SRM University School of Management

MBA Program

Ethical Practices In Business

UNETHICAL PRATICES IN CORPORATE SECTOR

TEAM MEMBERS
ANANDACHAR GOPINATH - 3511110097 - 3511110090

RAMESH KUMAR -3511110084 KABILAN -3511110089

ABSTRACT
Employee morale is subjective, since it is perception-based. While low or high morale can be widespread among a staff, it is not universal. No matter what an employer does, there will always be unhappy employees, as well as workers who never let anything tarnish their attitude. With that said, perceptions can be changed even when reality cannot, so increasing employee morale is achievable with a concerted effort. Unethical behaviour on the part of the company and its management creates a situation where employees feel ashamed or embarrassed by their company, its product or service, or their role in it. It is as if they are doing something wrong by association. These feelings breed mistrust and low morale. Unethical behaviour by fellow employees, especially if it goes unpunished or is condoned by management, prevents cooperation and trust among employees, which also creates low morale. This negative effect is magnified if the unethical behavior by the company or employees results in harm to others.This culture of ethical bankruptcy present in a company affects public and employee perception, which leads to low morale.

UNETHICAL BEHAVIOUR IN CORPORATE SECTOR

Introduction about Unethical Behaviour - It's Impact on Today's Workplace It is a sad truth that the employees of just about every business, in every business, will occasionally encounter team members who are taking part in unethical behaviours. Such unethical behaviours include a wide variety of different activities. Among the most common unethical business behaviours of employees are making long-distance calls on business lines, duplicating software for use at home, falsifying the number of hours worked, or much more serious and illegal practices, such as embezzling money from the business, or falsifying business records. Though there is sometimes a difference between behaviours that are unethical and activities that are actually illegal, it is up to the business itself to decide how it deals with unethical behaviour - legal or not. Many employees find that discovering unethical behaviour among co-workers actually tests their own values and ethical behaviours. After all, unethical behaviour that is not illegal frequently falls in a grey area between right and wrong that make it difficult to decide what to do when it is encountered. Furthermore, different people have different views regarding what is ethical and what is unethical. For example, some people feel that it is alright to tell a little "white lie", or to make one long distance call on the company's nickel, as long as they can justify it in their mind.

When employees discover other employees doing something that they know is wrong by the company's standards, their own sense of what is right and what is wrong instantly comes into question. That employee needs to consider how s/he feels about that particular activity, as well as informing about that activity, or turning a blind eye. Even by deciding to do something about it, the employee who has discovered the unethical behavior is presented with a number of difficult choices. Should the employee speak to the individual directly, or should the employee head directly to a company supervisor? To make this decision a bit easier, many companies have adopted several techniques that allow for the management of unethical activities. The first step is to create a company policy, in writing, that is read and signed by each employee. This erases most feelings of ambiguity when it comes to deciding what to do after witnessing an unethical behaviour. The second is to give a clear outline of what is expected of the person who has discovered the unethical behaviour. It should include the person who should be contacted, and how to go about doing it. With clear instructions, there will be less hesitation in reporting unethical activities, and then they can be dealt with quickly and relatively easily, before they develop into overwhelming issues. Furthermore, the repercussions of unethical behaviours should be clearly stated. This way, both the person doing the activity, and the witness to the activity will be well aware of the way that things will be dealt with, and there won't be any risk of someone not reporting unethical behaviour because they're afraid that the culprit will be unfairly treated.

Communication is key in the proper management of unethical behaviour in todays workplace

Our standard
In our point of view this case is full of un ethical issues held in the corporate sector so that it has been held in different ways like mostly in BPOs the shift jobs the lady staff are send through the car or cab it is the one way of preventing and prevented for the unethical issues

Unethical Business Practices

The financial sector is abuzz with acts of violation of norms to amass wealth in an unethical manner. Following are some of the activities that come under the ambit of unethical practice. Resorting to dishonesty, trickery or deception. Distortion of facts to mislead or confuse. Manipulating people emotionally by exploiting their vulnerabilities. Greed to amass excessive profit. Creation of false documents to show increased profits. Avoiding penalty or compensation for unlawful act. Lack of transparency and resistance to investigation. Harming the environment by exceeding the government prescribed norms for pollution. Invasion of privacy used as leverage, for obtaining personal or professional gains.
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Preventing Unethical Practices in Organizations

Addressing unethical behaviour and practices is essential to maintain an ethical climate in an organization. Incorporation of ethical norms and conduct into all levels of the organization can be done in the following ways. Codes of corporate ethics must be formulated so that employees are aware of the organization's expectations regarding ethical norms and conduct. An appeal process must be in place so that any unethical practice can be brought into light. Seminars on business ethics should be conducted for employees. This will help them in understanding the importance of ethical work culture. Compliance officers must be appointed to keep a check on fraud, corruption, and abuse within the organization. To promote ethical behaviour, performance management system of the organization must be modified to incorporate ethical behaviour as a parameter for appraisal and rewards

