Organizational Ethics and CSR. Business & Marketing Essay

Organizational Ethics and CSR
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Organizational Ethics and CSR
1. What do you think about the notion presented by Terris that Lockheed's ethics program does little to prevent ethical breaches at the highest level of the organization?
I tend to concur with Terri's notion that the Lockheed ethics program has not done enough to ensure the prevention of ethical violations at the organization’s highest management levels. In essence, the program has mainly focused on training employees, and those at the highest levels are overseeing the process. In addition, the program only seeks to illustrate the standards for business conduct and prepare employees to have better ethical decision-making abilities. In essence, the organization's ethical program has largely ignored ethical issues that may be related to those at the highest levels. Furthermore, the program completely ignores the ethical challenges faced by people in the organization's top management levels.
These weaknesses in the ethical program may result in the organization being prone to scandals. Due to the lack of a program that guides them, most people in the senior management positions are likely to act unethically. The senior managers are likely to make wrong decisions that will have negative implications on the organization. In this sense, the program cannot prevent ethical breaches as it does not extend training to those in top management. Most of the efforts of the program are aimed at training and improving employees at the junior levels. The Lockheed ethics program is structured in a way that purports that it is the responsibility of junior employees to uphold ethics in the organization. As a result, the organization’s ethical obligations are left in the hands of employees at junior levels rather than those at the highest level of the organization.
2.Are the efforts put forth—such as making sure higher-level executives participate in training—enough to help executives navigate what Terris calls the 'ethical minefield' faced by leadership in such an organization?
Although the efforts made by the organization are helpful, they are not sufficient to help the managers to navigate “the ethical minefield” faced by the leadership. The efforts are essential in ensuring that those in the administrative panel will undergo training on various ethical decision-making processes. More so, the organization has made tremendous efforts to ensure that employees and other stakeholders uphold ethics and moral responsibility. However, the training program lacks the ability to differentiate the levels of the organization. For instance, the organization has integrated a training program whereby those in top management undergo similar training with junior employees and staff members. Another problem is that the organization's ethical program has not incorporated those in executive levels. In this sense, most people in the top management levels are faced with challenges related to ethical and value issues. Lockheed compliance and the ethical module is not helpful and effective for those in high levels of the org...