M COLUMBIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY Course Learning Outcomes for Unit III Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to: 2. Explore the responsibilities of moral agents involved in all aspects of business. 2.1 Describe the impact of corporate culture on ethical decision-making. UNIT III STUDY GUIDE Corporate Culture 3. Examine the ethical foundations for controversial issues in business. 3.1 Discuss the role of corporate leadership in establishing organizational culture. 5. Formulate ethical solutions for real-world situations using ethical theories and concepts. 5.1 Explain the real-world application of ethics and corporate culture information. Required Unit Resources Chapter 4: The Corporate Culture-Impact and Implications The nongraded resource below can be found in Blackboard beneath the study guide: Application Based Assignment: Business Ethics: Exploring Ethical Corporate Culture In order to access the following resources, click the links below. Johnson & Johnson. (n.d.). Our credo. https://www.jnj.com/credo/ Zenger, J., & Folkman, J. (2020, December 30). Research: Women are better leaders during a crisis. Harvard Business Review. https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire ct=true&db=bsu&AN=148025137&site=ehost-live&scope=site Unit Lesson In Unit I, we looked at the Wells Fargo scandal and noted the cultural shift that prioritized sales over customer service, leading to overzealous and fraudulent cross-selling. It is obvious that something went very wrong with the Wells Fargo corporate culture. On the other hand, it is equally obvious-from our own experiences as employees and as customers-that getting corporate culture right is not easy. So, in this unit, we are going to focus on the concept of corporate culture and how it works, for good or for evil. The concept of culture is fundamental to our lives. Whenever a group of human beings organize themselves for whatever reason, a culture for the organization comes into existence. Hartman et al. (2021) describe culture as "a shared pattern of beliefs, expectations, and meanings that influences and guides the thinking and behavior of the members of that organization" (p. 94). We intuitively think of an organization's culture as something that depends on its individual members but also as a separate attribute of the organization itself. In other words, it makes sense to say members of an organization can influence its culture and vice versa. Corporate culture is no different. Every business has shared beliefs, expectations, and meanings when it comes to problem-solving, work-life balance, deference to authority, and so forth. Our concern here is corporate culture as it relates to shared ethical beliefs, expectations, and meanings. We commonly refer to these as corporate values. It is now common practice for businesses to declare their values openly. PHI 4301, Business Ethics Consider USAA (originally called the United Services Automobile Association), an insurance and financial services company that appears regularly on "Best Places to Work" lists. USAA asserts its values as service, loyalty, honesty, and integrity and details the elements of The USAA Standard of Conduct on its website. Note how the core values are commitments to good character as discussed in Unit II. There are commitments to good consequences (3, 4, 6) and good principles (1 and 5) in the elements of The USAA Standard. USAA Statement of Core Values Our core values of Service, Loyalty, Honesty and Integrity reflect the values of the military and our membership and form the foundation on which we perform our work and conduct ourselves. The USAA Standard sets expectations for our behaviors, and speaks to the way we act, treat each other and show up every day at work. The six elements of The USAA Standard are: 1. Keep our membership and mission first. 2. Live our core values. 3. Be compliant and manage risk. 4. Build trust and help each other succeed. 5. Embrace diversity and be purposefully inclusive. 6. Innovate and build for the future. (USAA, n.d., p. 3) Statements like these tell us a lot about a company's culture. Importantly, they signal whether company culture centers on compliance or on values. A compliance-based culture is primarily concerned with steering clear of legal and regulatory rule violations. Anyone who takes annual "compliance training" on subjects like Title VI, Title IX, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Sarbanes-Oxley, anti-harassment, diversity, workplace safety, etc. will understand what this means. If this is the extent of a company's commitment to ethics, then it is fair to say it has a compliance-based culture. A values-based culture sees adherence to the rules as superficial evidence of its deeper moral commitments to good consequences, principles, and character. The USAA example is illustrative of a values-based culture, as it embraces being compliant while aspiring to a more expansive ethical culture. An ethical corporate culture does not happen by itself; ultimately, it is the responsibility of senior leaders to set a consistent moral tone throughout the company culture. This has important implications for ethical leadership. Leaders must establish clear moral guidance in the form of mission statements, codes of ethics, core values, and similar commitments. Further, good leaders will act, publicly and privately, for the sake of the companies they represent and in accordance with company values. All too often, however, senior corporate executives display indifference to values, resulting in toxic corporate cultures. Most high-profile corporate ethical scandals like Wells Fargo and, more recently, Theranos, have in common a corporate culture with absent or corrupted values demonstrated at the highest level. In the absence of ethical leadership, it falls to others inside the company to take ethical action. Certain individuals, known as whistleblowers, bring the wrongdoing to the attention of the authorities or the public. The whistleblower is an indispensable—and sometimes heroic-figure in business ethics. In the Application Based Assignment for this unit (in the Required Unit Resources section), you will see what it is like to be confronted with a whistleblowing choice within a difficult corporate culture. An ethical company will implement layers of accountability that prevent or mitigate ethical lapses, thereby forestalling the necessity of whistleblowing as a last resort. It will not only communicate its corporate values but also provide incentives, like awards and training, for following them. Ethics hotlines, ombudspersons, and other reporting mechanisms will encourage employees to share concerns about unethical behavior. Some companies take this a step further by setting up systems for continuous monitoring, assessing, and auditing the ethics of their corporate cultures. As challenging as it is to create and maintain, an ethical culture is one of the most valuable assets a company can have. PHI 4301, Business Ethics References Hartman, L. P., DesJardins, J., & MacDonald, C. (2021). Business ethics: Decision making for personal integrity and social responsibility (5th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education. source.com/#/books/9781260512977 https://online.vital United Services Automobile Association. (n.d.). Code of business ethics and conduct: Inspiring trust. https://content.usaa.com/mcontent/static_assets/Media/USAA_code_of_conduct.pdf?cacheid=47233 1104_p&_ga=2.135338993.1393249540.1638201483-1056091997.1638201483 PHI 4301, Business Ethics 3/n Write a 2-page double spaced review of a scholarly article that discusses ethics and corporate culture. Using the CSU Online Library, locate a scholarly article that discusses ethics and corporate culture. Article topics might include employee morale, creativity and innovation, ethical scandals, mergers and acquisitions, or company performance. Note these are ideas; please expand within the parameters of topics, as they relate to ethics and corporate culture. If you are unsure about a topic, then contact your instructor. Include the information below in your review. Summarize the main point of the article and the reasons offered in support of the main point. How does this article characterize the impact of corporate culture on ethical decision- making? What role does corporate leadership have in establishing the culture according to this article? How can you apply information in this article to your own field? Identify a real-world situation, and explain how you could apply the information. Your completed article review must be a minimum of two pages in length. You must use a minimum of two academic or peer-reviewed reference sources in addition to your textbook. The How to Find Peer-Reviewed Sources video from the CSU Online Library may help with your search efforts. Adhere to APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. Students note Attached the article I would like reviewed, the unit study guide and also 2 pages from the class's e-book I also need 1 more academic reference added in reference to business ethics and corporate culture that ties into the article