Introduction to Business Honors/A Period
10/31/17
Business Ethics Paper
Business ethics is defined as an examination of social and moral responsibility that a business applies to its everyday operation. Most companies in the world have a Code of Ethics, but the problem is that not all of them follow it. Sometimes a Code of Ethics is a way to live by and a way to conduct business. But unfortunately, other times people just look at a Code of Ethics as a piece of paper.
The first company I will be examining is American Express. American Express is a company based out of New York that offers travel and financial services. It’s in the market of Banking and Financial Services. Their Code of Ethics, or “Corporate Responsibility”, specialize in 3 areas: Leadership, Historic Preservation and Community Service. In 2016, American Express donated $36 million with over 400 grants. To fulfill their obligation to Leadership, they trained 681 emerging nonprofit leaders through 19 American Express Leadership Academy programs across the globe, which is used as a “multidisciplinary and intense approach to training the next generation of emerging nonprofit leaders.” (Corporate Responsibility Document, 3). To fulfill their Historic Preservation obligation, they launched “Partners in Preservation: National Parks” through a partnership with the National Trust for historic preservation. And to fulfill their obligation to community service, they awarded over 100 grants to fund community service projected that caused thousands of volunteers to restore over 513 homes, care for 850 parks, create care kits for hospitalized children, and rescue 72 million pounds of food to be distributed to the hungry. Their code of conduct has not changed over time; they have always stuck to the same values. In fact, American Express was named one of the “World’s Most Ethical Companies” for four years in a row from 2007-2010 by the Ethisphere Institute. According to multiple employee reviews, American Express treats their employees very well and give them fair salaries. All of these things positively add to their company image. I feel that this company does a great job with maintaining their corporate responsibility.
The next company I will be examining is Boeing. Boeing is a multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells rockets, airplanes, and satellites. They are in the market of Aerospace and Defense. Boeing has a Code of Ethics that is based off 7 values: Integrity, Quality, Safety, Diversity and Inclusion, Trust and Respect, Corporate Citizenship, and Stakeholder Success. Their overall goal is to deliver superior value to customers, employees, shareholders, communities and partners. Boeing also cares for the community. Boeing has been giving numerous grants for Science Education and has been partnering with universities to offer internships and co-ops. Their code of conduct has not changed recently but they have had an ethical dilemma. There was an issue with leasing aircrafts to the U.S. Airforce. The pentagon froze the transition when it began an investigation on former procurement staffer Darleen Druyun (who began working at Boeing at the time). She pleaded guilty to inflating the price of the contract to favor Boeing as her future employer. She also passed the information to Airbus, a competing aviation company. She received a jail sentence for corruption. According to many current and previous employees, Boeing is a great company to be employed by. There are flexible hours, great benefits, and education payment. I feel like Boeing has a social responsibility to be more environmental, and focus more on cleaning the air and community because all of their planes emit so much Carbon Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxides.
The next company that I will examine is The Coca-Cola Company. The Coca-Cola Company is a multinational beverage corporation that manufactures nonalcoholic beverages. This company also has a Code of Ethics based on four values: Respect and Integral Development of Collaborators, Integrity and Austerity, Passion for Customer Service, and Social Value Creation. In addition to these values, Coca-Cola also has a general rule of ethics for the way they do business. There have been a few ethical dilemmas in the past. In 1999, Belgium school children became sick after drinking Coke. The company did not consider this as a major issue so they just withdrew their products from Belgium and then sold those banned cans to Africa and there were no health issues reported. The media eventually learned about this and openly told the public. In addition to this, Coca-Cola has also been accused of causing pollution. Indian villages accused Coca-Cola of using their own fresh ground water that lead to a major water crisis. The company was forced to close the facility by this location in India. Over time their code of ethics hasn’t changed, but the way the handle it has changed. Coca-Cola is now slowly striving towards becoming a more ethical corporation. This company is in strict competition with Pepsi, who makes the same types of products. This competition may cause Coca-Cola to be more cutthroat and unethical at times. The Coca-Cola company maintains its ethical promise through community outreach and the Coca-Cola Foundation. Since its beginning in 1984, the Coca-Cola Foundation has given back more than $820 million to enhance sustainability for local communities worldwide. I feel that they should have a bigger network of community outreach. For such a large multinational corporation, they should be doing more major things than just promoting their own foundation. Even though the work their foundation does is terrific, they still have more of an opportunity to help give back in more ways than just their foundation.