Business Ethic Chapter Summary

  a one-page double-pace summary of the chapter 8 PowerPoint. you can use the writing on the slide(no need for citation) but not too much. thanks   

Ethics Reporting Systems

⚫ Explain why some employees do not
report ethical misconduct

⚫ Describe how to engage employees
in discussing ethical misconduct

⚫ Administer an internal reporting
system for ethical issues

⚫ Define Ethics and Compliance
Officer and ombudsperson position

⚫ Manage an assist line to receive
employee complaints by telephone
or Internet

⚫ Describe the negative outcomes
whistle-blowing has on both the
whistle-blower and the organization

Learning Objectives

Employee silence refers to when employees
observe ethical misconduct at work but do not
discuss the matter with the person engaged in the
ethical misconduct or someone else in the
organization with authority

Employee Silence on Ethical Misconduct

Why don’t employees intervene or report when

colleagues and managers ethically

misbehave?

Think about these questions in
the context of your own

experience. What are some of
the reasons you can think of?

Employee Silence on Ethical Misconduct

Chapter 8: Collins, Business Ethics

Ethically Approachable Managers

• Best ethics reporting system is a manager who
welcomes ethical discussions with employees

• Employees more likely to discuss ethical
concern if discussions occur on a regular basis
rather than only during dire circumstances

Key word: TRUST A diverse set of managerial
techniques and attributes can help
employees become comfortable
sharing sensitive ethical information

Ethically Approachable Managers

How to improve this managerial skill?
This is trainable!

A manager must be willing to discuss his or her own ethical
mistakes in a manner that humanizes the manger without losing
authority.

Honest managers attract honest reactions. Managers pretending
moral infallibility tend to alienate employees seeking moral
guidance.

Ethics & Compliance Officer

• Federal Sentencing Guidelines provide incentive
for assigning responsibility of managing ethical
performance

• Growing number of organizations have Ethics &
Compliance Officer

• Position enables sensitive information to be
shared without being diluted or stymied by chain
of command

Ethics & Compliance Officer

Chapter 8: Collins, Business

Ethics

Ethics & Compliance Officer

Chapter 8: Collins, Business Ethics

Ethics & Compliance Officer

Chapter 8: Collins, Business Ethics

Ombudsperson

• Providing employees with institutional voice
serves as deterrent against managerial abuse
of power

• Ombudsperson is held legally accountable to a
professional Code of Ethics

4 ethical principles of International
Ombudsman Association Code of

Ethics

1. Independence: The ombudsperson is independent in
structure, function, and appearance to the highest degree
possible within the organization

2. Neutrality and impartiality: The ombudsperson remains
unaligned and impartial and does not engage in any
situation that could create a conflict of interest

3. Confidentiality: The ombudsperson holds all
communication in strict confidence and does
not disclose confidential communications unless
given permission to do so. The only exception
to this privilege of confidentiality is when there
is an imminent risk of serious harm

4. Informality: The ombudsperson does not
participate in any formal adjudicative or
administrative procedure related to concerns
brought to his or her attention

Chaplains

• Chaplains are members of a religious clergy
trained in providing spiritual advice

• Corporate Chaplains originally provided care for
employees and their families

• Over time, their list of services expanded to
include helping employees manage ethical
dilemmas and interactions with other employees

Most corporate
chaplains have
seminary degrees and
are trained counselors

Assist Lines

• Many organizations now refer to this
communication channel as an assist line rather
than an ethics hotline

• The phrase “ethics hotline” makes it seem as
though the employee is snitching

• “Assist” more accurately describes most of the
calls that are received

Assist Lines

• Assist lines are a method of obtaining information
about situations that may be unethical or illegal

• Nearly all Fortune 500 companies provide toll-free
assist lines for employees from all over the world
to share their concerns

• Small organizations can contract out to an assist
line managed by a third party

Assist Lines

• The response system is scripted to gather as much
information as possible from an anonymous
employee

• The information is categorized based on the type
of issue and operations area and then routed to
the appropriate manager at the employee’s
organization

• The manager who receives the information
responds to the EthicsPoint system using the case
identification number

How can an organization make
an effective Assist Line?

Think about the kind of assist line
you would want in your own

organization (or at this university).
How would you advise your

organization in setting up an assist
line?

Whistle-blowing

When to Blow the Whistle
• Begin by consulting with an attorney.
• Legal advisors recommend that the following four

conditions be met before an employee informs an external
authority:

1. Serious harm is involved
2. The whistle-blower has already expressed his or her

concerns to an immediate superior
3. The whistle-blower has exhausted other communication

channels within the organization
4. The whistle-blower has convincing, documented evidence

Contacting someone
outside the

organization about
potential or actual

nontrivial
misconduct inside
the organization.

Whistle-blowing

• The False Claims Act was initially passed in 1863 during the
Civil War to prevent defense contractors from fraudulently
selling Union Army rifles, ammunition, and horses

• President Ronald Reagan’s administration strengthened the
Act in 1986

• An employee who independently sues his or her employer
for fraud can now receive between 15 and 30 percent of
the total recovery amount plus attorney fees and related
costs for successful lawsuits

Whistle-blowing

Reporting Tax Fraud
• The IRS created a Whistleblower Office to

receive information about possible individual
or corporate tax frauds

• The IRS Whistleblower Office modeled a
Whistleblower Reward Program after the False
Claims Act, paying whistle-blowers 15 to 30
percent of the unpaid taxes recovered

Whistle-blowing

Chapter 8: Collins, Business Ethics

Whistle-blowing

Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX)
• According to SOX, no publicly traded company or

subcontractor of that company can discharge,
demote, suspend, threaten, harass, or in any
other manner discriminate against a
whistle-blower

• It also establishes criminal penalties for retaliation
against whistle-blowers of fines and imprisonment
up to 10 years

In 2001, prior to the
passage of SOX, the
SEC averaged 6,400

whistle-blowing
reports a month. Two

years later, the
monthly average

escalated to 40,000

Whistle-blowing

Researchers report that soon after blowing the
whistle, many whistle-blowers experience

1. Negative performance evaluations
2. Undesired job transfers
3. Demotions
4. Criticism or avoidance by coworkers
5. Physical, psychological, and family problems
6. Loss of job or forced retirement
7. Blacklisting impeding employment
8. Protracted legal battles waged at personal expense

There are laws to prohibit all of these retaliatory
actions, but they are often difficult to prove.

Ever heard of a guy named
Edward Snowden?

He’s the most famous
whistle-blower in recent history.

Whether you agree with his actions, this
video shows how his whistle-blowing was

critical to starting a dialogue about
government and privacy.