WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS HANDOUT: GROUP PROJECTS #1 and #2 BLE 215 I. ETHICS CODE GROUP PROJECT#1 Your group project is to draft an ethics code for your business. Your business team will be responsible to...

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS HANDOUT:


GROUP PROJECTS #1 and #2



BLE 215


I. ETHICS CODE GROUP PROJECT#1

Your group project is to draft an ethics code for your business. Your business team will be responsible to review and apply the attached guidelines in writing the code for your business. There are samples for ethics codes of various companies noted below. You can refer to them for guidance but you cannot copy them.
Does it sound like it should be easy to write an ethics code for a business? Think about it. First, what rules should be included? Is the business one subject to heavy governmental regulation and therefore, subject to unique ethical and legal duties? Are there certain core rules dealing with such things as conflict of interest, self-dealing and theft of business property that should be universally included in every business ethical code?
What about language and application? In the law, the requirements of due process require that every rule or law provide an ordinary person with notice of the conduct that is circumscribed by the rule. No rule can cover every factual situation so how does a business team draft a rule that can be applied in different factual situations and at the same time provide adequate specificity, not be too general, in order to give a person notice of the particular conduct that the rule covers.
What about explanations or interpretations of the rule? Often a rule makes more sense when there is some kind of explanatory section that explains the application of the rule.
What role does corporate culture play in drafting business rules? Corporate culture is the product of individual personalities, preferences and predispositions. It forms the “petri dish” in which behaviors are formulated and acted out.
ASSIGNMENT
Each group will form a business and select a business activity such as manufacturing, service provider, or money managers, etc. The team will research and determine the regulations that apply to their particular business operation and any other special legal duties applicable to that particular business. Those rules will be included in the code. The team will meet and draft three ethics rule and an advisory comment section for each rule, explaining the purpose and application of the rule. Each rule and accompanying comment should be no more than 1-2 pages. The comment must refer to materials in the case studies and readings. Additional references are acceptable. The teams will compile their codes and present them to the class.
See next page,
Guidance For Writing A Code of Ethics
by Dr. Chris MacDonald, for content and format.
See Honda of America website for a sample ethics and compliance code:
http://www.ohio.honda.com/Company/files/policy.pdf
This is also available in hardcopy in the instructor handout packet

Guidance for Writing a Code of Ethics

by Chris MacDonald, Ph.D.

These suggestions are in no particular order.

1. What will be the
   purpose
   of your new code? Is it to regulate behaviour? To inspire?


2. Different kinds of documents serve different purposes. Is your new document intended to
   guide
   people or to set out
   requirements? Is it really a Code of Ethics that you need? You might consider creating a Statement of Values, a Policy, a Mission Statement, a Code of Conduct...


3. A code of ethics should be tailored to the needs and values of your organization.


4. Many ethics codes have two components. First, an
   aspirational
   section, often in the preamble, that outlines what the organization aspires to, or the ideals it hopes to live up to. Second, an ethics code will typically list some
   rules or principles, which members of the organization will be expected to adhere to.


5. Will your new ethics document include some sort of enforcement? If so, what kind?


6. Often the principles or values listed in an ethics document will be listed in rough order of importance to the organization. The ordering need not be strict, but generally the value or principle listed first will have a natural prominence.


7. Think carefully about the
   process
   by which you create your new code. Who will be involved? A small working group? Or all the people affected by the code? How will you distil the needs of your organization and the beliefs of your members into a document? The process may matter as much as the final product.


8. How will your new code be implemented? How will it be
   publicized, both inside and outside of your organization? What steps, if any, will be taken to ensure that the values embodied in your code get implemented in organizational policies and practices?


9. How / when will your code be reviewed / revised?

And remember that a code of ethics will not solve all ethical problems:
"But we must remember that good laws, if they are not obeyed, do not constitute good government. Hence there are two parts of good government; one is the actual obedience of citizens to the laws, the other part is the goodness of the laws which they obey..." (Aristotle, Politics 1294a3-6).
GROUP PROJECT #2
FINAL PROJECT: CORPORATE COMPLIANCE GROUP WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT AND PRESENTATION
You have been hired by the Exxon-Valdez Subsidiary as the Compliance Team from the Sawyer Business Consulting Firm to write a corporate compliance plan. You will then be required to present that plan to the company board of directors and management. This is a publicly traded company. This company that has just caused a major environmental oil spill and has low employee productivity as a result of past internal mismanagement and financial performance decisions. The company faces criminal investigation, civil lawsuits, and possibly bankruptcy. Your compliance plan must show regulators and stakeholders that the company has a new vision and internal controls to prevent these problems from recurring in the future.
The case study that you are using is in the Hosmer text at pp.146-162. Your consulting team should read the case study carefully. Using the sample corporate compliance plan from “HealthTronics” as a guide and the Department of Justice guidelines (both on blackboard and attached to the instructor handout package), prepare a 7-10 page Compliance Plan and prepare the presentation to the company board and management which will take place in-class. The plan should include a mission statement, statement of values, code of conduct statement, written standards and whatever other categories your team believes are required to deal with the many problems facing this company.