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c PRIYANKA MAHESHWARI
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cc 0901201703
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cc 09BS0001703
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 c  c SLGM602
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c Business Ethics & Corporate Governance
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c Prof. Aparna Hawaldar
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 c 17th November 2010

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 cc Ethical issues faced by organizations

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Ethics is not an exact science. People define ethics in accordance with their own set of
values which differ depending on time, place and culture.
In today's modern business world, the road to success requires more than merely technical skills,
practical knowledge and a good product. Business ethics, above all, are the guiding forces to
achieve and sustain success. Greater accountability and transparency, up-to-the-minute market
information, reliable financial and market data, etc. are essential gauges for investment decisions.
Business ethics become the fundamental building blocks that link up all these expectations.

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³Commitment to organizational goals improves performanceü. So the responsibility lies

with the manager to develop & execute the strategies of the organization keeping in mind
companyüs strong commitment to both commercial success & to social betterment. The
main two strategies being followed are;
a. Legal compliance strategy
b. Organizational integrity strategy

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Sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual advance or conduct on the job that creates an intimidating,
hostile, or offensive working environment. Any conduct of a sexual nature that makes an employee
uncomfortable has the potential to be sexual harassment.
Given this broad definition, it is not surprising that sexual harassment comes in many forms. The
following are all examples of sexual harassment:
èc A supervisor implies to an employee that the employee must sleep with him to keep a job.
èc A sales clerk makes demeaning comments about female customers to his coworkers.
èc An office manager in a law firm is made uncomfortable by lawyers who regularly tell sexually explicit
jokes.
èc A cashier at a store pinches and fondles a coworker against her will.
èc A secretary's coworkers belittle her and refer to her by sexist or demeaning terms.
èc Several employees post sexually explicit jokes on an office intranet bulletin board.
èc An employee sends emails to coworkers that contain sexually explicit language and jokes.

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The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, manager, or coworker. An employer may even be liable for
harassment by a nonemployee (such as a vendor or customer), depending on the circumstances.


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There are a number of steps that you can take to reduce the risk of sexual harassment occurring in your
workplace. Although you may not be able to take all of the steps listed below, you should take as many of
them as you can.

èc )c c  c "* c '""+c ) !, In your employee handbook, you should have a policy
devoted to sexual harassment. That policy should:
{c define sexual harassment
{c state in no uncertain terms that you will not tolerate sexual harassment
{c state that you will discipline or fire any wrongdoers
{c set out a clear procedure for filing sexual harassment complaints
{c state that you will investigate fully any complaint that you receive, and
{c state that you will not tolerate retaliation against anyone who complains about sexual harassment.
You can define your company's policies and procedures regarding sexual harassment by using the
book or some manual.

{c c +) !", At least once a year, conduct training sessions for employees. These sessions
should teach employees what sexual harassment is, explain that employees have a right to a
workplace free of sexual harassment, review your complaint procedure, and encourage employees
to use it.
{c c")-""cc+", At least once a year, conduct training sessions for supervisors
and managers that are separate from the employee sessions. The sessions should educate the
managers and supervisors about sexual harassment and explain how to deal with complaints.
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In financial audits, a set of financial statements are said to be true and fair when they are free of
material misstatements, a concept, which according to accounting experts ,is influenced by both
quantitative and qualitative factors. Audit is a vital part of accounting. Traditionally, audits were
mainly associated with gaining information about financial systems and the financial records of a
company or a business
Accounting has ethics, which is primarily a field of applied ethics, the study of moral values and
judgments as they apply to accountancy. It is an example of professional ethics. According
Wikipedia, ethics as applied to accounting, were first introduced by Luca Pacioli, and later
expanded by government groups, professional organisations, and independent companies.
Essentially, the nature of the work carried out by accountants and auditors requires a high level of
ethics. Shareholders, potential shareholders, and other users of the financial statements rely
heavily on the yearly financial statements of a company as they can use this information to make
an informed decision about investment. They rely on the opinion of the accountants who prepared
the statements, as well as the auditors that verified it, to present a true and fair view of the
company. Knowledge of ethics can help accountants and auditors to overcome ethical dilemmas,

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allowing for the right choice that, although it may not benefit the company, will benefit the public
who relies on the accountant/auditor¶s reporting.

Most countries have differing focuses on enforcing accounting laws. In Nigeria by Company and
Allied Matters Acts; Germany, accounting legislation is governed by ³tax law´; in Sweden, by
³accounting law´; and in the United Kingdom, by the ³company law´. In addition, countries have
their own organisations which regulate accounting. For example, Sweden has the
Bokföringshämnden (BFN - Accounting Standards Board), Spain the Instituto de Comtabilidad y
Auditoria de Cuentas (ICAC), and the United States, the Financial Accounting Standards Board
(FASB).
In recent times, many companies around the world have been rocked by scandals. The scandals
were the result of creative accounting, misleading financial analysis, as well as bribery. Various
companies had issues with fraudulent accounting practices, including Nugan Hand Bank, Phar-
Mor, WorldCom, and AIG. One of the most widely-reported violations of accounting ethics
involved Enron, a multinational company, which for several years had not shown a true or fair
view of their financial statements.

