Introduction
Business ethics refers to activities that a business organization gets accustomed to and follows strictly in the course of its activities. These regulate how the business interacts with its customers as well as the world at large. Some businesses get mainly concerned with money and pay minimal attention to their ethical conduct. This portrays a poor reputation for the company and may lead to loss of customers. Other businesses that tend to associate with the unethical business may also be termed as unethical and end up suffering the same consequences as the first company (O’Neill, 2002). Ethics is hence of immense importance to a business as breaking of the laws of business ethics may lead to the company face fines.
How Dell as a company implements codes of ethics
Dell is a company built on a foundation of professional as well as personal integrity. The company does not compromise the codes of conduct as it holds a high regard and respect for its customers, shareholders, and stakeholders. There are a number of characteristics that build the foundation of the company’s code of conduct. These include trust, which defines the ability of the company to keep and stick to its word. The company also keeps its commitments to its stakeholder, an element that defines its aspect of responsibility.
Key elements of the company
The company also enhances integrity whereby it carries out its activities effectively and without compromise. Honesty is another characteristic of the company whereby the company engages in pure truth and not just technical correctness. The company also engages in open and transparent communication with each other and also in business performance, which prevents cases of criminal acts. The company also puts into practice correct judgment whereby the members of staff think before they act, putting into consideration the consequences of their actions.
The company holds a lot of respect for its customers; stakeholder and suppliers, whereby it treats people with a lot of dignity and highly values their contributions. It also maintains fairness in all its relationships. The aspects of responsibility and courage become clearly and strictly observed in the company. This is where the company readily accepts the consequences of its actions admit their mistakes and correct them accordingly.
Importance of ethics and codes of conduct
These codes of ethics are immensely relevant to the company as they help the organization acquire an outstanding reputation hence winning the trust of its customers and stake holders. As a result, the company acquires ready and sure market for its products hence benefiting from high sales volume and profits. The employees in the company also benefit from the equal employment opportunities which are one of the principles of the company as well as a working environment that is free from harassment and discrimination (Frederick, 1986). The human resource department in this company puts into consideration the needs of the company, individual qualifications as well as job requirements before undertaking recruitment. Employees hence do their work effectively and demonstrate the best of their characteristics.
Benefits of ethics to employees
Employees also benefit from safety since the company prohibits any form of violence. The company also prohibits concealment and possession of any firearm or weapon that may inflict injury on people or property. It also prohibits its employees from engaging in any form of conflict of interest, so as to protect its activities, which include its total market share and management. All the employees at Dell are well familiar with the licensing restrictions and corporate policies that relate to use and duplication of computer software and hardware systems.
Benefits of Ethics to the Society
The company has obtained a license for use of given hardware systems, and software programs that are under licensing agreements that provide restrictions for their duplication as well as use. The software can only be installed by specific, qualified employees from the Information Technology department. This provides job opportunities for individuals with the mentioned qualifications. As a result, the society benefits from employment opportunities and improvement in their living standards and lifestyles. The company also engages in charitable contributions and donations to needy people or organizations (Wilson, 2004). This helps a vast deal in improving the lifestyles of people in the society and helps people with certain problems.
The company also satisfies the needs of its customers by producing high quality products. The employees in the sales and marketing department also demonstrate a lot of honesty and integrity as they go about their sales activities. The marketing and advertising materials used by the company are accurate, truthful and comply with the applicable laws and code of conduct. The company also enhances confidentiality of their personal information and only uses it for business purposes and in enhancing their customer relations. Dell also takes a keen interest in conserving the environment. This is mainly through minimization of waste products, undertaking recycling as well as reuse programs and preventing pollution.
Benefits of ethics to the company
Ethics of conduct is essential to a company or organization as it establishes the ethical expectations for employees. It also sets mechanisms for the enforcement of laws and consequences relating to lack of compliance with the designated rules and codes of conduct. This helps in enhancing a conducive environment in the work place as well as creating employee motivation. This benefits the company through acquisition of a reputable name which helps it in winning customers and stakeholder (Logsdon and Wood, 2005).
As a result, the company grows through expansion as well as earns massive profits. On the other hand, the society benefits from creation of job opportunities, which help in improving their living standards and lifestyles. The community also benefits from community projects, which they obtain from the company through charity projects and fund raising events. Another benefit to the society is provision of high quality products from the company which makes work easy and efficient. This mostly applies to offices where computer software get used for documentation and other activities like commerce.
Social contract Theory
The company clearly implements and closely follows the social contract theory which asserts that all businesses are liable to enhance the welfare of the society. This can be done through satisfying the consumer as well as employees’ needs without any form of injustice. The company responds to the social contract theory through hiring members of the society as employees. For the company to meet the terms of the contract, it ensures that it maximizes the benefits of specialization and improves decision making resources within the organization. It also increases the capacity to use and acquire expensive resources as well as technology.
The company also ensures that it provides stable levels of output and appropriate channels of distribution. It also enhances proper compensation to consumers and employees for any injuries that happen to occur within the running of the organization.
Conclusion
Business ethics is essential in the running of every single organization. This is because it enhances consumer relations as well as creates a conducive environment for employees. Ethics and codes of conduct observed by a company protect the employees, stakeholder as well as consumers from any form of exploitation. It also enhances safety both within and outside the organization. This creates a peaceful environment and allows business interactions to take place accordingly. As a result, all the businesses should make it a point and a priority to put in place and observe ethical rules and codes of conduct to enhance effective running and management of their organizations.
References
Frederick, W. (1986). Toward CSR: Why Ethical Analysis is Indispensable and Unavoidable in Corporate Affairs. California Management Review. 28, 126-141.
Logsdon, J.M. and D.J. Wood. (2005). Global Business Citizenship and Voluntary Codes of Ethical Conduct, Journal of Business Ethics. 59. 55-67.
O’Neill, O. (2002). Autonomy and trust in bioethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wilson, R.A. (2004). Boundaries of the Mind. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.