein’s model of organizational culture which has similar layers as Hofstede’s onion model but assumption is at the core of the model.
Hofstede Onion Diagram
Hofstede highlights the model through an onion and can be explained using an onion model. According to Kharkongor et al. (2017), the core illustrates the company culture but on has to peel various underlying layers so as to reach the core there are various illustration that can be used to show case this. Below is a selected illustration of the model.
Ritual is the second layer and are seen to be personal. This can be described as action that are done with a particular described manner.
Heroes this are the people who have a big influence on the culture.
Symbols id the final layer. This are brands that represent a particular product.
Practice affects all the three layers apart from the core. This means that they can be trained and changed over time.
The model shows how there various underlying layers that affect the culture of an organization (Kharkongor et al., 2017) . The layers appear underlying each other and can disappear if not implemented over time. There must be continuous practice. These layers affect the organization in various ways. Symbols provide means of identification and can easily disappear if not implemented. The second layer are the heroes since the heroes as they are admired and can provide actual imagery.
The third layer is the ritual. Rituals are the norms that bind people together. Core is the final layer as it determines the behavior within an organization. Schein’s model is similar as it takes a similar foe as the Hofstede Onion Diagram.
Schein’s Model
The model also takes form of an onion similar to Hofstede diagram. The model explains that organizations can not adopt culture in a single day hence it is a process and is created over a period of time where employees are taken under various changes to adopt a culture. There are three levels involved in the Schein model.
Schein’s model representation
Artifacts is the first layer that can be viewed and experienced by individuals. This can be classified as the dress code of the employees, behavior and facilities of the organization such as furniture. Also, the vision and mission of the organization are under artifacts and all help in the creation of a culture in an organization.
Values are the second layers. Individual employee’s values in a workplace define the organizational culture. The attitude and way of thinking of employees go a long way. The mindset of managers establishes the culture of an organization. They are not visible to the outsiders but form the pillars of an organization (Hogan & Coote, 2015).
Assumed values are the third level. The inner nature of a human form the basis for the development of a culture. Analogically an organization where women are more than men, there would be minimal late sittings and if men are more than women, there would be more aggression and increased output.
According to Cheng and Huizingh, (2015) management helped in the creation and existence of various expected behaviors. Managers adopt new norms and values and implement them. The two theories that explain the factors that determine the culture of an organization
The function of Organization Culture
There are the various function of a culture in an organization (Gramatnikovski, Stoilkovska, &Serafimovic, 2015).They include:-
Decision-making- culture in an organization assist in the creation of some basic assumption which helps employees to make efficient decisions.
Cooperation- culture in an organization creates harmony and trust.
Control- where it is established using three ways namely:-
Bureaucratic mechanism- where a formal directive from top management is issued.
Clan control- shared values that employees rely upon.
Market control- relies on the price. Price is adjusted according to goal results.
Commitment- Culture increase identification which fosters more responsibility,
Perception- Employees acquire a new way of seeing things.
Justification of behavior- the organization can explain why it does a particular thing in a certain way.
Communication- communication problem is solved in two various ways:-
Employees can decode multiple messages.
Shared assumption requires no communication.
The organization function has a great role on influencing the decisions and uses two principles namely:-coordination associated with innovation and internal integration. Internal integration is where employees engage together and coordination forms a stable ground where bonds hold the organization together (Guiso, Sapienza & Zingales, 2015).Similarly, Guiso, Sapienza and Zingales (2015), realized that organization culture is the key to success and for this to happen leadership must put the right culture into the minds of the employees or team. When new employees are hired, they find an existing culture and continue doing what other employees are doing. Time is considered a factor and viable employees who wish for a promotion they must live the corporation culture for them to be regarded as candidates (Gramatnikovski, Stoilkovska & Serafimovic, 2015). In addition, Gramatnikovski, Stoilkovska and Serafimovic, (2015) realized that for culture to be fully absorbed in the organization it must start from top management all the way down to the clients of the company.
Ethical Culture
Ethics is defined as what is good or bad. The moral code in a person. The conduct in a workplace can be ethical or unethical. According to Chadegani and Jari (2016), ethical culture improves the sustainability of an organization. Ethics is useful in the attainment of a company goal. For an organization to meet its moral virtues must be exercised for customer satisfaction (Fernando & Moore, 2015). Customers tend to disassociate themselves from a company that does not practice ethical values. Similarly, Campbell (2015), noted that leadership works hand in hand with culture and ethics and significantly influences the behavior of employees. Moral leadership is a behavior that focuses on personal relationships and integration and must be demonstrated by the leader. This definition creates the dire need for integrity and honesty which are the factors of an ethical leader (Demirtas & Akdogan, 2015).
