Essay Example. Business Ethical Programs

Describe some of the unorthodox strategies covered by Terris during this era that made Lockheed become "…a byword for the shady practices of American multi-national corporations and a major impetus for new legislation...".

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Daniel Terris is recognized for introducing several evaluation moral programs in the field of business, primarily to protect temporary workers. For instance, a new system that relies on the prepackaged game, which typically employed the use of characters depicted in the Dilbert Cartoon's works was introduced. However, its initiation process was done by the CEO of Lockheed Martin. In his idea, Norman Augustine outstandingly stipulates that if obligations were to be enacted on individual specialists depending on the right measurements, they encounter while undertaking their activities, the concrete considerations would seemingly be made solely on the more vibrant moral obligations for the senior administrations and the critical ethical intricacies that govern the decision-making process. In this manner, the system specifications and policies majorly affected individual employees since organizations at their level had obligations to subject their people. In a broad view, the system would be deemed as excellent, although it has some drawbacks such as a lack of appreciation for other people, who purportedly did their activities in the right manner (Terris, 2005).

It was also imperatively clear that the leaders staunchly believed in the themes and elements of industrial development. In support of this statement, the leaders' main intention of creating the company was not only to promote the living standards of their prospective employees but also to their characters. Besides, they regularly supported the act of engaging in fair business transactions, a fact that would customarily support Lockheed Martin's ethical programs, which were monitored by the defensive industry initiatives (DII), to ascertain that a balanced scoreboard was created for all available stakeholders of such organizations.

On the issue of overseas bribes, Terris asks the question, "Who was hurt by the [overseas bribes to secure sales of aircraft]? The competitors, of course, but what was unethical about beating out the competition that was playing by the same rules?" (p.59). What do you think about a situation where underhanded and back-door deals are the way the game is played if everybody is on the same playing field? That is to say if everybody is playing by the same shady rules, is it unethical to compete?

Business as an independent field that is controlled by the urge of both parties to gain a substantial profit, it is undoubtedly right to state that the occurrence of unfair competition is merely considered as a rational act. In convention, most business operations usually implement countless strategies in their services, mainly to outdo their competitors in the marketplace. Nonetheless, there also is a business that would always abide by the policies and guidelines stated to promote a fair business environment. However, most corporate organizations in the USA are still engaging in unfair business deals by exploiting their customers to gain benefits beyond that of its competitors (Terris, 2005). Nevertheless, it can be clear that almost all of the corporates were bribing oversea companies to secure their sales. This makes me suggest that the business practice was fair because all companies were using the same strategy. I base my decision on the fact that it would unrealistically be unethical, for one organization to engage in legitimate business, as all other competitors defy the rules, to help them gain unfair profits.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, continuous bribing acts led to the overpricing of the aircraft; thus, its operations seized, because it was quite expensive by the companies who excessively bribed the market with huge expenses, to secure their contract of making the oversea sales. In the 1970s, Lockheed emerged with the idea of introducing the primary ethical codes to help in guiding business operations. Later on, the guiding policies extended to guard the temporary workers as a measure of creating a stable working ground, under strict supervision by the (DII), a moment that was critically necessary for the application of Norman Augustine's thoughts. In the formulated policies, it was generally agreed that all business transactions be carried out in a fair environment that grants every organizational stakeholder an equal opportunity (Terris, 2005). In a nutshell, the fundamental aim of the policy was to ensure that buyers are not manipulated in terms of prices, quality, and quantity, and also to ensure that the practice of bribing the market by the company officials seized.

Why was the DII so important to the eventual success of Lockheed Martin’s ethics program?

Defense Industry Initiative was so crucial in the determination for success in Lockheed Martin's ethical programs since it had a vast knowledge and experience of the issues of market bribery. Since this was the major drawback of success, its elimination outstandingly led to the success of the highlighted programs. Significantly, it is essential to note that the main aim of creating the DII was to provide companies with policies and perform thorough monitoring to ascertain that all of the regulations are followed strictly at all costs by the respective organizations. This exerted hope and trust among the new firms which were emerging in the market because they were assured that competition would be a game of the company's net worth but solely a set of strategies, choice of correct stakeholders. Analysts suggest that these proposals which were proposed by the DII coordinator, were mainly to monitor the business progress, and put all together with the most common practicable operations, jointly perform rallies and other tasks with the companies, keep their data for tracing purposes and also to perform business practices that required the attention of DII (Terris, 2005).

The industry also had a significant role in the success of Lockheed Martin's ethical programs by outlining that all practices were to be conducted in a plain background or in an unbiased professional manner devoid of any malpractices that would suggest a case of corruption and unfair competitive behavior. All the same, the most critical scenario of this incident is to highlight DII ensured that the rules and policies in place were adhered to by all companies. The main principle stated in the regulations provided an approval or warranty that no business was to benefit unfairly over the other. However, such might be realized via a logical and traceable path. In connection, the rules postulated that any company that acts unjustly would be punished, including, eliminating them from the market. For these reasons, all these rules facilitated the success of ethics programs as set-up by Lockheed Martin.

Discuss Norman Augustine’s and Dilbert’s contributions in helping Lockheed Martin turn the corner with its ethics program.

Both of Augustine's and Dilbert's contributions were helpful because they accurately led the misconceptions and illiteracy in the decision-making process, by introducing the ethical programs. Their ideologies suggested that moral decisions should be made by first identifying the specific problem, followed by a comparative makeup of the problem situation. Employees also supported such contributions at all levels because they were the first parties who were affected most by the malpractices. Both also believed in the principles of business morals, by arguing that its concepts were key determining factors for success as they employed the use of both morals and ethics jointly (Terris, 2005). By considering these two fields, it was their idea that all activities within the business framework would be catered for, thus promoting easy monitoring and evaluation. For instance, business morals usually tend to offer both regulatory and illustrative measurements. Finally, participating in ethical business can impact the conduct of operations by promoting non-monetary concerns.

Reference

Terris, D. (2005). Ethics at work: Creating virtue in an American corporation. UPNE.