The Department of Company Affairs, in May 2000, invited a group of leading industrialists, professionals and academics to study and recommend measures to enhance corporate excellence in India. The Study Group in turn set up a Task Force, which examined the subject of Corporate Excellence through sound corporate governance and submitted its report in Nov. 2000. The task force in its recommendations identified two classifications namely essential and desirable with the former to be introduced immediately by legislation and the latter to be left to the discretion of companies and their shareholders. Some of the recommendations of the task force include: Greater role and influence for nonexecutive independent directors Stringent punishment for executive directors for failing to comply with listing and other requirements Limitation on the nature and number of directorship of managing and whole-time directors Proper disclosure to the shareholders and investing community Interested shareholders to Continue reading
Business Ethics
Why Do Organizations Have a Code of Ethics?
Business ethics are the guidelines a company has in place to follow when interacting with internal and external sources, with the purpose being to impact the way in which they do business. It also means that all professionals will be held to the same standard, as it’s something the organisation’s core values and principles are based on. It is beneficial to ensure that everyone involved are treated with respect, and to create a working environment that’s as positive as possible. By having a code of ethics, a business is presenting themselves as having a unified attitude and would be seen as behaving with integrity. Businesses adopting a code of ethics will create a stronger environment of trust and integrity within the workplace. It is helpful when all employees, including management, are following the same rules and behaving in a certain way because it means most conflicts will be removed from Continue reading
Case Study: Reasons behind the Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers
The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers was a result of the investment bank’s exposure to the 2007-2010 financial crisis. In fact, the demise of the investment bank would come to symbolize the crisis. Therefore, in order to understand the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, a consummate understanding of the 2007-2010 financial crisis is requisite. As such, an examination of crisis will serve as introductory. Several factors contributed to the fall of Lehman Brothers. Perhaps most important, however, was the period of deregulation that preceded the crisis. Arguably, the period of deregulation started during the Reagan Era. Reaganomics, the lassiez faire economic policies advocated by the former president, may have served as the starting point for the deregulatory climate that ensued for the following two decades. Either way, the following two decades witnessed an overriding belief in the virtues of deregulation. In 1999, President Clinton signed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act into Continue reading
Ethics of Whistleblowing in Business
Whistleblowing refers to the act of organization members, either former or current, disclosing information on illegal and unethical practices within the organization to parties internal or external to the organization, who can take action. It is becoming increasingly common as more and more employees speak out about their ethical concerns. It cannot be denied that whistleblowing is accompanied by a range of problems, for both the whistleblower and the organization. However, it can be argued that whistleblowing is an important and valid method of endeavoring to control possible unethical behavior by organizations, as well as helping to establish a level of social responsibility. For these reasons, it is important for society to maintain a level of support and encouragement towards whistleblowers, so that their often valuable contribution towards eliminating corporate wrongdoings can continue. Employees who discover apparent wrongdoing within an organization are faced with several options, each of which comprises Continue reading
Ethical Behavior in Business
Ethics in business is not a new trend. In fact, it is already present for over four thousand years now. With the changing trends in the business world, the society is getting more concerned about the corporate responsibility of businesses. Debates have also been conducted focusing on the social issue of poverty among the workers and the corresponding responsibility of the employers about the issue. Even in the ancient times, issues on ethics in business can be observed just like in the teachings of Aristotle about the harmful effects of the gaps that exist between the economical utilization of goods and the profit making objective of many merchants. At present, the rise of the concept of corporate social responsibility among the business sector constitutes corporate initiatives of integrating several ethical aspects such as establishment of codes of conduct, environment management system measures, health and safety in the workplace, compliance to Continue reading
Role of Business Ethics in Modern Organizations
Business ethics are becoming more and more prevalent in today’s business world. Business ethics is a form of applied ethics that studies ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. There are an array of issues that have come under scrutiny, including community responsibility, pollution, whistle blowing, and sustainability. Business ethics is the conduct that a business adheres to in its daily transactions with the world. The ethics of a particular business can be different. They pertain not only to how the business interacts with the world at large, but also to their one-on-one transactions with a consumer. Many businesses have obtained a bad reputation just by being in business. To most people, businesses are only concerned with making money, and that is the bottom line. Making money is not wrong in itself. It is the behavior in which some businesses conduct themselves that brings Continue reading