There various model that can be used to help explain more on ethical culture
Corporate Ethical Virtual Model (CEV)
The theory stated that for employees to exercise ethics, they had to have virtues that help them act ethically. These virtues are the traits that promote ethics in an organization. The attributes are eight in number namely:-
Clarity: This is the manner of understanding by managers and employees on ethical expectation.
Congruency of management: how the midlevel management and the board of directors act in accordance with ethics.
Congruency of supervisors: how low-level management act in relation to ethics.
Transparency: the visibility of both ethical and unethical culture in the organization.
Viability: provision of budget and authority to employees and management.
Feasibility: organization support of ethical values in employees and managers.
Sanction ability: rewards and punishment for employees and managers.
Center for Ethical Business Culture Model (EBC)
The models separates culture into two Formal and informal culture. Formal includes socialization, policies, business culture, and mechanism of reward and process of decision making. Informal culture are the norm, rituals, role model and language. The EBC model uses five cluster. The first cluster is the mission and value which is seen vividly in the behavior. The second cluster is the stakeholder. This involves creation of a balance of employees, owners, and customer in the decision making. The third part is leadership as the mangers and leaders are the pace setters of ethical culture. The forth is integrity. It involves the quality of fairness in the organization. The final one is long-term. The long term interest of the customer is focused on.
Ethical Cooperate Cultural Model.
The model uses the representation of ethical culture in three pillars of the organization. The first pillar of the organization in ethical leadership ethical leadership can be used to tone the employees. Managers draft the rules and regulation which are used to control the employees in the organization. The second pillar of the organization is ethical values. Ethical values honest, trustworthiness, fairness and respect and are the core values needed to improve the ethical culture in the organization. The final pillar is ethical programs. Formulation of an ethical program is key in the drafting of the responsibility of an employee. This model is very simple and easy to implement. The model is used by firms which are at the startup stage and require few employees.
Perceived Ethical Culture Model (PEC)
In this model managers are responsible for the creation of an ethical culture. Top management define ethics of the company. The mangers create an ethical atmosphere which is transferred down to the employees (Chadegani & Jari, 2016) . The managers have the notion that if they bend the rules employees will bend the rules to. The leaders act as the ethical mental in the organization. The model is shaped as shown below.
Based on the various model discussed above, the importance of ethical culture is realized. How ethical leaders in an organization influence ethical culture. It is evident that ethical culture forms the roots of good moral leadership. In addition, various ethical strategies can be implemented to aid in the ethical culture of a company.
Compliance- Based Strategy
Compliance- based strategy is where leaders observe the character of an employee ability to obey instruction and rule (Hoffman et al., 2016). According to Hoffman et al. (2016), companies develop compliance strategy program with the sole purpose of eliminating unethical behavior and motivating employees to do what is right. The strategy forms the primary benchmark of a company (Adelstein & Clegg, 2016). According to Hoffman et al. (2016), the policy uses three approaches namely:-
1. Definition of rules and responsibility
2. Setting a defined standard for decision making.
3. Preservation of organizational values
Ethics term are interchangeably but different in various aspect. They can be vividly observed since ethics considered what is right and what is wrong. According to Adelstein & Clegg, (2016) doing what is right should always occur regardless of what is written in the law. Ethics is choice between what is right and what is wrong. Numerous organization such as the government use the compliance based strategy to justify employee wrongdoing. To prevent the kind of action observed compliance-based programs are required to aid in legal violation.
Compliance based strategy fail to embrace ethical behavior but aid in the presentation of a legal breach (L., 2015). There is an argument that the approach is not efficient. The strategy does not take legal compliance stand as it can be used as a means of committing illegal acts by the employees. Compliance strategy is used with hopes of reducing additional pressure to incorporate the program. In other literature, they base the strategy as poor one and prefer the integrity-based strategy. The policy is more on the performance of the employees ignoring the moral code of the company.
Integrity-Based Strategy
The integrity-based strategy is the strategy that takes into account the law, and it is guided by the code of conduct (L., 2015).The approach uses the importance of the law ensuring ethical behavior become part of the employees. Additionally, the strategy states that integrity is guided by the code of conduct which is influenced by ideals values and friendship. The strategy tries to promote a culture set forth by regulatory standard and principles. The statutory standard uses organization culture to decrease company uncertainty to the stakeholders and making it easy to handle wrongdoing. According to Lotich (2016), managers have to uphold integrity to inspire ethics and unity.