Case study Unethical Companies: Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is the largest soda provider in the world. Although it is widely consumed, many people are unaware of its labour violations.The company has come under fire in the last few months for the way in which its workers are treated in Guatemala. The primary source of all the violence is the workers union. On February 25, 2010, Coke was sued by those Guatemalan labourers, who claim that they, endured a campaign of violence from the people who worked for the bottling or processing plants owned by Coke (Business Week). This violence took place in Guatemala City. The perpetrators were employed by Incase, which operated the bottling plant (Business Week). One of the plaintiffs is Jose Palacios, who faced violence after rejoining the workers union in 2004. Not only was he shot at and threatened at the bottling plant, but armed men broke into his home and threatened his family (Atlanta Business News). A few weeks after this invasion, in 2005, he was fired without a cause (North American Congress on Latin America).

Another plaintiff in the case is Jose Chavez, a prominent union leader. In 2008, after he participated in collective-bargaining activities in Guatemala City, returned home to his waiting family. Upon his arrival, Chavezs son and nephew were brutally murdered in front of his eyes and his 16 year old daughter was gang-raped (North American Congress on Latin America). This violence was a response to his activity in the union.

Coca-Cola has faced legal action by workers before. In 2001, it was sued by union labourers in Colombia for violence against unionized workers. In a statement at Cokes annual meeting of shareholders in 2005, the company claimed, Our company and our bottling partners have been accused of complicity in the murder of union members and the ongoing intimidation of union members and of the suppression of union activity in Colombia. The allegations are not true (PBS). The company paid more attention to the problem only after an international boycott began in 2003 (Business Week). Ultimately, Coca-Cola and its bottlers were found not guilty and cleared of any wrong-doing by Colombian courts (PBS). When the case was brought to the United States, Coca-Cola fought to have its name removed from the lawsuit and got its wish.

Although this has not been widely publicized, the labour violations of CocaCola are a prominent issue. Consumers of Coke, and other items produced by corporations with foggy labour practices, have to ask themselves how they can make a difference. Students at colleges across the United States, one being Rutgers University, have started boycotts of the soda. Rutgers students were successful in their activism, and the university has switched its contract to Pepsi (Killer Coke).

A new documentary was released in 2009 called The Coca-Cola Case. It was filmed by German Gutierrez and Carmen Garcia to highlight the reality of union busting at Coca-Cola bottling plants in Colombia, Guatemala and Turkey (Green Muze). This movie reveals the practices of just one of the many multinational corporations and upon watching it, the consumers will hopefully be
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inspired to better inform themselves about the products they consume (Green Muze). Here is a link to the trailer for this documentary: The Coca-Cola Case. Coca-Cola is one of the most powerful corporations in the world. Its business practices have to be questioned by the consumer to ensure that labour violations are not being committed.

Case study McDonalds

Mostly everyone will enjoy McDonalds every once in a while, even if you arent a fan of fast food. While the food may be cheap, it may come at more of a cost to the environment and the global economy than one might think. McDonalds has a negative impact on the environment in more ways than one. Aside from the pollution from factories where the food is produced, the unusable waste from nearly all the food they sell, and the massive amounts of power and energy that are required to keep all of the branches up and running, this corporation is destroying natural rain forests. According toMcDonalds likes to purchase their meat from privatised farms, which is not a problem in and of itself. The conflict arises when these privatised farmlands are built on the land where a lush rainforest once resided. So not only is McDonalds polluting our air, but they are destroying a large part of what would help to clean it out. The trees that are levelled do more than just clean the air, though. They are also homes to thousands of animals that are likely killed or made homeless as the trees are torn down. This is not exactly a healthy step in making our world a better place. The people at McDonalds treat their employees no better than they treat our environment. McDonalds staff are frequently underpaid for the amount of time that they work (which often extends into illegal amounts of labour hours), get little to no benefits along with this gross underpayment, and are oftentimes forced to work in unhealthy and unsanitary conditions. The farmers from which they get their food are also generally underpaid for the amount of produce and meat which they sell to the corporation, particularly considering the cost that

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many of these farms have regarding the environment and health of the farm workers. McDonalds claim to give back to the community and the environment by working with schools and local organisations, but what they repay isnt nearly enough to cover the damages that theyve caused.

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Conclusion Unethical behaviors can plague a workplace, whether an executive steals money from the company or an associate falsifies documents. Unethical behaviors can damage a company's credibility, causing the business to lose customers and ultimately shut down. Employers who want to prevent unethical behavior look at candidates' values to ensure they mesh with the company's culture. Here, I conclude stating that not only education or experience make a man a classified skilled worker its only their morality and ethical value that make a man with values.

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References
http://www.anonymousemployee.com/csssite/sidelinks/unethical_behavior.php http://smallbusiness.chron.com/ethics-problems-corporate-america-11721.html http://www.buzzle.com/articles/unethical-business-behavior.html

http://www.dmoz.org/Society/Issues/Business/Allegedly_Unethical_Firms/McDonalds/

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