Corporate Social Responsibility at TechFite, Thesis of Management Accounting

Download Corporate Social Responsibility at TechFite and more Thesis Management Accounting in PDF only on Docsity! C717 Business Ethics, C717 Task 1 Assignment Western Governors University Corporate Social Responsibility at TechFite Three corporate policies that reflect organization’s culture and ethical viewpoints.  Employee Benefits Policy. TechFite dedicated to employee well-being. Employees must work a minimum of 40 hours to be eligible to receive health insurance, jury duty compensation, disability coverage, parental leave, bereavement pay, 401K program, paid time off (PTO), and holiday pay. Part time employees are not eligible for any company paid benefits with the exception of health insurance, except as required by law. Due to lack of budget, the company is reducing employee hours to classify them as part time and limit benefits that are company paid. Health insurance is still offered to part time employees to ensure a larger number of participants in health insurance program and keep costs lower for the company. So while there are limited funds available to offer full benefits to part time employee, there is an opportunity to keep insurance costs down while building employee trust and increasing morale.  Corporation Social Responsibility (CSR) Policy. TechFite is committed to a social responsibility to the community in which they have a presence. TechFite sponsors local youth leadership development programs, and pledges to invest into the community by environmentally sustainable means. TechFite encourages employee involvement by offering two (2) paid days for volunteering within the community. TechFite made a commitment to give back to the community. Community involvement is central to the corporate culture and by rewarding employees to engage in volunteering in the community, TechFite increases the view of the company not only from the community, but also by the employees as an ethical, engaging, and committed company.  Code of Ethics Policy. TechFite’s Code of Conduct provides mechanisms to prevent dishonest or unethical conduct and cultivate a culture of integrity, objectivity, confidentiality, honesty, and accountability. i. Equal Opportunity ii. Discrimination and harassment iii. Conflict of Interest iv. Workplace safety Having a Code of Ethics policy helps employees feel as though they are being protected. While this policy does not directly address the ethical issue of excessive bonuses being paid out to the top executives, it does protect the employees. Distinguish between ethical and legal issues.  Ethical issues not always become legal issues. Excessive bonuses to top executives are not illegal, but they can be viewed as unethical and can lead to legal risks. A great example is that which was pointed out in Chapter 2 of the AIG case of Bonuses and Executive Salary Caps. I remember hearing about these details in the news and was very appalled to hear of the salaries and bonuses of the very executives that were responsible for AIG’s downfall. But, after reading this section, there was a viewpoint that I had not thought about – “owed as a result of contracts that had been negotiated and signed before the collapse, and they were needed to provide incentive to retain the most talented employees at a time when these people were most needed.” I began to wonder if there was an acceptable reason for AIG’s executives to be awarded those high salaries and bonuses. Ethical issues at stake.  Misuse of resources. While the action of the top executives receiving excessive bonuses could be classified as misuse of resources, so too could the reduction of hours of the lower employees to avoid paying benefits. Misuse of resources can be direct or indirect. Reducing an employee’s hours to avoid paying benefits is not just directly unethical, but it also has an indirect ethical issue at hand by putting unnecessary pressure on the employees to do more with less time.  Unethical leadership. There are a few issues that present unethical leadership. Top executives accepting excessive bonuses while not illegal activity, it does not show good faith to the lower level employees. Ethic leadership should understand the financial constraints but be willing to invest back into employee resources. This shows the employees that TechFite is a company that values it’s employees and making it a great place to work. Ethical actions will drive employees to follow leadership, not complain about it. Also, by TechFite not fulfilling the commitments made to city officials about community involvement and investing into the community, it paints the company as not being socially responsible. That can have a negative impact on the bottom line of the company. Being socially responsible and consistently exhibiting ethical behavior will increase positive public image and lead to more profitability. Purpose of the ethics officer.  The purpose of the ethics officer is to ensure a company operates in a legal and ethical manner while meeting its business goals. They are also responsible for developing compliance standards and procedures as well as