Integrity becomes part of a company culture if the organization decides to operate under a system of integrity. Trust in the organization goes a long way in building the integrity of employees. According to Palmer (2015), integrity is a virtual that links dignity and autonomy of a person, integrity is not forced since the behavior of a person or how the person strongly advocates for does not change. Integrity does not form the identity of a person but what integrity forms are honesty, trust and respect and this are virtues that are important in the creation of ethical culture.
The management believes that having a good strategy includes verification of ethical values, that help in the enhancing of employees awareness, helping employees understand ethical dilemmas and assisting employees to the right morals within an organization ((Hoffman, Driscoll, & Painter). Finally, all organization is guided by integrity. It acts as a moral compass and significantly affects the economic approach.
Ethics and Culture Integrated
Ethics defined as the ability to determine right and wrong. While culture is attitude, goals, practices of a group or organization that adapt as their own. According to Zulganef (2015), the combination of culture and ethics form the roots of understanding the core relationship of employees. Ethics help in the application of problems in a moral manner this has to go hand in hand with the values of an organization. The issues include corruption which has mostly affected most organization in today’s society.
Culture helps to influence this decision-making process in the organization. Both are the different aspect, but when ethics and culture are integrated together, the organization tend to have more accountability, respect, compliance, and honesty which help in the creation of an ethically cultural based environment (Hoffman, Driscoll & Painter). Also, (Hoffman, Driscoll & Painter, 2016) realized that these values help in the creation respect as each employee is given the responsibility to make a decision in the organization and be responsible for the choices that they make. It helps create dignity among members of the organization both in and outside the organization. The corporation can give fair and equal opportunity according to the skills of the employees (Hoffman, Driscoll & Painter, 2016).
Importance of Integration
To begin with, integration increases efficiency. An organization can improve efficiency only if it adheres to integration which should be accompanied by the importance of ethics and culture and how it affects the daily flow of an organization. The working atmosphere of an organization is created by the culture and ethics of an organization. How employees relate to personnel is vividly shown in the working condition of an organization. The integration of ethics and culture helps in increased employee customer satisfaction. Employees can address the needs of the customer more efficiently and discuss them. Similarly, the integration of the two aspects increases the customer satisfaction and grows the business economically. Similarly, integration reduces employee dissatisfaction. Integration is a critical topic in today’s organization. Integration in an organization reduces stress in the working environment of an organization. How various people relate to each other helps build the structure of the organization. Integration is vital in the building of an organization economic welfare.
Secondly, integration increases employee motivation. According to (Gramatnikovski, Stoilkovska & Serafimovic, 2015) ethics and culture influences employee motivation, quality of work, ability to do well in others, productivity, innovativeness, and creativeness. This creates increased output in the employee. They can conduct more work in less time. Integration of ethics and culture is essential in building an employee and improving the output of the employee.
Thirdly, Integration of culture and ethics form the building blocks of an organization (Gramatnikovski, Stoilkovska & Serafimovic, 2015). The process of integration of the two aspects creates the foundation of rules and regulation of an organization. The tools can be used to control employee behavior. Management can use shared values and ideas to help improve benefits and show the acceptable culture in the organization. The tool helps in adjusting human behavior. In addition, the tool has helped in running an organization and enhance transparency of the management
Fourthly, ethics and culture helps in the creation of a competitive edge. Ethics and culture integrated has helped to build the picture of a company while creating a competitive edge. Analogically this can be shown through two companies Mercedes Benz and land rover. Each of these company has developed a competitive edge against each other to help them push their product. They have integrated ethics and culture in their organization. Integration of ethics and culture has increased customer employee relation. It has also significantly improved in the marketing of their products.
Fifthly, the integration of ethics and culture has increased the ability of the organization to relate in the society. The society today is very fragile. It requires handle with care. The community today focuses on the organization ability to satisfy their needs and wants. The relationship involves an organization, and the society is both internal and external. Employees form the primary domestic relationship. They portray the organization image, how they relate to the clients is crucial. The process has helped in building the basic structure of an organization and increases exceptional moral awareness of the organization and the community.
Finally, integration help in the creation of programs in the society. New programs come up due to the formulation and integration of culture and ethics. Managers’ ability to understand the organization is critical. They can assess what is right and wrong and assess the perfect ways to implement it. This lead to the innovation of new ideas this innovation of new programs that fit the company structure helps stir the organization in the right way. It has helped in the growth of the organization as the right plan is implemented that fosters integration.
Practical Implication
Most organization do not all implement ethics and culture in their day to day activities. The lack of ethics in an organization and can cause serious problems. Society judges an organization mostly by the moral and cultural code that they uphold in the community. Some organization tends to undermine culture and ethics.
