Business Ethics and TechFite

TechFite is a U.K-based company that has done well, even though their operations within a new multicultural environment, the United States, have been challenging. With their community and employee-focused organizational structure, the company has successfully empowered their members by including leadership development and facilitating strong coworker relationships. TechFite also maintains high standards by properly compensating employees for their contributions to the company as a whole. In addition, their highly respected environmental ethos is a major plus for the future direction of the company.

They constantly contribute to the wellbeing of the community to the point where it seems as if each area they inhabit, is noticeably improved. At this time, however, the company is dealing with a few challenges concerning their community contributions and the manner in which they are compensating their employees. These problems stem from social and ethical disagreements within the company. More than ever, there is a need to institute corporate policies that address these issues, as well as corporate social responsibility policies to reinforce alignment with their community-focused efforts.

CORPORATE POLICIES A: Promoting a Positive Work Environment Everyone wants to be part of a workplace where they are accepted, understood, and acknowledged for their efforts. These are fundamental to providing a healthy work environment. Being a company that originated overseas and operates in a culturally diverse business environment, the management of the company understands the importance of having policies that correlate with the business’s requirements and promote a positive workspace. Consequently, the company will not tolerate behaviours or actions promoting discrimination or harassment of any kind, including religious beliefs, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation/preference, etc. The company’s goal is to promote a positive work environment, supporting its employees and empowering the people surrounding the organisation. Therefore, anyone wishing to work within the company must contribute to creating and maintaining a positive space for their coworkers.

B: Compliance with Labour and Employment Laws TechFite aims to ensure that their employees are treated fairly and provided with excellent work conditions. To maintain a structure that is built on trust and reliability, the company must ensure that employee wellbeing is positively promoted throughout the organisational culture. The company recognises the importance of implementing several provisions of the country’s labour and employment laws which differ in different aspects to those of the United Kingdom, which the company is also obliged to adhere to. These statutes guide the conducting of various human resource activities such as hiring, firing, promotion, layoffs, minimum wage, compensation and so on. To demonstrate the company’s ethical concern for employees, TechFite will strictly adhere to these laws, even in dramatic corporate events that may financially and psychologically impact members of the organisation.

C: The Discussion and Exchange of Information with the Company’s Stakeholders.
The company’s organizational culture promotes communication characterized by honesty, transparency, and integrity. The company acknowledges the importance of critical stakeholders such as employees, community members, government, and shareholders, among others, in being up-to-date about the endeavors and the organization’s position at all times. The goal is to establish and maintain positive, suitable relationships between the organization and its stakeholders (Rossouw, 2005). Accordingly, the organization will disclose authorized information, ideas, and proposals to stakeholders who are likely to be affected by the decisions taken from such data. The aspect of open communication will help place stakeholders in prior positions regarding the critical decisions that will be made by the company. However, the disclosure will be limited to information that will not expose the company on the grounds of confidentiality and privacy.

Violations of the Policies

The Ethics Officer of the company is charged with the responsibility of ensuring all members of the organization adhere to the provided ethical standards and principles. Therefore, any violations of the policy may be subject to disciplinary action or discharge, depending on the decision made by the company’s Ethics Committee, which is headed by the Ethics Officer.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Corporate social responsibility is a form of business regulation that has been incorporated into an organizational model. Usually, it is an initiative undertaken by a company to assess the environment and take responsibility for its actions to ensure social and environmental well-being. It is a self-regulatory model that goes beyond statutory compliance laws, regulations, and legal requirements (Balabanis, Phillips, & Lyall, 1998). Also known as corporate citizenship, CSR often involves a company incurring costs that have no immediate financial benefit to the corporation but produce a long-term effect – promoting positivity in environmental change. This method is relevant to the case scenario in which TechFite is actively involved in community activities and also funds various projects periodically.

It is important to note that corporate social responsibility has immense benefits for companies that actively participate in the initiatives. For example, TechFite has a praiseworthy reputation due to its contribution to the general community and its projects. This engagement has given the company an excellent image that is likely to have a long-term effect on its growth and profitability. However, the recent disengagement from the community is having a negative impact on the company’s image, particularly from the general public’s perspective. This serves as a perfect example of the adverse effects of lacking corporate social responsibility initiatives or programs.

Given the impact that this can have on an organization, despite the company being forced to withdraw from the CSR program, there is a need to address the matter to solve the problem of the deteriorating corporate image. For instance, due to its financial troubles, there is a need to communicate the company’s incapability to meet the periodic financial contributions but to guarantee that once it regains its position, the program will be resumed (Yoon, Gühan-Canli, & Schwarz, 2006). Moreover, proper budgeting techniques and adequate fund allocation for different projects are necessary to prevent such or similar inconveniences. Participating in the community’s activities, although not necessarily financially, is also a suitable approach. Engaging in tree planting, cleaning events, donations and so on can help.

These activities demonstrate the social and ethical responsibility of the company as they promote social and environmental well-being for the greater good without concern for incurred costs or likely financial benefits from the initiatives. Additionally, the company’s efforts, such as treating its waste before disposing of them, managing its emissions, and appropriately eliminating its waste, are examples of ensuring a sustainable environment.

References

1. Balabanis, G., Phillips, H. C., & Lyall, J. (1998). Corporate social responsibility and economic performance in the top British companies: Are they linked? European Business Review, 98(1), 25-44.
2. Boyd, C. (1996). Ethics and corporate governance: The issues raised by the Cadbury report in the United Kingdom. Journal of Business Ethics, 15(2), 167-182.
3. Rossouw, G. J. (2005). Business ethics and corporate governance: A global survey. Business & Society, 44(1), 32-39.
4. Yoon, Y., Gühan-Canli, Z., & Schwarz, N. (2006). The effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities on companies with bad reputations. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 16(4), 377-390.

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