Challenges in the Global Business Environment
The ongoing challenges in the global business world are mainly attributed to unethical business practices, failure to integrate technology advancements into the business and stiff competition in the marketplace (Gaumnitz & Lere, 2004). An organization’s practices and processes are subject to the code of ethical conduct that a company develops based on regulations and social responsibilities. This paper highlights various challenges that organizations face in the global business environment using case studies of AT&T, Verizon Communications and CenturyLink.
Nature, Structure and Type of Products/Services, Code of Ethics
AT&T is a US based telecommunication multinational with headquartered in Dallas. The company is the leading mobile telephony and fixed telephony provider in the US also offering Broadband services. Founded in 1983, the company’s major products and services are fixed line and mobile telephony, broadband and fixed internet services and digital Television services.
Verizon Communications is a US broadband and telecommunication company based in New York. Founded in October 1983, Verizon products and services include fixed line and mobile telephony, digital television, network services, and broadband and fixed line internet services. With over 178,300 employees, Verizon has over fourteen subsidiaries some of which include Verizon wireless, GTE, Diamond State Telephone and Verizon North.
CenturyLink is also an American-based communications multinational with its headquarters in Louisiana. The company offers communication and data services to businesses, the federal government. Founded in 1968, the company offers services in fixed-line telephony, internet hosting services, digital television, fiber-optic broad band network services, and fixed-line internet services.
AT&T code of ethics is adopted to foster honest and ethical conduct. The three key issues from within the document that I believe are critical for success are honest and ethical conduct, fairness and health work environment, and compliance and reporting (Gaumnitz & Lere, 2004).
Ethics of Conduct, Key Issues in AT&T, Verizon and CenturyLink
Using the three key issues selected as a benchmark, comparison and contrast of the codes of conduct of two similar companies within the telecommunication industry which are Verizon and CenturyLink is as follows:
- Honest and ethical conduct
Each employee, officer or supervisor at AT&T has a duty to the company to exercise integrity by upholding honesty and ethical conduct. Conflicts of interest in personal and professional relationships should be ethically handled. All AT&T employees are required to act with integrity at the same time upholding confidentiality for company information as required in company’s policies (Davis, 2007). Moreover AT&T employees are required to adhere to high standards of business ethics and observe government regulation and desist from disclosing company materials for personal benefit.
Although the Verizon’s code of conduct does not specifically mention honesty and ethical conduct, the provision is provided under the clause for maintaining integrity and fairness in the workplace. The code has guidelines on how to avoid conflict of interest by upholding honesty and fairness. Personal conflicts of interest should not surpass the organizational goals and the conduct of employees outside. Verizon should be in a manner that maintains a positive image for the company.
CenturyLink on the other hand upholds fairness and integrity to reflect the company’s unifying principles that are based on fundamental values upon which the company is built. In all the company’s dealing, they demonstrate integrity and act ethically by doing the right thing even if it is difficult and takes time to accomplish.
- Fair and Healthy Work Environment
AT&T is committed to doing right to its employees and the company strives to maintain a competitive position in the industry as the employer of choice. AT&T maintains an inclusive work environment by maintaining diversity in the workplace to reflect the customer base they serve. The company upholds a culture of securing the workplace to ensure every employee feels secure. Workplace hazards are eliminated and frequently monitored so that the safety and health of employees is sustained (Gaumnitz & Lere, 2004).
CenturyLink advocates for fairness among employees by treating colleagues and stakeholders as they would like to be treated. The company and its employees are also committed to exercise fairness in all dealings with clients, associates and fellow employees. CenturyLink also works to maintain a secure and healthy work environment by following the applicable laws and procedures, eliminating health hazards and suing the prescribed safety equipment and responsive reporting of unsafe conditions and activities. The company does not condone threats that interfere with its commitment and safety and threats must be promptly reported (Gaumnitz & Lere, 2004).
Verizon on the other hand maintains an inclusive, fair and health work environment through promoting diversity and equal opportunity commitment at the same time eradicating all forms of harassment and discrimination. Workplace violence is highly punishable whereas workplace environment and safety are upheld. Substance abuse and consumption of controlled substances is prohibited during work and acts of gambling at company premises are restricted.
- Reporting and accountability
At AT&T, the audit committee maintains the mandate to interpret the code of ethics in any arising situation. Questions on hoe the policies are applied and interpreted are handled by the company’s legal department. Each employees, director or officer is required to report any breach of the ethics conduct. In addition, AT&T maintains procedural guidelines when making investigation regarding breach of the code and reporting potential violations. AT&T follows a predetermined procedure in enforcing and reporting on the code.
Although Verizon does not directly address reporting and accountability, it has provisions for maintaining integrity in the workplace through appropriate business processes and protecting the reputation and assets of the company. Accountability at Verizon should be upheld by employees through preparation, disclosing and maintaining accurate records, to promote transparency and complete disclosure. Company information should be heavily safeguarded and the code has also provisions securing its IT infrastructure and intellectual property (Davis, 2007).
On the other hand, CenturyLink upholds living the unifying principle with the company and its shareholders through accurate accounting and financial reporting for accountability. Every employee has a mandate to safeguard company assets and resolving conflicts of interest so that it does not override accountability requirements.
Extent to which the Selected companies address the Selected Issues and Implications
To a large extent, Verizon and CenturyLink uphold Reporting and accountability, Fair and Healthy Work Environment and Honest and ethical conduct as integral components of their code of conduct.