Analogically, a story that was done by Cable News Network (CNN) reported on British Airline Company. The news station report revealed that between the year 2002 and 2014 the moral code in the airport was a miss. Most customers who used the airline complained of loss of languages and other personal belongings. A further investigation of this revealed that employees of the airline were engaging in thuggery as they stole jewelry and other expensive items belonging to their customers (Zamost, Griffin & Devine, 2015). The claims were over 2000, and the valuables that were missing amounted to over 1.5 million dollars’. This had a significant impact as most people started to avoid the airline which saw it make losses of over 100 million dollars. The airport employees lacked a code of conduct. The airport used compliance strategy which helped them justify their wrongdoing and use it as an escape route. The compliance strategy was weak in the implementation of ethics and culture and provides various loopholes for misconduct. Employees committed unethical behavior and were able to justify it by saying that the confiscated the items. The theory lacked integrity. The strategy that was used contributed significantly to the losses that the airport incurred.
Similarly, Volkswagen was found to have acted unethically. According to Goodman, McGrath & Leah (2015), they noted that some of the employees were seen to have participated in unethical behavior during an emission test scandal. It was revealed that the company did act unethically since the engineers did inform the supervisors of the emission problem but the supervisors choose to ignore the alert. The board which constituted of various supervisors failed to reveal the information with fear of profit reduction in the company profits. The concern of losses prompted the managers to cheat in the test and fake results. Some of the reason that led to this behavior is that the company culture which was compliance based (Boston, Varnholt & Sloat, 2015). The compliance-based culture made the employees adhere to the rules and the regulation of the company. The workforce is engaged that the obligation of the company should be done no matter what. This compliance based structure led to a situation where activity were critically centralized. The employees were subjected to pressure which led them faking of the results (Goodman, McGrath, & Leah 2015). The act led to various impacts which were devastating. One of the effects that were that it led to health problems. The car due to its emission problem caused a lot of health problem due to the toxicity (Boston, Varnholt & Sloat, 2015). During the period of 2009 and 2015 over 400000 were sold Volkswagen this led to the emission of a high rate of nitrogen oxide gas emission. This led to the top pollution of gases. This led to increase in high rate chronic problems. People were exposed to chronic bronchitis among other respiratory problems. Also, the unethical behavior led to reduced sales and thus reduction of the workforce that was required to help in the project. In addition, Kottasova, (2015) realized that there was a drop in the sales which was caused by the people. Finally, Gomez, (2016) noted that there was a significant plunge in the company share. The shareholders dumped the stock at losses
In contrast, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (2015), stated that ethical behavior is not a choice in the organization and they take unethical practice very seriously. Deloitte uphold ethics and integration and take actions to those employees found to act unethically. In the organization since they look at the bigger picture (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, 2015). The main aim of the company is to maintain ethical behavior in the company. The use the integrity-based theory, this theory highly recommends that values of a person should match the integrity of that person. Managers uphold high integrity and try to maintain the integrity of the company by toning the employees in a particular way. This is mildly seen right from how the employees dress neatly to how they talk to the client. This has really painted a good picture of the company increasing their profits (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, 2015). Companies that maintain integrity and ethics culture in the organization boost their earnings economically. According to a study that was done by the New York Times the Deloitte profits amounted to 32.2 billion shilling and posted 7.6 annual percentage growth globally. The New York Times noted that Deloitte. In conjunction with the report Deloitte success can be advocated to the level of professionalism that is maintained in company. The ethical culture that is kept in Deloitte is highly impressive and has helped Deloitte achieve its goals.
