Changing the Business Ethics Culture in a Company Essay

Business ethics is a crucial subject in the modern business world (De George 1999, pp.6-8). It is imperative that this issue be clarified to all employees within an organization so as to ensure that no employee operates in a way that is not acceptable due to ignorance as far as the subject of business ethics is concerned (Barry 2000, pp. 29-31). In this short essay, the aspects of disclosing the defective products to the chief executive officer and other managers, carrying out customer notification, internal changes to avoid such problems and how to create a strong business ethics culture will be dealt with (Robert 2003, p. 40).

To start with, the best way to inform the Chief Executive Officer and other managers about the defective products are to present the carefully drafted report on the investigation carried out and the findings made. This will act as a solid base that will assist refute any objections and answering any questions. If possible, samples of the defective products should be presented to the company leaders. This will make the claim convincing.

Far from the above, the aspect of customer notification is the most delicate. It is not easy to predict the nature of the customers’ reactions especially if the products have been in the market for a long time and therefore the customers have used them for a long period (Harman 2004, p. 156). The best way to do it is to weigh the advantages of disclosing the problems to the customers against those of not disclosing. It is always better for the company to be proactive. This means that the company should notify the customers through the media and recall all the defective products after a heartfelt apology. This way, the company will appear not only caring but also honest in that it has chosen to withstand adverse customer reactions with the aim of protecting them from using defective goods. The human nature of the company will be experienced and the customers will end up having a positive view of the company.

As a way of avoiding problems associated with product quality and business ethics in the future, the company will be better off if a body is established to monitor all the operations of the company so that the quality of the products is controlled and the actions of all the employees are kept in check. The aim is to ensure that the products are of superior quality and the actions of the employees are appropriate. This type of arrangement will make it easy for the company to detect any problem in the production process or any other company undertaking before it the customers are brought on board. Thus the image of the company will be easily kept clean and the business maintained.

In creating a business ethics culture that will ensure that the company does not take defective goods or services to customers, I will suggest that the company come up with a program where all the employees will be taken through a business ethics class (Richardson 2010, pp.34). The aim will be to stress the relationship between good business ethics and company performance. Companies that adhere to good business ethics are always better performers in the market compared to companies that are not concerned with doing business in the right way. If this is made clear to all employees, it is possible that they will try to behave in the appropriate way while dealing with other employees and customers.

References

1. Barry, N. (2000). Business Ethics. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press.
2. De George, R. (1999).Business Ethics (5^th ed.).New York: Prentice Hall.
3. Emerson, R. Business Law. (4^th ed.). New York: Barron’s Educational Series, 2003.Print.
4. Harman, L. Perspectives in Business Ethics. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2004.Print.
5. Richardson, J. (2010).Annual Editions: Business Ethics 10/11(22^nd ed.).New York: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin.