XYZ Company manufactures agricultural chemicals. A year ago, the company experienced significant scandals including charges of stock fraud, harassment lawsuit against several executives and dumping waste into a neighboring wildlife preserve.
Why might such Pressure Cause XYZ to Change?
The external pressure facing XYZ might make the company to embrace change because the firm has to adhere to societal expectations in regard to environmental responsibility and general community involvement.
Recently, information and modern technology have contributed extensively to the growth of social pressure, since information regarding firms that do not conform to social standards spread quickly. Also, external members expect that companies conduct business fairly, maintain favorable working conditions for employees and carry out activities that do not harm the environment.
Failure to do so may spur demonstrations by community members or warnings by environmental pressure groups, in order to force the company to conduct activities that preserve the environment. Also, XYZ Company may face prosecution in a criminal court, due to stock fraud. Besides, failing to adhere to societal expectation will, ultimately, create an unhealthy reputation for the company, which might make customers obtain products from other firms that have similar products.
How does this affect the Organizational Ethics of Work at XYZ?
Outside pressure, regarding the above mentioned issues, will affect organizational ethics of work at XYZ. First, management practices must be adjusted to suit the needs of employers. As mentioned, in the introduction, a number of executives have filed harassment lawsuits against the company. This implies that organizational ethics have to be adjusted, in order to enhance worker satisfaction and productivity in the company.
Besides, XYZ needs to impact outside members positively, through stopping to dump waste products into the nearby wildlife preserve. This will create a positive public image, which is likely to attract new customers. Lastly, the company has to stop stock fraud, because the public may put pressure on legislators to impose existing regulations regarding stock frauds. The company should ensure that both internal and external auditors receive the right information regarding sales and stocks of the company.
What Change might XYZ Incorporate?
XYZ needs to establish an ethical workplace through creating, and constantly, improving the code of ethics. This will encourage ethical practices, in the firm, in order to ensure moral conduct and make potential customers and employees consider the company as ethical.
The managers, at XYZ, can also create a department entrusted with overseeing ethical practices in the organization. Such a department would denote to all external members that the company has committed to upholding ethical practices.
Another change that XYZ may incorporate involves training the entire workforce on new ethical practices that the company desires. Such training programs do not highlight all the practice that must be observed. Rather, the training enables managers to have a framework that they can use to judge whether some actions are ethical or not.
Besides, the company should incorporate social goals into the yearly planning processes. Such an approach of meeting social requirements indicates that a company is socially responsible.
Lastly, managers at XYZ should be accountable for creating and upholding conditions whereby people are apt to act ethically and reduce situations that promote unethical behavior. Managers, through taking charge of these aspects, can reduce the urge to perform unethical acts, as well as, promote social responsibility at XYZ.
In conclusion, social pressure affects how a company functions. Failure to adhere to such pressure may ruin the reputation of a business, or make a business cease to attract new customers.