Similarly, Starbucks is one of the most successful business in the world. Starbucks is an international coffee house that basses itself on coffee drinks. It serves drinks such as espresso, cappuccino, black coffee and white coffee. The organization substantially uphold ethics of the company as they have to help their customer appropriately (Rashid & Ghose, 2015). According to a case study that was done by Forbes it ranked the company as the most ethical company in the world followed by Google and Microsoft. This was due to the increased cooperate social responsibility that was done. Starbucks employees have high integrity. This has dramatically improved in the expansion of Starbucks and opening new branches all over the world. Starbucks uses four ethical perspectives. The first perspective is ethical commitment. Starbucks encourages moral obligation to all kind of people. It does not discriminate anyone. It provides services and protects its customer by maintaining a clean environment while doing its activities. The second perspective is the provision of a conducive working environment to its employees and the society at large. Starbucks promotes equal opportunity to its employees as it has employed over 2000 employees all over the world. Starbucks encourages employees according to their credentials and integrity. Integrity is the core of ethics in the company. Integrity is in their leaders is observed. They can judge the situation in the right manner. Starbucks uses the integral based theory to form the basis of the company values and ethics. Leader’s emphasis on integrity and fairness of the employees. Employees receive this culture and are honest in showing their sales. Due to this a report that was published by the USA today reviled that during 2015 the profit sky rocked from 625 million dollars to 801 million dollars showing a profit margin of 22.8% increment. They had revenue of 19.2 billion during the end of the year. This was significantly attributed to the ethical code that was maintained by the company
Also, Google is another ethical company. Google uses the phrase “Don’t be evil” is the phrase that is used by the users the highly uphold the code of conduct that they use in the company. The code of conduct is drafted by the board of members who have high integrity. The system of behavior is applied in all department across the world. The code of conduct mainly includes integrity. Integrity is seen by the users and how they uphold them. The leaders maintain a high code of integrity which is transferred down to the employees and the users. Integrity retains the values of the company and how it functions in their daily activities. The code of conduct includes values and behaviors of employees. Another code of conduct maintained by Google is privacy and security. Google tries to create trust in their users. They make security procedures which cannot be hacked. Personal information remains personal, and the user’s data cannot be transferred to other users remotely without authorization. Another code is responsiveness, Google highly advocates for customer feedback and responsiveness. Google takes action if a customer is disappointed and try to help increase the quality of service that is to be offered. Lastly, the final code of conduct that Google uses is the ability to take action. Google highly takes action to their employees if they provide poor service to their customers. Google in the past years has always acted ethically as it has provided equal opportunity to their employees. Google advertises its jobs and employees the best candidate for the position. Google has no discriminatory practices as it chooses according to the ability of the employees. Ethics is critical to the company. It helps in the creation of an environment where workers can work and operate in there continued invention of new programs in Google. Google try to incubate this invention to foster growth among individuals. Google is an international company that makes enormous profits of 43 percent increase from last year. There was 21.5 billion worth of revenues that were collected in the year ended 2016. This was due to the ethical code that was maintained by Google. The ability of Google to remember their user during the holiday such as Christmas made a high impact in the company. The leader’s integrity earned a significant role in the formulation of the right ethical, cultural values. Google uses integrity based theory as to create a foundation formulation of the values and the code of ethics. Employees are taken into severe lessons where they are taught the right code of ethics in the company. Google headquarters take very serious cases of where the employees were found to have acted without integrity in the organization. The face a board of directors who judge them with the facts of the case that have been presented to them.
Recommendation.
More research is required to be conducted in companies that lack ethical culture. Whether if the companies that act unethically have a more considerable advantage to companies that work ethically. If yes how do they try and reduce criminal activity and what are the measures they put in place to ensure that the unethical behavior does not constitute criminal activity.
Additionally, do the implementation of federal regulation help in the increment of ethics in a company? How will using federal laws improve the mandate of various companies? How will the federal laws be formulated in the country and what will be the primary mandate of the federal laws in the regulation of ethics and maintaining a good culture in a company.
Moreover, more research should be conducted and try to simplify ethical culture and how the culture can be used to improve the organization. How can business foresee unethical behavior? Which program is best placed to determine unethical behavior and procedure that can be followed to solve this? If a company is unethical what are the measures that can be undertaken to address this behavior and the best way to do this.
Also, more research should be conducted on the factors that can help improve culture and ethics of an organization. The best suitable ways to implement the two aspects of culture and ethics while reducing unethical behavior in the society.
Conclusion
In conclusion, ethics and culture are essential in the organization. It is evident that the right leadership will create an appropriate cultural and ethical culture in the organization. According to Boston, Varnholt & Sloat (2015), ethical and culture are the core of the organization culture. How leaders and organization implement this highlights the position of the company. The debate of whether and how to enforce this leadership style is very different. Integrity based it the most appropriate to choose since it focuses on the integrity and values of the employees. The leaders train and develop a culture where employees can act ethically while maximizing the profits of the organization. The various analogical examples have revealed this. In summary, leadership should include integrity and ethics of a company.
Adelstein, J., & Clegg, S. (2016). Code of ethics: A stratified vehicle for compliance. Journal of Business Ethics, 138(1), 53-66.
In their article, Adelstein and Clegg emphasize on the importance of compliance strategy and how it should be implemented to help an organization comply with the law. They further emphasis the importance of ethics in the conducting of the daily activities of an institution as they help in the formulation of rules and regulation and act as a benchmark for the company. Adelstein and Clegg try to research the problems faced in the code of ethics and give solutions that can help articulate the problem that they have discovered and giving a recommendation for areas that need further study.
