Business Code Evaluation of Ethics by Shell Company

Introduction

Professional integrity and dignity are the foundation of an employees’ reliability in an organization. The consistency in the organization is obtained by the implementation of the code of ethics. A Code of ethics is the set of principles, values, policies and standards of conduct within an organization that directly guide and govern the decision-making and ethical behavior of the business. The main aim of the code of conduct is to provide the employees with guidelines of ethical business choices in the work performed. The code of ethics is issued by the business as a policy statement to be followed by the employees.

Code of ethics

A code of ethics is a company’s voluntary idea in a set of certain standards and norms for its operations. The codes of ethics are the written principles that are followed by each and every organization. A code of ethics strictly focuses on the upcoming social issues and the violation of ethical principles.

The shell oil company’s statements of ethics are applicable to the employers with certain designations of executive directors of the company. The guidelines include:

1. To exhibit the standards of honesty, integrity and fairness and maintain good relationships with the other employees. Integrity should be given more emphasis.
2. To avoid the conflicts of interest stipulated in different terms and conditions of the employment.
3. To avoid the immediate decision on the issues, where there are chances for the conflicts to arise. The method of disclosing the matter with vivid descriptions of the situations and circumstances that create or have chances to create conflicts should be addressed to the senior employees of the organization.
4. To discard the financial interest in works and contracts of the company including the supplies and the rendered services, if any occurrence of such kind takes place; the moment the detailed description of the same should be addressed to the chief financial officer.
5. To avoid interferers, seek favor or accept any favor in whatsoever form from the third parties or a person associated with the Shell company in business dealings. (The exchange of values or the favors can be of nominal values like the food items/ entertainment items)
6. The employees should not indulge in other businesses or in other external jobs when he is an employee of Shell Company, which can reduce the interest ineffective performance and creates a negative impact on the business.
7. To prevent the relationship with a contractor, supplier and business associates who possess the ability to convert the business to a professional and competitive manner on the basis of decisions made by Shell company.
8. To be always consistent on the job and be keen in understanding the job responsibilities, a fair, accurate, timely, disciplined, and a good performer in every communication made by Royal Dutch Shell.

About the company

The shell oil company is a US-based multinational company dealing with petrochemical and energy products, which is an affiliate of the Royal Dutch Shell. The company is the major manufacturer of petroleum and natural gas in the US. The company is also among the world’s largest oil producers. The shell oil company aims for diverse operations and customers. The company is into a range of operations which include technical field, R&D department, and the expertise in knowledge-based services, and the various industries. The shell is a global energy company with 109,000 employees and a presence in 140 countries. The company meets the arising needs of the resources economically, effectively and environmentally.

The mission of the company is “to continuously deliver shareholder value by manufacturing and supplying oil products and services that satisfy the needs of our customers by constantly achieving the operational excellence and conducting our business in a safe environmental, sustainable and economical manner employing a diverse, innovative and result from oriented team motivated to deliver excellence” (Give Mission and search) (Shell Mauritius-our mission and vision statement, 2009, para.1).

Ethical System in Shell Oil Company

Shell Oil Company’s ethical systems are the basis for the performance projected by each employee. The management is industrious to uphold consistent ways in elevated ethical standards, which are the foundation for the success of the firm and the employees. They use the duty-driven ethical standard which makes them among the world’s largest oil producers.

The shell company is highly dutiful and they execute the investment made in Africa. The proposal of the shell had to face different critics in the country. The main reasons include the political instability and the pollution that is caused to the inhabitants. The shell company had to receive the blame for causing harm to the natives and nature. As the more ethical and dutiful company, they are committed and aim for sustained growth, but due to the protest from the company and in order to fulfill the aim they had to choose another location in Africa for the increased future needs and the sustained growth.

Code of conduct used

The code of conduct in the documents is to be followed by each and every employee, but the adoption of the code of conduct differs among the employees in the organization.

As the employees are considered the code of conduct is circulated among the employees and is posted on the company website. It is interlinked by the principles and the policies of the organization.

A code of conduct is found to be an important reference for employees in f routine decision making. It is meant to understand and support an organization’s mission, visions, values and principles, by understanding the professional standards of conduct. The code of conduct is a useful method to encourage discussions of ethics and to improve the employees’ deal with ethical issues.

Before implementing the code of conduct there are different formalities. The training and the enforcement are adopted. The implementation has to be provided with certain guidelines. The guidelines are the specific methods that make the code of conduct effective. The federal sentencing guidelines are also used for making the implementation of the code of conduct a success.

The code of conduct is used in certain ethical situations like conflicts of interest or the acceptance of gifts. They also suggest the precaution be incorporated. They also make the suggestions very effective for the organization’s well-being.

The organization need to change the code of ethics when they do not find it satisfactory and it doesn’t generate any results. The different instances and the specific situations like the conflicts, illegal acceptances, and the unfair and unethical practices in the organization; the need for the change in the conduct arises. As the new CEO of the company; a complete analysis of the code of conduct should be done and the study of different situations in organizations is made and each of the guidelines has to be thoroughly analyzed and a forecast about the situation has to be made. The CEO should be able to give good training and development to the people. A message should be given to the people stating the benefits of the new code of conduct on the organization‘s website or as handouts.

As far as the organization is considered; the sudden implementation of the code of conduct provokes some opposition from the members as they are finding it difficult to adjust to the new situations. The training on the new module is treated as time-consuming by the employees.

The code of conduct and the ethics are interrelated, the brand-conscious customers during the purchase of the product transmit the ethics of the organization with the product brand and the service quality. In a company that had implemented the ethical standard to a higher degree, the perception, and employees’ likes and the preferences to the company increases. The more chances to follow management’s ethical guidelines are observed. The ethics had benefited in different ways, it had eradicated child labor, low remuneration and the insecure work situation.

Conclusions/findings

The codes of conduct are very important for the corporate in terms of culture, norms and reputation. “A code of conduct benefits the business itself, all members of a business, their clients and usual society as a whole, reports ManagementHelp.org” (Huebsch, 2010, para.3). It gives utmost importance to the principles, policies and values of the organization. The code of conduct work with some objectives and rules for the organizational behavior is the expectations on the performance of the organization. They mainly target nullifying the conflicts and provide useful guidelines to the operations in the firm.

Reference

Huebsch, P. (2010). What are the benefits of a code of conduct?. eHow Contributing Writers. eHow. Web.

Shell Mauritius-our mission and vision statement. (2009). Shell.Com. Web.