Sociology

Task 1
Business ethics are important for efficient and effective running of any business. It constitutes agreed code of conduct and mainly instituted to ensure that business meets its moral and ethical obligations. Although business ethics can wholesomely apply to all businesses, every industry has its own code of ethics depending on its level of interaction with its customers. Business ethics also goes beyond the basic internal operation of the company to including the external environment. In this regard, the business must be particularly careful about its performance in regard to the environment and to the surrounding community. This concept of ethical care towards the environmental and the surrounding community has come to be referred to as corporate social responsibility, one of the benchmark for success of any company. Let us look at ethical considerations that the business needs to look into.

For a business to be successful, it must be responsive to the needs of its stakeholders. Stakeholders include all individuals who rely on the operation of the company or who draw benefits from the companys operation.  All stakeholders have an obligation towards the company and therefore the company also has an obligation towards them as well.  First, the business needs to be responsive to the ethical needs of its investors. Investors are the owner of the company and hence they have the controlling power through the board of directors which has selected to take care of the operation of the business.  Investors looks towards getting returns form their investment and therefore the business operation must be in a position to ensure the continued of profit and wise investment for the company.

Second, the board of directors which has been selected to take care of company operations must work efficiently and openly. They must be accountable to stakeholders as regards the operation of the company. The board of directors has the responsibility to run the company in a way that all other stakeholders benefits from its operation. They have the moral obligation to ensure that the business meets the needs of all stakeholders as they are trusted with the operation of the company. It its code of ethics, Global innovation has clearly outlined the essence of corporate reporting accurately. It has also clearly outlined ethical issues arising from conflict of interest between board of directors and the investors.

Third, the company must be able to meet the moral and ethical obligations towards its employees. Employees are the engine that drives the company. They are usually trusted with making sure that the day to day operation of the company goes on as planned. Employees should not conspire to bring the company down as they benefit in form of wages and other benefits. The obligation of employees towards the business is to ensure they perform their duties diligently for the success of the company. Employees must also show their loyalty and respect to the company be keeping the company secrets. In its codes of ethics, Global Innovation has clearly outlined the need for confidentially from the company itself and from the employees.  The company vows to keep confidential employee information and consequently the employees must also keep company information confidential.

Fourth, the company must meet its ethical standards towards its customers. Customers drive the company since if they fail to buy company products, the production line would not roll again. Therefore the most important ethical obligation of any given company is towards is customers. The company must offer products that meet the needs of the customers. Company products must be of high standards and not in any way harmful to the customers. The company must also sell its products at a reasonable profit which is based on a reasonable profit margin. The company should not take opportunities of monopolistic opportunities to hike prices but should be guided by ethical considerations that do not make use of any opportunity that exists to exploits customers. Considering that the portfolio of company customers includes even military, the company must ensure that it provides quality product and practice honesty in transaction since military touches on the lives of peoples defense directly.

Fifth, the company must observe its ethical standards towards the environmental and the surrounding communities. It is important to note that although company operations are likely to benefit many people, it may end up having negative effects on the surrounding communities and the environment. As currently documented, almost all companies have an impact on the surrounding communities and the environment. The impact of company operations on the environment has become a subject of heated debated in the recent past with the continued deterioration of the environment. There is a general concession among the public that company operations must be friendly to the environment or must not have negative impact on the environment.  The company operations must also benefit the local community. This means that the company must be responsive to the basic needs of the local community even if they dont form a large market base for the company products.  For example the company must do something to provide basic needs like water, electricity, jobs, and others for the local community especially if the company is operation in communities that have low economic status. This builds a friendly business sustainable environment for all.  In line with this, Global Innovation must lay more emphases on meeting the needs of the local community and the environment.  As part of its corporate social responsibility, the company must ensure that its pays close attention to the needs of the local community and the environment as well.

Task II
There are a number of areas as reviewed above that Global Innovation has performed excellently well. The company has already put in place ethical standards that govern the ethical obligation of the board of directors and employees that need to be observed. The company has also put in place an ethical code that guides employees in dealing with the company, the board of directors in dealing with investors and other stakeholders. Its code of ethics address issues of conflict of interest, compliance with business laws, disclosure that deals with accounting issues, corporate opportunities, confidentiality,  and others. However there are areas like environment that need to be readdressed.

In order to function effectively in line with the ethical considerations, Global Innovation will have to strengthen its code of ethics to take care of the above aspects. It is worth noting that in the company code of ethics, little has been mentioned on the obligation of the company towards the environment and the local community. Therefore it is important that the company comes up with policy framework that clearly outlines the ethical standards towards the environment and the local community that Global Innovation must observe. This will ensure that the company becomes more responsive to the needs of the local community in Texas where it is situation and the environment as well.