Introduction
While contemplating ethical perspectives in the field of customer care it should be remembered that customer care is inherently and characteristically a service. RelaxO’s customer care establishments should always be compassionate and humanitarian in nature throughout the course of its operations in India. They should and continue to be primarily viewed as community service institutions. The fundamental purpose of customer care establishments is to provide care to those who require medical attention and to foster the service of the community as a whole. Thus, the issue should be handled with more care and proper emphasis (Arend 2006).
Code of Ethics
RelaxO’s general CODE OF ETHICS:
- High moral standards act as the base for loyalty (Konecnik 2007).
- The constitution, laws, and regulations of the country are to be adhered to at all times (Konecnik 2007).
- The objectives of a company must be respected and accomplished (Arend 2006).
- Unfair discrimination in the dispensing of special favors or privileges to anyone, whether for remuneration or not, and acceptance of any kind of favors or benefits should be avoided (Konecnik 2007).
- Confidential information should not be misused during the execution of the service (Konecnik 2007).
- The employee must help the company to detect fraud (Arend 2006).
- In order to improve trustworthiness, the aforementioned principles should be stringently followed (Konecnik 2007).
Alongside there would be a specific code of ethics for the company.
Ethical code no: 1- You will treat the affairs of the company as strictly confidential (Adler and Clark 2002).
The reason behind this code lies in the principle of confidence generated by the company on the employees and this is an essential aspect of the company ethical code whereby it is made possible for the management to transfer information within the departments and among the employees, with the belief that the information thus circulated would remain confidential and, competing companies would not be able to get hold of the vital inside information.
From the point of the view of the employees this may be seen as an act of basic mistrust in the initial stages but these days this is regarded as a general norm and the employees of RelaxO agrees on this point. The employees of RelaxO also note by themselves that with information thefts on the rise lately, it is but a logical conclusion that the company would issue such circulation on behalf of information security (Adler and Clark 2002).
Ethical code no. 2- You will devote whole time and attention to the work of the company and assignments rendered to you and will not undertake any direct or indirect business work without the written permission of the management (Adler and Clark 2002).
This code is instrumental for those who are wishing to pursue a different orientation other than the current job at hand. It has been said by the Bible that no one is eligible enough to serve two masters at a time and keeping aligned with these words it is reasonably true that once an individual indulges himself in a specific job it is virtually impossible for him to concentrate on the other job fully. Quite naturally enough it is seen that the job this individual neglects in this process is the employment he should have been busy within the first place. Therefore it is quite logical for the management to include this code among the other ethical codes.
As the employees of RelaxO one cannot say that they are entirely happy with the code but they tend to keep themselves aligned with this code as it is believed in the general sense that the job at RelaxO is the employees’ top priority. Apart from this the employees at RelaxO hardly ever get any time for themselves to start new employment or business simultaneously but they however feel that the opportunity should have been there by eliminating this code from the ethical code list.
Under neutral circumstances, it should be mentioned that such opportunities are prevailing as per the direction of the code at RelaxO by the means of a written permission from the management. From the management point of view, it could be mentioned that the authorities would be aware of such activities by an individual once notified in writing and thus this individual would not be given responsible duties in the future keeping in mind that the priorities of this individual might shift from time to time (Konecnik 2007).
Ethical code no. 3 – You will be entitled to Privilege leave, Sick Leave, and Casual Leave in accordance with the rules of the company. Any further leave application should be placed in the prior notification of 90 days (Adler and Clark 2002).
Formulation of this ethical code is of extreme importance to RelaxO because being a busy business firm with a limited number of employees it becomes obvious to plan beforehand about the engagement of any employee. Each employee is a small part of the larger picture and all the employees work on a given project in a panoramic mode. Therefore any absence would lead to the malfunction of this rhythm and ultimately would cause the failure of the project in progress.
For the employees this code is basically subjective but they all understand the overall picture of the system of RelaxO. However, it is reminded that in severe conditions of work pressure exceptions are made by the company resulting a cancellation of the leave. On the other hand in situations of unavoidable circumstances of the employee it is assumed the RelaxO would grant leave (Adler and Clark 2002).
