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1. What key management policies/programs help to determine a strong or weak ethi

ID: 344836 • Letter: 1

Question

1. What key management policies/programs help to determine a strong or weak ethical
culture?

2. In this case scenario, Green Company, an environmentally sustainable company, has
asked you to help design an ethics communication and training program for all Green
Co. employees. Your meetings to date have been with the head of human resources. As
you begin your research, Green's corporate counsel informs you that you will not be
allowed to ask employees about ethical dilemmas that have occurred at Green. He
specifically tells you to get your information from other sources such as press accounts
of problems in the industry, or from other organizations with which you've worked. In
addition, the head of human resources has told you that you'll be unable to meet the
three most senior executives because they're busy negotiating a large acquisition. You
will have access to other high-level managers who can tell you what they think the
seniors want.
Based on what you have learned about business ethical cultures, identify the problems
presented in this case.
'What should you do?

Explanation / Answer

Answer: (1) the presence of the code of ethics, ethical policies and training programs in ethics indicates that the company has a strong organizational culture. The communication about ethics from top to bottom also determines the weakness and strength of the ethical culture inside the organizations.    

(2) This scenario indicates that the top level management inside the organization is not really committed towards ethics. Not allowing the consultant to talk to the employees directly indicates that something is seriously wrong with the ethical culture inside the organization which corporate counsel wants to hide. Similarly the inability of senior manager to talk to the consultant indicates lack of commitment towards developing ethics.   In this case I would clearly tell the company about your concerns related with these issues and communicate that without a proper response from senior management and without talking to the employees I will not be able to develop a good communication program.