If each company upholds these key addressed issues, they will not only deliver quality products and services to the target market but also attain competitive advantage to control a remarkable share of the market. Another potential positive outcome for the companies is that they will yield high employee satisfaction, attract talented and innovative employees and attain employee satisfaction (Gaumnitz & Lere, 2004).
If the companies fail to address these key issues in their code of conduct, they are likely to succumb to competition in the industry and the profits will be significantly reduced. Moreover, employees will be dissatisfied and they will record a huge turnover as they lose experienced and innovative employees to competitors
AT&T Techniques to Ensure Code of Conduct Remains Relevant
Business context is rapidly changing and hence companies need to periodically review their code of ethics to ensure it remains relevant with business activities and reflects changes in the marketplace. To ensure code of conduct remains relevant through years of changing economic, political, social, cultural, and technological forces on business and society, the two methods that companies currently adopt to manage environment issues is the review of the existing code of conduct and effectively implementing and continuously evaluating the code following the review (Florini, 2003).
To conduct the review, the agency is assessed whether it possesses a formal code of conduct and whether the code has been in use for the past two years without review. Significant changes in the agency’s roles and responsibilities, practices and activities since the current code was drafted is considered alongside significant changes in workplace profile and changes in the external business environment such as legislation, government strategy and business practices. Issues not currently addressed in the current code and employees’ difficult understanding the code is also considered as basis for the review of the current code.
Once the review is conducted, the next step is to develop a new code of conduct by reviewing the content of the current code in key functional area (Gaumnitz & Lere, 2004). Appropriate language and style and formats are considered in the development of the new code. The amended code is then tested to ensure consistency and reviewed by key stakeholders for approval. The new then undergoes the endorsement stage by securing the commitment of senior management and obtaining approval.
The next stage is the implementation process whereby the code is availed to all stakeholders in various formats. Education and training is then provided for all employees on key functional areas. Building integrity awareness is a key approach of promoting thee code as part of the workplace behavior and providing support systems in the form of reporting systems for compliance (Doig & Wilson, 1998). The evaluation process critiques the process to ensure the review process has been followed through benchmarking the code to agency roles and keeping it up to date.
To manage environmental issues, AT&T aims at connecting billions of users without inhibiting the natural environment’s ability to sustain current and future generations. Despite the challenges, the company is committed to adopting energy efficiency processes in manufacturing and production through minimization of hazardous waste emission (Davis, 2007). To minimize pollution, the company also conducts network equipment recycling and customer products recycling.
Approaches at AT&T; Technological Advancements for Innovation
AT&T embraces technological advancements for innovation to improve its business offerings. The first approach of innovation at AT&T is in their product development process. AT&T is keen to develop cutting-edge mobile devices and networks as a continuous improvement process for already existing brands. Another innovation approach is the use of virtual assistants which incorporate programs that are embedded in computer networks to facilitate daily tasks such as maintaining calendars, facilitating emails or shopping. The innovation approach at AT&T is aimed at creating systems that interact with users over their mobile phones, TV and computers through the use of speech and gestures.
The three technological challenges that AT&T could face include the challenge of implementing new technology amid rapid technological evolution leading to obsolescence, lack of competent expertise within the company to undertake IT innovations and challenges of implementing new technology and innovations that meet consumer preferences (Florini, 2003).
One way of addressing these challenges is through continuous research and development to ensure that innovations meet the current market needs and meet the preferences of consumers by conducting market research.
AT&T lobbying strategy
One AT&T lobbying strategy has used in an effort to influence the national and local government decision in its favor is using the company’s veteran Jim Cicconi, a Washington insider to lobby for the T-Mobile acquisition deal. AT&T wanted to purchase T-Mobile USA in 2011 spending over $11.7 million in lobbying seeking regulator’s approval of the deal. To facilitate the lobbying, AT&T produced letters to regulators who included congress members, produced economic studies to back up the deal viability and pledged to preserve over 5,000 jobs if the deal went through. Moreover, the company supported the federal government by funding them with over $805,500. AT&T also lobbied the Communication Workers Association of America and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to back the purchase. However, the US Justice Department halted the deal citing unfair competition in the industry.
This lobbying effort was not appropriate because after investing so much in the lobbying, the company lost the deal. The huge expenditure is the lobbying process was unfair spending to coerce legislators to support the company. AT&T overlooked the possibility of the acquisition failure, investing too many resources for the acquisition.
AT&T Global Corporate Citizenship Efforts
The two global corporate citizenship efforts of AT&T investing in education philanthropic program for colleges and career readiness and safeguarding the environment through adopting energy efficient projects and responsible manufacturing processes that reduce emissions and waste reduction (Doig & Wilson, 1998).
To a large extend, the effort are effective in accomplishing the company’s goals because by empowering the community served by the company through, the company will attract more consumers and attain consumer loyalty as customers purchase AT&T products to sustain their charity donations . On the other hand, safeguarding the environment ensures sustainability in production and safeguards the environment for future generations.
References
Davis, M. (2007). Eighteen Rules for Writing a Code of Professional Ethics. Science and
Engineering Ethics, 13(2), pp. 171-189.
Doig, A. and Wilson, J. (1998). The Effectiveness of Codes of Conduct. Business Ethics: A
European Review 7(3), pp. 140-149.
Florini, A. (2003). Business and Global Governance: The Growing Role of Corporate Codes of
Conduct. The Brookings Review 21(2), pp. 4-8.
Gaumnitz, B. and Lere, J. (2004). A Classification Scheme for Codes of Business Ethics,
Journal of Business Ethics 49: 329-335.
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