Management Planning and Ethics Paper

Management Planning and Ethics Paper

University of Phoenix

Management: Theory, Practice and

Application; MGT/330

Robert Venti M. Ed

July 6, 2005

Management Planning and Ethics Paper

In an article titled Putting Teeth in Corporate Ethics Codes author Amey Stone discusses valid points on ethics in a financial business environment. Most if not all company's have an ethics code in place to help enforce corporate governance. This helps to enforce Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Chief Executive Tom Wamberg said "If you don't have something to stand up to and look to, you could easily give a slap on the wrist and say, 'Don't do it again'" (2004, businessweek.com) It is not so easy to enforce ethics as Wamberg is stating. Companies are taking ethics more seriously since big companies like Enron are taking a fall. At&t Wireless takes measures to ensure that every employee abides by the companies social responsibility. This paper will discuss in detail the efforts made by the company.

New regulatory requirements are requiring listed companies to distribute a printed code of ethics to their employees and to display them publicly to their vendors, upper management and employees. At At&t Wireless the code of ethics is available through the companies intranet. The company has the associate’s review the code of ethics and sign a statement that indicates the employee has read and will abide by the code as a condition of their employment. The new regulatory requirements partly came about due to high profile cases where corporate misconduct and misrepresentation of financial records and ethics where brought to light. Most companies are re-evaluating their codes to ensure that they are detailed and very specific. "Businesses are adding enforcement measures, including guidelines for employees to follow if they see violations." (2004, businessweek.com) At At&t, management has set repercussions that can occur if an employee's ethics are subject to an internal review. This can lead to warnings, suspensions, civil law proceedings, external investigation or possibly criminal charges.

As part of the planning functions of management they have determined that visibility is a very important reminder for employees. It reinforces the statement and most companies have the employees sign the ethics statement stating they understand the policy and are agreeing to abide by it. “According to a recent survey by New York-based research firm Governance Matrix, which rates companies on their compliance efforts, 51% of U.S. concerns disclose a code of ethics, although 32% allow a waiver in some cases.” (2004, businessweek.com) Apparently the sign-off is a condition of employment and possibly a condition upon getting a raise or a bonus.

At&t has adopted a rising new trend in regards to ethical behavior. As part of their tactical planning process they have incorporated ethics into their new training. If the companies senior managers have a working knowledge of the ethics code then it will be easier to train the middle managers to distinguish between employees who under perform and