Individual Assignment: Governance and Ethics
Task:
Given the definitions of “Governance” and “Corporate Ethics” below, what relation do these concepts have to the vision, culture, strategy and brand of Nedbank and/or Old Mutual? In your answer, refer to Nedbank and/or Old Mutual’s commitment to ethical practice and articulated values. Please reference any quotes and comments from outside sources.
Governance: “The framework of rules and practices by which a board of directors ensures accountability, fairness, and transparency in a company's relationship with its all stakeholders (financiers, customers, management, employees, government, and the community).”
Corporate Ethics: - “The way in which a company behaves towards, and conducts business
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Via the Amicus, employees are challenged to keep the Responsible Business message top of mind and to look for ways to build a greater future as a group. The group sits with an ongoing challenge of balancing two competing interest – Profits and Ethics. Doing business and being profitable is no longer enough, companies need to be seen doing good, ethical business while remaining profitable. A very difficult feat in a country as diverse as South Africa.
The introduction and subsequent adoption of a regulatory recommendation like King III provides companies with the opportunity to activate their vision, culture, strategy and brand to not only benefit the companies but their employees, communities and the environment that they operate in. Companies do not only rely on the laws and regulations that govern them to keep them accountable, they then also get the input of their various stakeholders. The community now has the opportunity to influence the direction of the companies that operate around them challenging them on whether they do or do not uphold their values and providing a platform for companies to do right by the communities. The group’s structures, processes and culture enhance governance and ethics. My observation though is that the bigger a company, the longer and more complex the process of applying ethics and governance
There are many questions surrounding the moral responsibility of corporations, but how can a resolution be reached? Currently, the moral and ethical responsibilities at Timothy & Thomas North America are being characterized as reckless. One may question their sense of global values and ethical responsibility based on their actions to date. In the case study for Timothy & Thomas North America, three models of ethical standards will be explored. From the Stakeholders article, decision-making guidelines will need to be understood for Jonathan Stein, the new Vice President (VP) of International Contracts of Timothy & Thomas North America to have a clear vision of the company’s stakeholders’ values. Exemplified in the article, The Responsibilities of Corporations and Their Owners, Timothy & Thomas North America has an ethical duty to manage social problems, public welfare, and corporate responsibilities to strive for moral purity in Pakistan. Specified in the article, The Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, the leaders of Timothy & Thomas should consider using these guidelines to measure how well they treat each other and the
Accountability: The corporate governance framework should ensure the strategic guidance of the company, the effective monitoring of management by the Board, and the Board’s accountability to the company and the
According to the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) (2004) governance is defined as ‘the structures and processes used by an organization to develop its strategic goals and direction, monitor its performance against these goals and ensure that its Board acts in the best interests of the members’. Key aspects of governance involves how an organisation develops strategic goals, how a Board monitors performance to achieve the goals and ensuring a Board acts in the best interest of its members.
Explain ethical concerns facing the communities in which the business operates and suggest measures that could be taken to improve corporate social responsibility
As a display of corporate citizenship a company must do their part to address ethical concerns related to this practice. Building a long
And what do we mean by governance? Quite simply, it’s how leaders run the business. CEOs, presidents, principals, boards and other key individuals enact broad policies and specific decisions that they believe will best serve the interests of the firm, their employees and clients. In most cases, these are choices
There are many high standards and principles that a business must set in order to be and remain successful. Many companies outline their expectations in a code of conduct. A code of conduct is a document written by a company that defines the ethical standards of the organization and gives employees information on how to handle situations within the organization. It is not only important that a business writes a code of conduct, but it is imperative that the principles are carried out by everyone within the business from the CEO to the employees. “While the primary goal of all
Since its implementation in 1989 there has been some amendments done to it to make it more effective these include; involvement of enforcement authorities and have come up with new settlement tools, another change is that they have over time advocated for more permanent solutions and innovative technologies in combating hazardous waste, they have also put other states and federal environmental laws consideration into superfund actions, the act also as recently included an
Numerous debates have been waging over the past few years among business elites about the whether or not a corporate entity has a responsibility to society. It’s an extremely interesting topic with real and global ramifications that impact nearly every person and animal on this planet in one form or another. Anyone who owns public shares in a company has invested hard-earned money into a corporation based upon their perception that the company will be profitable and sustainable. The corporation’s board of directors are then responsible to manage the company in such a way as to increase their share-holders’ investment. For hundreds of years, this attempt to increase a corporation’s worth was done with little or no interest in social responsibility. Until very recently this topic was not very much in the public eye. However, at the moment the global economy is rapidly changing and business transparency is increasing through the accessibility of information across the world. Social and global change is moving faster than ever and progressing through this century any business will undoubtedly need to keep up to remain profitable. More mature business students will certainly recall being bombarded with the idea that the only responsibility of a corporation was to increase the value of the company and maximize long-term shareholder wealth without regard to ethics or social obligations. Is there a correlation that occurs between large multinational corporations and their
Good governance is characterized by transparency. In an organization, transparency means that all decisions and actions taken by the board and organization
Corporate governance is a process or structure implemented in order to properly direct, manage and control the business in both non-moral and moral sense. Non-moral practice of effective corporate governance includes efficient strategic planning and decision making, appropriate resource allocation and hiring and managing productive workforce. Meanwhile in moral sense of effective governance the corporation has to achieve transparency, fairness and honesty between board of directors, management and other parties involved in business. http://www.uniassignment.com/essay-samples/accounting/what-is-good-corporate-governance-accounting-essay.php ). Poor corporate governance in terms of its non-moral sense can cause higher risk and lower return, while
Companies are directed and controlled by a system known as corporate governance, in which boards of directors are responsible for governing their companies. The board of directors have responsibilities such as setting strategy aims for the company, supervising management and providing leadership. They must also report to the shareholders on their duties as directors. Their actions are subject to laws and regulations, as well as the shareholders in a general meeting. The shareholders appoint directors and auditors and must satisfy themselves that the structure in place to govern the company is adequate, (Financial Reporting Council, 2014).
More importantly, workplace issues have become an integral part of corporate social responsibility. This includes a firm’s lacking efforts in its occupational health and safety, and its fair pay and conditions, amongst others. (Crane, 253) As employees reside in the midst of companies engaging in corporate social responsibility, the reputation of the firm relies profoundly on ensuring all those within the in-house workplaces as well as the outsourced workplaces are treated justly and within the operating country’s legislation. (Crane, 253) Further to this, social injustice that occurs can negatively affect the firm’s reputation and brand favorability. (Crane, 254) Therefore, it was within the firm’s best interests to fulfill their core corporate responsibilities in the workplace. Albeit corporations may have the intention to act within labour standards, circumstances do arise where the rights of employees are neglected and the morality of the firm is questioned.
What was the definition of ‘ethical leadership’ adopted by the participants in the debate?What is the role of the directors as envisaged by Codes of Corporate Governance and wider society?Are these expectations consistent with the ideas of ethical leadership?
Corporate Governance is a buzz word in the business world. It is envisioned to enhance the accountability of a concern and to evade huge disasters before they occur. The concept of corporate governance dived to global attention after the sudden crashes of Enron, World Com, Xerox, Lehman Brothers, Parmalat, Satyam etc. The failure of these colossal business houses horrified the corporate world with their unethical and unlawful operations which affected the employment, finances of national and local government worldwide and international economy. The history of these scandals have forced all the corporates to have substantial and clear record of wealth creation and transparency over a period of time.