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Essentially, the nature of the work carried out by accountants and auditors requires a high level of
ethics. Shareholders, potential shareholders, and other users of the financial statements rely
heavily on the yearly financial statements of a company as they can use this information to make
an informed decision about investment. They rely on the opinion of the accountants who prepared
the statements, as well as the auditors that verified it, to present a true and fair view of the
company. Knowledge of ethics can help accountants and auditors to overcome ethical dilemmas,
allowing for the right choice that, although it may not benefit the company, will benefit the public
who relies on the accountant/auditor¶s reporting.

Most countries have differing focuses on enforcing accounting laws. In Nigeria by Company and
Allied Matters Acts; Germany, accounting legislation is governed by ³tax law´; in Sweden, by
³accounting law´; and in the United Kingdom, by the ³company law´. In addition, countries have
their own organisations which regulate accounting. In recent times, many companies around the
world have been rocked by scandals. The scandals were the result of creative accounting,
misleading financial analysis, as well as bribery. Various companies had issues with fraudulent
accounting practices, including Nugan Hand Bank, Phar-Mor, WorldCom, and AIG. One of the
most widely-reported violations of accounting ethics involved Enron, a multinational company,
which for several years had not shown a true or fair view of their financial statements.

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Union busting is a wide range of activities undertaken by employers, their proxies, and
governments, which hinder workers from organizing, joining and maintaining trade unions. While
the right to join and form trade unions is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights(UDHR), union busting actions may subvert the organization and continuation of unions by
sowing discord amongst union members, challenging unions via law courts, strike

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breaking, lockouts, violent suppression, the sponsorship of anti-union organizations, or the

creation ofemployer-controlled trade unions.
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Many unionized employers, and the unions that represent their workforce, periodically engage in
negotiations in order to establish the rules governing issues such as wages, hours, and working
conditions. This may be a contentious process, in part due to the possibility of escalation, which
may include various types of job actions that move the focus away from the negotiating table and
seek to punish the corporation with a boycott or strike, thereby gaining leverage at the negotiating
table.
Employers make preparations for possible union strategies, just as unions plan job actions to
pressure employers. Some of these activities and preparations may be considered routine. For
example, manufacturing companies may develop a strike contingency plan which includes
stockpiling product before the contract expires, in order to maintain sales during a work stoppage.
This action may also intimidate union members into not striking.
Some union avoidance practices are passive. Management may seek diversification of the
workforce, hiring different ethnic groups and even communities that speak different languages, in
order to inhibit worker solidarity.

èc Dirty tricks"
èc Corporate relations with management and labor
èc Intelligence operations
èc Legal actions
èc Favoritism and division

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Most of you are basically hard working and honest people and for that, congratulations! There
are, however, within your ranks a few who are willing to say and do almost anything to win!
Those few are competitive dominators who are willing to attack the opposition with negative
Television advertising. The bottom line is that individuals such as these few believe they can, by
using T.V. advertising, influence and convince viewers to believe anything they produce. They
believe Television is that powerful and they are pouring millions into the Media. It is
sanctimonious and unethical behavior and it will back-fire! You don't win by cheating and most
people can see through the malarkey! In the short run unethical practices like this do win enough
to justify their dastardly deeds, but in the long run they end up humiliated and exposed for who
and what they are. To prevent this we should vote for what is honest and true and this iss the
social responsibility of organizations and marketers as well not to create such kind of
advertisements and mislead the consumers.

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There has been much controversy about using animals in experiments for decades. People
converse over different alternatives for animal testing and the inhumane way scientists treat these
animals in experiments. This topic causes so much controversy because there are ethical issues to
consider such as the treatment of the animals and the reasoning behind testing on these animals if
it¶s for a greater cause or not.
Animal testing should be outlawed because it is hurtful and not necessary. Do animals feel the
same pain that we as humans feel? How do we know that other humans feel pain? We know that
we ourselves can feel pain. We know this from direct experience of having your finger slammed
in a drawer, or stubbing your toe on a chair.
It is said that pain is a mental event; something that can not be observed. Pain is something that is
felt, and we can only assume that other humans feel pain from external indications such as our
own like crying, screaming, or jerking away from something. If we can justify that other humans
feel pain, why is it said that animals do not feel pain? When an animal is poked, burned, or
stepped on; they will cry, yelp, or jerk away. Since the external indicators are the same, we can
assume that animals feel the same pain that we as humans feel. Animal protection advocates
stress that the main disadvantage of animal testing is the inhumane treatment of animals in tests
due to the fact that anesthesia for the help of pain is often not used. Scientists say that using
anesthesia will interfere with test results.
Tests that are performed on animals range from them being forced to ingest different household
cleaning products and then monitored to see the results and new cosmetics placed on their skin to
find out if there are any side effects that would be harmful to a human. There are even some
practices where animals are forced to ingest a medicine before it is put on the market to make
sure that there are no life- threatening illnesses that will be caused to a human from taking the
product.

Other alternaives should be used rather than testing on animals :

The most common alternatives that are used today are:
èc In-vitro tests
èc Computer software,
èc Human ³clinical tests´.
èc The use of animal cells, organs, and tissue cultures are also deemed as alternatives,
however animal lives are still sacrificed for the use of their parts.