Annotated Bibliography
Boston, W., Varnholt, H., & Sloat, S. (2015, December 10). Volkswagen Blames ‘Chain of Mistakes’ for Emissions Scandal, The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/vw-shares-up-ahead-ofemissions-findings-1449740759
According to their article, Boston, Varnholt, & Sloat looked at the problems that Volkswagen faced which led to them act unethically. The article revealed that the company acted without ethics when they cheated the emission test and top managers and supervisors failed to disclose the problem even after being informed by their senior engineers. The article further revealed the problem of the compliance strategy as they encourage for result under all conditions. Due to this extreme working condition, the employees had to give results and thus ought to cheat in the emission test to give defined results. The article further revealed how the unethical behavior led to losses in the company as most of their shareholders dumped their shares. In conclusion, Volkswagen Company contributed to a lot of pollution which led to chronic diseases
Campbell, K. A. (2015). Can effective risk management signal virtue-based leadership? Journal of Business Ethics, 129(1), 115-130. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1007/s10551-014-2129-4
In the journal, Campbell researched the importance of culture and leadership in the institution. The culture was portrayed as the norms and the values of an organization that helps in shaping ethics of an institution. Culture of an organization was built on effective leadership. Campbell further revealed that the compliance-based strategy forms a loophole for not following the rules and regulation and for this to be prevented organization had to be more integral and avoid the compliance-based approach. Finally, the journal realized that ethics was vital in the conduction of an organization activities.
Chadegani, A. A., & Jari, A. (2016). Corporate Ethical Culture: Review of Literature and Introducing PP Model. Procedia Economics and Finance, 36, 51-61. doi:10.1016/s2212 5671(16)30015-6
In the journal, Chadegani and Jari looked at the importance of co-operating ethical culture and the importance of ethical culture in various organization. They looked at the various models with the aim of answering two questions which are the importance of ethical cooperate culture in an institution and how researchers have defined the importance of ethics and culture in an organization. The journal uses various model such as Corporate Ethical Virtual Model (CEV), Center for Ethical Business Culture Model (EBC), Ethical Cooperate Cultural Model and Perceived Ethical Culture Model (PEC) to represent the information
Cheng, C. C. J., & Huizingh, E. K. R. E. (2015). Identifying open innovation capabilities: A critical literature review. The International Society for professional Innovation<anagement 1-13. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docv ew/1780137923? accountid=12085
In the journal, Cheng revealed management was responsible for the creation of various expected cultures. The culture of an organization depended on managers ability to formulate this behavior as culture involved their daily activities how employee and staff dress and the rules and regulation of the institution. The review further revealed that for the managers to implement integrity they too have to have integrity and it had to start from the top of the food chain.
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (2015). Ethics: Our network’s purpose-driven pursuit of quality and integrity. Deloitte. Retrieved from https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/About Deloitte/gxgr15-ethics-quality-integrity.pdf
In the article, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited was revealed to be one of the most ethical firms in the world. Deloitte is trusted by large firms in their critical projects since the company maintains integrity in their clients and the society at large. Deloitte uses integrity based programs as integrity is the pillar of the company. The article further revealed that Deloitte is committed to ethics and uses shred values that are timeless.
Demirtas, O. & Akdogan, A.A. (2015). The effect of ethical leadership behavior on ethical climate, turnover intention, and affective commitment. Journal of Business Ethics. 130(1). 59-67. doi:10.1007/s10551-014-2196-6
In the journal, Demirtas and Akdogan studied the effects of ethical leadership behavior in an institution. Ethical leadership starts with the leaders and managers who are the role models in an institution, and if they act unethically in an institution, the behavior will go down to the employees. Further, the article reveals that ethical leadership in an institution have both direct and indirect effect in an institution and will affect turnover intentions and ethical climate.
Fernando, M., & Moore, G. (2015). MacIntyrean virtue ethics in business: A cross-cultural comparison. Journal of Business Ethics, 132(1), 185-202. doi10.1007/s10551-014-2313-6
In the journal, Fernando and Moore seek to research the importance of ethics in the institution. They define ethics as the moral code and values which are considered to be acceptable in the business. The journal seeks to explain the comparison between culture and ethics of an organization. Also, the journal reveals the importance of culture in a business and does a study of business in the UK and compares it to the business based in Sri Lanka. The paper explains the findings and gives various recommendations.
Gomez, A. (2016, January 4) Volkswagen (VLKAY) Stock Closes Down, U.S. Sales Drop 10%, The Street. Retrieved from http://www.thestreet.com/story/13516097/1/volkswagenvlkay-stock-closes-down-u-s sales-drop-10.html.
In the article, Gomez seeks to explain the slump of Volkswagen stock after the unethical behavior. The stock price fell continuously after the company was found to have cheated in the emission test. The stock which was as high as over 50 fell as low as over 30 as members dumped the stock due to the unethical behavior which made the company incur considerable losses in totality. Similarly, the wrong behavior led to distrust among their clients and the unethical behavior was the start of the company problems.
