Improving ethical performance

Before you read

Vocabulary task

1) extortion	a) взяточничество
2) ethical performance	b) подделка счетов
3) bribery	c) улучшение этических норм
4) kickbacks	d) этические проблемы
5) falsifying accounts	e) рассматривать последствия
6) ethical issues	f) вымогательство
7) consider ramifications	g) «откаты»

Key terms

Match the terms with their definitions. Try to find their Russian equivalents.

1) code of ethics	a) a person who passes judgment on ethical issues related to the organization
2) ethics committee	b) the process of checking the organization’s compliance with ethical requirements and standards
3) social audit	c) the ability to behave ethically
4) ethics training	d) the process of developing people’s awareness and sensitivity of ethical issues
5) ethical performance	e) ethical rules and value system existing in the organization
6) ethics advocate	f) a group of people chosen to consider the ethical consequences of company practicies

Think ahead

1. Explain how you understand the role of codes of ethics, ethics committees and ethics training.

2. Can you think of any examples of ethical rules that organizations want their employees to follow?

Text 8.3. Read the text and say what comprises the process of improving ethical performance.

Ways of Improving Ethical Performance

Organizations have taken various actions to improve the ethical performance of their managers and employees. These actions include developing codes of ethics, organizing ethics committees, conducting social audits, and providing ethics training.

Codes of Ethics

A code of ethics describes the general value system and ethical rules that the organization wants its employees to abide by. Ethical codes are developed to describe the organization’s purpose, establish a consistent ethical climate, and provide ethical guidelines for decision making.

The types of behavior generally prohibited in codes of ethics include bribery, extortion, gifts, kickbacks, conflict of interest, falsifying of corporate accounts, violation of laws in general, fraud, revealing company secrets, use of insider information, illegal political payments and illegal behaviour that serves the company. It is common practice for organizations to communicate ethics codes to their employees through printed material, although some organizations also conduct ethics workshops.

When developing codes of ethics for doing business in multinational settings, it is important for a company to consider the foreign culture’s attitudes toward gifts and bribery. Making small payments to foreign government officials to expedite action is both customary and expected in some countries. So, companies doing business in foreign countries should develop an ethical perspective toward conducting multinational business.

Ethics Committees

Some organizations create a permanent committee to consider the ethical ramifications of company practices. Most of the members comprising the committee are top level managers. Some organizations that don’t have an ethics committee employ a business ethics specialist, called an ethics advocate. The role of the ethics advocate is to pass judgment on ethical issues related to the organization’s action and to act as the organization’s social conscience.

Social Audits

Social audits have been developed to assess and report on the social impact of an organization’s actions and programmes. Proponents of the social audit believe that this type of reporting mechanism will provide an indication of the organization’s degree of social responsibility.

Ethics Training

Another approach organizations use to improve ethical performance is to provide ethics training to managers and employees. This type of training attempts to develop employee awareness of ethics in business and to increase their sensitivity to ethical issues. Integrating the subject of ethics into business courses is another form of ethics training occurring at the university level.

Concept check

1. Finish the sentences according to the text.

1. Actions to improve ethical performance include … .

2. The aims of ethical codes are … .

3. Generally prohibited types of behaviour include … .

4. Multinational companies should consider …

5. Ethics committees are aimed at … .

6. Those in favour of social audit believe … .

7. Ethics training helps employees … .

2. Characterise each way of improving ethical performance.

READING IV