Business Ethics &
Corporate Governance
MODULE 3
Rohan Patwardhan,
Advocate
[Link], LLM (V.U. Pune) LLM (K.C.L., U.K.)
Founding & Managing Partner, LexRobe Legal®
Founder, The Juris Chronicles
MODULE 3
Relationship between Ethics & Corporate Excellence:
• Ethics guide decision-making
• Business ethics provide a moral compass that guides how organizations operate
and make decisions.
• Ethics build trust. Ethical businesses are more likely to build trust with their
customers, employees, and other stakeholders. This trust is essential for a
business to be successful.
• Ethics foster integrity and transparency. Ethical businesses foster an environment
of integrity, trust, and transparency.
• Ethics build solid reputations. Ethical businesses are more likely to build solid
reputations and long-lasting relationships with stakeholders.
• Ethics attract investors. Investors are more likely to invest in businesses that they
believe are ethical. Ethics are an ethical responsibility.
• The pursuit of excellence is an ethical responsibility.
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Corporate Mission Statement, Organizational Ethics:
• more on your duty to your clients and to your industry.
• A code of ethics is similar to a mission statement in that it articulates and
crystallizes who you are as a businessperson based on the standards you
embrace. But it focuses
• Organizational ethics are essential because they uphold a business's narrative,
integrity, and reputation. Corporate Values also present workers with a code of
ethics to abide by, clarifying how employees behave and fulfill their role in their
work environment and others’ work environment (clients’ offices, trade shows,
workshops, etc.).
• Organizational ethics are vital because they provide a clear set of standards to
power a cohesive company.
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Corporate code of ethics - Formulating, Advantages, implementation.
• A corporate code of ethics can help a company establish and maintain a positive
culture, and ensure that its employees and actions are aligned with its values
• Define values: Base the code on the company's core values, such as integrity and
trust.
• Provide guidance: The code should clearly outline the company's values and
ethical principles, and how employees should behave.
• Communicate: Make sure all employees receive a copy of the code, and make it
available in the languages of overseas staff.
• Report breaches: Provide a confidential way for employees to report any
breaches of the code.
MODULE 3
Corporate code of ethics - Formulating, Advantages, implementation.
• Monitor: Set up a committee to monitor the code's effectiveness, and include
reports on its use in the annual report.
• Train: Include ethical issues in corporate training programs.
• Contract: Make compliance with the code part of the employment contract.
• Share: Make copies of the code available to business partners and suppliers.
• Assign responsibility: Appoint a named individual to be responsible for
implementing the code
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• Models of ethical decision making- Stages, :
• Ethical decision-making models typically include steps for identifying problems,
gathering information, and evaluating options. Here are some examples of ethical
decision-making models:
• Study Smarter
• This model has six steps:
• Problem identification: Recognizing that an ethical problem exists
• Collecting information: Gathering all relevant information to understand the problem
• Identifying options: Exploring all possible solutions to the ethical issue
• Evaluating options: Evaluating each option against ethical principles
• Making a decision: Making an ethical decision after careful evaluation
• Implementing the decision: Acting on the decision and evaluating its impacts
MODULE 2
• Professionalism and professional ethics code, Global
• code of ethics:
Professional ethics and codes of conduct are a set of rules that guide how professionals
should act in their work environment..
.
MODULE 3
• Suggestive Readings:
1. Opinions of Professional Cases discussed in class.
2. Analyse the Movie The Founder.
1. H.W. Analyse this case example:
Ranbir is the Chief executive officer of a company. The Company has been growing and has recruited quite a
few specialists recently. The functional heads in the company have to meet their staff in an open meeting
every two months. Ranbir detested these meetings. It was open to everyone in the office. The staff came up
with a long list of trivial and tiresome complaints and grievances. They repeated the same things and spoke
at length. Even when the staff knew of the constraints, they went on with their complaints. They wanted
more space for lounge, for bathrooms and crèche. Ranbir pointed to lack of space, and yet the staff continued
to complain. Ranbir cultivated a habit of sitting through the meeting with a cheerful face, but with his mind
switched off from the proceedings. The meeting became a tiresome ritual he had to get through.
Due these issues many employees had left the company and its further hampering the Business of the
company. Q. In Ranbir’s situation what action would you have taken and why?