Goodman, McGrath, & Leah, (2016a, April 24). VOLKSWAGEN, EPA REACH 'CONCRETE PLAN' IN VEHICLE SOFTWARE CHEAT SCANDAL, Newsweek. Retrieved from http://www.newsweek.com/buyback-offerspossible-fix-volkswagen-owners-deal-judge 450789.
In the article, Volkswagen was revealed to have had software scandal when they were faced with the emission test problem. The supervisors of the project decided not to air the problem even after the engineers revealed the emission test problem as stated by Goodman, McGrath, and Leah who wrote the article in 2016. The article further identified that the supervisors were continuously put under pressure to perform under no cost as the company mode of management was compliance based where it mainly focused on the results mostly and the targets were set very high. The article further stated that the strategy provided loopholes for lawbreaking in the organization. The article revealed that the company was unethical and lacked integrity.
Gramatnikovski, S., Stoilkovska, A., & Serafimovic, G. (2015). Business communication in function of improving the organizational culture of the company. UTMS Journal of Economics, 6(2), 267-279. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login? url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/1818354400? accountid=12085
In the journal, Gramatnikovski, Stoilkovska and Serafimovic researched the importance of effective communication in the culture of an organization. The journal stated that organization employees communicate both verbally and non-verbally every day in an organization environment. Also, communication is key bin the establishing of an effective culture. Communication form the building blocks of the culture and the journal tries to recognize the importance of communication in building an effective culture of an organization. The journal gives analogical examples of organizations in Macedonia and how they have used or failed to use effective communication and how it has affected their culture.
Hoffman, W.M., Driscoll, D, & Painter-Morland, M. (2016). Integrating ethics into organizational cultures. London: Profile Books Ltd.
In the book, Hoffman explain ethics and culture and how they can be integrated into an institution. The book further describes the compliance strategy as the strategy that is goal oriented and bases itself with the company believes, it defines the duties of employees, core values of an organization and it is used in the decision making. The book states that the approach is result oriented. The book further defines the integrity-based approach as the individual rights that govern decision making and is guided by the moral values of an individual. The book shows the importance of companies to move from a compliance-based strategy to an integrity based strategy. Finally, the book shows the importance of business ethics in today’s society.
Kharkongor, W. B., Paul, A., Bora, S., & Chakrabarti, D. (2017). Meghalaya Tourism Inculcating Cultural Image in Developing Enroute Mini Halts. Research into Design for Communities, Volume 2, 255-265. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-3521-0_22
In the book, the authors Kharkongor, Paul, Bora, and Chakrabarti stated that culture is core in developing of tourism in today’s society. Ethics is key to many tourist companies as it guides in the inflow of tourists. Tourist minds the moral code and would not use a company that has been poorly rated.
Kottasova, I. (2015, December 4). Volkswagen's sales are collapsing, Cable News Network. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2015/12/04/news/companies/volkswage n-sales down/.
In the journal, Kottasova reported as to why Volkswagen collapsed. The reputation of bad ethics led to a great drop in the sale. Most of their loyal customers switched to their competitors as they did not want to be associated with a company that had bad ethics. Volkswagen losses accrued to billion and their shares had a huge slump. The journal reviled that Volkswagen profits plunged all over the world.
L., T. (2015). Integrity-based ethics program. Prezi. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/mmsgam233k0l/integrity-based-ethics-program/ Lotich, P. (2016). 6 ways to demonstrate ethics and integrity in your business. The Thriving Small Business. Retrieved from http://thethrivingsmallbusiness.com/examples- fbusiness ethics-and-integrity/
According to the article, L wanted to answer the question that if there is the absence of leadership whether the compliance-based strategy is effective. The findings were based on American airports where employees act unethically as most customers lose their language, the article further stated that the strategy does not incorporate the law. Further, the article looked at the integrity-based approach and the appropriateness of the strategy to an organization as it includes the law in its implementation. Finally, L gave a solution that companies must companies must go beyond the punitive compliance strategy and use the integrity-based strategy.
Palmer, D. E. (2015). Business ethics and corporate responsibilities. Hershey, PA: IGI Global
According to the book, Palmer defined business ethics as what is stated to be right or wrong and the value of a business. Ethics in a business is a virtual that constantly needs to be implemented by the leaders. Ethics is attached to integrity and integrity is the virtual that is linked with a person dignity. The integrity of a business starts from the leaders and are forced to the employees. Finally the book realizes that a person integrity can be changed.
