The open door policy

The American company, IBM, believes in creating good working conditions for its employees and in building up employee – manager relationships. One of its key policies is its Open Door program.

The program works like this: if employees think they were unfairly treated by their immediate manager, they can appeal to a higher level of management to solve the problem. In fact, they can go to higher and higher levels of management if they wish. Sometimes, they can take their case directly to an executive director. In practice, some cases are taken to senior management and executive management level; others are resolved by the immediate manager’s manager. Staff may raise any subject they wish. Generally, appeals are about promotions, relations with immediate managers, and assessments of staff performance.

In recent years, there have been 20 – 25 Open Door appeals dealt with by executive management annually. The employee’s appeal has been favorably received in a quarter of these cases.

1) Where can employees appeal if they think they are unfairly treated?

2) What problems can employees raise?

3) What is the Open Door policy aimed at?

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Perrier vittel

Perrier Vittel is a subsidiary of the Nestle Group. It has millions of customers all over the world. It is the water division of the group and has many famous brands such as San Pellegrino, Contrex, Panna and Aquarel. There are sixty-seven production sites producing billions of litres of bottled water. The main research centre of the Nestle Group is in Lausanne and there is a network of seventeen other centres on four continents employing 2,500 staff. This research helps produce safe and affordable water for everybody.

A recent new product is Nestle Pure Life. The company bottles this water locally in developing countries such as Pakistan and Brazil.

Nestle’s interest in water began in 1969 with the acquisition of 30% of Vittel. After the takeover of Perrier in 1992 the new company Perrier-Vittel became a major part of the Nestle Group. Today water sales represent 8.8% of the Group’s turnover. The Group is the international market leader for bottled water with a 15% market share. A new CEO (Chief Executive Officer), Frits van Dijk took over in 2000 and he aims to keep Perrier-Vittel at the front of the bottled water market in both sales and technology.

1) Why can we say that Perrier Vittel is a big company?

2) Where does the company make research?

3) Where does the company bottle the water?

4) What place does the company have on the water market?

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Company code of ethics

Ethics are moral beliefs what is right and wrong. Some actions are not criminal, but they can be morally wrong. Some organizations have a code of ethics, sometimes called a code of conduct. In it they say what their managers’ and employees’ behavior should be. In this way they try to prevent them behaving unethically. It includes various issues related to discrimination at work and so on.

Organizations are also expected to be socially responsible and behave ethically. If they buy products in Asia, for example, they visit the plants of their suppliers and check they do not exploit workers (underpay them or make them work long hours).

Many companies also include green issues in their codes. They are concerned about where their money is invested. They do not invest, for example, in arms or tobacco. If a project is environmentally damaging, they may stop it by not investing in it and persuading other organizations not to invest in it. They take ethical investment very seriously.

1) What is a code of ethics?

2) What does it mean when we say that the organization is socially responsible?

3) What does green management mean?