There are also similar code regarding working shifts, where employees are directed to work according to the need and hours of RelaxO, and salary confidentiality, where the employee is subjected not to discuss their remunerations with addition facilities, along with strict implementation of transfer orders, where an employee is bound to be transferred to the specified location formulated by the company, but the three most important ethical codes are mentioned above. From the point of view of the management, i.e. RelaxO these ethical codes are the pillar of success for the company whereby the company can estimate the future correspondence and structural formulation.
This is applicable to any and every company in operative state and RelaxO is no different. Therefore these ethical codes serve as the basement of success for RelaxO. It may be seen from the employee point of view in this regard and there may be some difference in point of view from the company but it is certain that the employees understand that these ethical codes are as important as the company itself as because the success of these ethical codes would subsequently lead to the success of the company and the success of the company would lead to the success of each employee in the end as a better worker and as a better human being (Adler and Clark 2002).
Miscellaneous issues
In this context the element of human resource is of prime importance. There are miscellaneous issues such as insurance coverage, transportation for the employee and other issues. Fagernäs (2010) stated that in Indian companies, in general, the code of ethics would include the outline of proper insurance coverage where the employee would pay 20% of the insurance premium as per the Employment Act, 1994 (India). The company would provide the rest 80% of the insurance premium (Fagernäs 2010).
According to Fagernäs, (2010) the Employment Act, 1994 (India) is silent about transportation for employees within metropolitan areas, however, the company would provide transportation for all employees, either by providing vehicles for pickups and drops in and out of the company sites or provide proper compensation for the transportation as traveling allowance. There are other miscellaneous issues regarding code of ethics complied with Human resource and all would be maintained as per Employment Act, 1994 (Fagernäs 2010).
Contingency plan
There would be risks the company will face on this business and therefore, it pays to be prepared in order to avoid them to keep this business run. The code of ethics would comply with this preparedness. There should be proper contingency plans within the parameters of the Human Resource Department. As a close contact customer service there is a possibility of direct confrontation with the customers regarding pay dispute or any other discontents. To handle the situation there would be a proper cell of Grievance notification and actions (Konecnik 2007). There would be a group of highly trained professionals who would look into the matter of such problems. As it is, any problem can be solved with proper care and skillful communications.
Contingency Planning in this context of Human Resource Department entails determining and identifying the counterbalancing measures to be acted upon in the event of risks occurring. Thus, it would be followed by alternative strategies where risks and threats can be avoided by deviating from the original plan of action. For instance, putting more effort in the design phase might decrease the extent of alterations during the operational or planning stages of the project. This process involves determining and developing measures to capitalize on opportunities and offset the adverse affects of the threats (Arend 2006).
Avoidance is important in this case as removing a particular threat, generally by treating the problem from the roots. It should be noted that no project manager or management teams can do away with all forms of risks. However, certain risk incidents can often be removed. Mitigation must be involved for lessening the expected monetary value of a particular risk incident by curtailing the probability of risk occurrence, or ensuring a drop in the risk event value or both.
Obtaining products in the form of goods, services or both from external sources is frequently a viable response to certain forms of risk events. For instance, risks pertaining to the usage of a certain technology may be moderated by associating with an enterprise which has experience in dealing with such technology. However, procurement engages in exchange of one risk in turn for the other. Like in the case of moderating cost risks by means of a fixed price contract might increase the probability of schedule risks in case the seller is not capable of performing satisfactorily. Likewise, transferring technological risks to a service provider may bring about undesirably high tender outlays (Konecnik 2007).
Conclusion
It should be stated that in accordance to Adler and Clark, (2002) ethics is “the set of values, standards, and principles used to determine appropriate and acceptable conduct at all stages of the research process” (Adler and Clark 2002, 212). Thus, in the case of a research it is extremely important to respect the code of ethics and maintain its norms. As in the case of RelaxO, we see that the researchers maintained their ode of communication aligned with the “Ethics in Social Science Research” by Adler and Clark and thus they would be justified with their actions.
References list
Adler, E., and Clark, R., (2002). How It’s Done: An Invitation to Social Research. London: Wadworth.
Arend, R., 2006. SME-supplier alliance activity in manufacturing: contingent benefits and perceptions. Strategic Management Journal, 27 (8), pp. 741-763.
Fagernäs, S., 2010. Labor Law, Judicial Efficiency, and Informal Employment in India. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 7 (2), pp. 282-321.
Konecnik, M., 2007. Human capital and SME internationalization: a structural equation modeling study. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 24 (1), pp. 15-29.