Rashid, S. & Ghose, S. (2015). Organizational culture and the creation of brand identity: Retail food branding in new markets. Marketing Intelligence & Planning. 33(1). 2-19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/MIP-10-2013-003
In the journal, Rashid and Ghose was researching about the importance of the brand identity and the relationship with organization culture. The journal focused on food and beverages such as Starbucks and other coffee shops in New Zealand. The journal used a quantitative research method where they took photos, asked questions and wrote field notes. In the research, Rashid and Ghose realized organization culture was key in the making of a good coffee shop and mangers tried to adopt the best organization culture despite.
References
Adelstein, J., & Clegg, S. (2016). Code of ethics: A stratified vehicle for compliance. Journal of Business Ethics, 138(1), 53-66. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1007/s10551-015-2581-9
Boston, W., Varnholt, H., & Sloat, S. (2015, December 10). Volkswagen Blames ‘Chain of Mistakes’ for Emissions Scandal, The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/vw-shares-up-ahead-ofemissions-findings-1449740759
Campbell, K. A. (2015). Can effective risk management signal virtue-based leadership? Journal of Business Ethics, 129 (1), 115-130. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1007/s10551-014-2129-4
Chadegani, A. A., & Jari, A. (2016). Corporate Ethical Culture: Review of Literature and Introducing PP Model. Procedia Economics and Finance , 36 , 51-61. doi:10.1016/s2212 5671(16)30015-6
Cheng, C. C. J., & Huizingh, E. K. R. E. (2015). Identifying open innovation capabilities: A critical literature review. The international Society for professional Innovation <anagement 1-13. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login? url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/1780137923? accountid=12085
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (2015). Ethics: Our network’s purpose-driven pursuit of quality and integrity. Deloitte. Retrieved from https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/About Deloitte/gxgr15-ethics-quality-integrity.pdf
Demirtas, O. & Akdogan, A.A. (2015). The effect of ethical leadership behavior on ethical climate, turnover intention, and affective commitment. Journal of Business Ethics. 130 (1). 59-67. doi:10.1007/s10551-014-2196-6
Fernando, M., & Moore, G. (2015). MacIntyrean virtue ethics in business: A cross-cultural comparison. Journal of Business Ethics , 132 (1), 185-202. doi10.1007/s10551-014-2313-6
Gomez, A. (2016, January 4) Volkswagen (VLKAY) Stock Closes Down, U.S. Sales Drop 10%, The Street. Retrieved from http://www.thestreet.com/story/13516097/1/volkswagenvlkay-stock-closes-down-u-s sales-drop-10.html.
Goodman, McGrath, & Leah, (2016a, April 24). VOLKSWAGEN, EPA REACH 'CONCRETE PLAN' IN VEHICLE SOFTWARE CHEAT SCANDAL, Newsweek. Retrieved from http://www.newsweek.com/buyback-offerspossible-fix-volkswagen-owners-deal-judge 450789.
Gramatnikovski, S., Stoilkovska, A., & Serafimovic, G. (2015). Business communication in function of improving the organizational culture of the company. UTMS Journal of Economics, 6 (2), 267-279. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login? url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/1818354400? accountid=12085
Hoffman, W.M., Driscoll, D, & Painter-Morland, M. (2016). Integrating ethics into organizational cultures. London: Profile Books Ltd.
Kharkongor, W. B., Paul, A., Bora, S., & Chakrabarti, D. (2017). Meghalaya Tourism Inculcating Cultural Image in Developing Enroute Mini Halts. Research into Design for Communities, Volume 2 , 255-265. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-3521-0_22
Kottasova, I. (2015, December 4). Volkswagen's sales are collapsing, Cable News Network. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2015/12/04/news/companies/volkswage n-sales down/.
L., T. (2015). Integrity-based ethics program. Prezi. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/mmsgam233k0l/integrity-based-ethics-program/ Lotich, P. (2016). 6 ways to demonstrate ethics and integrity in your business. The Thriving Small Business . Retrieved from http://thethrivingsmallbusiness.com/examples- fbusiness- ethics-and-integrity/
Palmer, D. E. (2015). Business ethics and corporate responsibilities. Hershey, PA: IGI Global
Rashid, S. & Ghose, S. (2015). Organizational culture and the creation of brand identity: Retail food branding in new markets. Marketing Intelligence & Planning . 33 (1). 2-19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/MIP-10-2013-003
Zamost, S. Griffin, D., & Devine, C. (2015). Hidden cameras reveal airport workers stealing from luggage. CNN . Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/13/us/airport luggagetheft/
Zulganef (2015). The roles of organizational culture and ethics in shaping the behavior of accountant from the perspective of strategic management. International Journal of Economics, Commerce, and Management. 3 (7). 441-455. Retrieved from http://ijecm.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/3729.pdf
