Self-regulation in a company

            Self-regulation in a company can be achieved through the formulation of regulation and ethics programs. These regulation programs aid in outlining organizational procedures used to detect, address and prevent ethical and legal violations in an organization. In most scenarios, illegal and unethical behaviors arise from internal factors. As a result, regulation programs contain enforcement procedures and deterrent pressures in the overall strategic process. Self-regulation in companies is key to reducing unnecessary costs of bureaucratic control and enhancing entrepreneurship. According to Lynn Paine, implementing a values-based approach in ethics programs should be more effective than approaches based on strict rules (McDonald, 2015). This is because a values approach is more centered around personal self-governance. Corporations are treated as citizens of states and nations and thus have their obligations and rights. Among the requirements in building and sustaining ethics programs is the leaders’ role as moral agents.

Ethics Codes

            An ethic code is a statement of value that defines an organization. Researchers find multiple values vital in these codes: respect, responsibility, caring, and trustworthiness. The purposes of ethic codes include providing a moral identity of the company inside and outside. Ethic codes also aim to state the values and beliefs of corporate leaders as they are the foundation of the corporate culture and offer support to employers that face inappropriate demands on their wellbeing and skills (McDonald, 2015).An organization’s code of conduct refers to the agreed behavioral expectations a company holds to its agents and employees. For a code to be good, it has to be believable among the stakeholders to which it applies.

Challenges and issues with ethics and conduct codes

            Ethics programs and conduct codes have their shortcomings in implementation and suitability. First, the codes do not show employees how to prioritize conflicting interests of the company, customers, and distributors. Many employees are not aware of the codes, and these codes are not fulfilled in firms. Another issue with these codes is that they do not conform to the employee’s actual work (Valentine and Fleischman, 2008). Although one would say codes make employees want to follow the rules, laws, and procedures, they do not. Some codes of conduct are used internationally and have sections that are incomplete or irrelevant in the experiences of another country’s personnel. One significant problem facing ethics programs is that most of the top leaders do not involve in the programs.

            Peer reviews are used to address employees’ grievances to avoid the stress resulting in immoral behaviors. These are behaviors that are opposite to the ethics of the company. Peer reviews integrate the interests of different stakeholders and solve their disputes. Half of state accountancy boards require a certified public accountant to participate before obtaining a license to practice in the US (Komssi et al., 2010). In the accounting and healthcare industries, there are positive reviews of peer review programs. A readiness checklist is a list of questions used to determine if an organization’s executives employ a management approach to sustain an organization’s integrity.

Conclusion

            Self-regulation and ethics programs are essential in the functioning of organizations to conform with the law and increase employer productivity. However, the programs face different issues and challenges during their implementation. Most top-level personnel in companies are not seriously involved in forming codes of conduct or carrying out these ethics programs. The values-based approach in ethics programs is better compared to rule-based ethics programs.

References

Komssi, M., Kauppinen, M., Toro, K., Soikkeli, R., & Uusitalo, E. (2010, June). Lessons Learned from Integrating Specification Templates, Collaborative Workshops, and Peer Reviews. In International Working Conference on Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality (pp. 158-172). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

McDonald, G. (2015). Business ethics (3rd ed.). Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.

Valentine, S., & Fleischman, G. (2008). Ethics programs, perceived corporate social responsibility, and job satisfaction. Journal of business ethics, 77(2), 159-172.