Question

You have just been appointed as the CEO of an accounting company that is recovering

from serious charges concerning ethics violations. You have noticed that the ethical

climate at your company is very bad. You must decide what provisions you would

include in a company ethics code.

Include useful charts and other graphics if they add to your case study

Summarize your case study by preparing a conclusion

Answer 1

Code of ethics is essential for a company to instill confidence to its stakeholders and in managing the stakeholder’s relationships. Leadership oriented towards ethical values, documented ethical codes, and a culture of ethical conduct is required for a company to uphold ethical values. For a CEO of a company, the following are the critical elements required for driving ethics within an organization.

• Develop an ethical statement, code of ethics and conduct norms
• Communicate intended ethical practices to all stakeholders and insist them to follow the code when discharging duties for the company
• Monitor and verify the ethical practices in the organization through appropriate audits
• Include a session on ethical code of the company for the new employees during induction
• Provide training and workshops to the employees regularly to update them on ethical practices
• Include practice of ethics as part of performance evaluation
• Establish a reward system to encourage ethical behavior within the organization
• Review the ethical challenges faced by the company and devise policies to overcome the ethical challenges

One of the important indicators of effective ethical practices is the involvement of employees in expressing ethical concerns and in their readiness to discuss ethical issues.