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Introduction

Ethical issues and code of conduct in an organization are crucial to its success in the external environment. These issues affect the company’s public image, the firm’s credibility, possible loss of clients when negative image is portrayed to the corporate and general public. Development and implementation of sound codes of ethics by a company to its employees will build a strong foundation in the company’s current and future business transactions.

Ethical issues

The field of ethics normally involves defending, recommending and systematizing concepts or codes of wrong or right behavior in a corporation. These concepts can be based on social, moral or legal standards that regulate wrong and right conduct, articulating good habits that should be acquired by the company’s personnel or partners, to follow duties or else bear consequences of conduct through laid down measures and rules (Bridges, 2002).

The compliance officer for Expert Consulting Group (ECG) has convened a meeting with the Ethics Review Committee to discuss the critical matter pertaining to one of its partners for not dealing in diligence by fulfilling the contractual obligations to a client’s business strategy engagement. The strategy engagement presentation was not as viable in the market because of the data used. This has posed a critical ethical and legal issue to ECG and requires urgent attention to safeguard its interests. The compliance officer has to approach the issue in a proactive and reactive thinking response by attempting to find alternate solutions and their possible outcomes of the potential threat. Implications that might be brought by the ECG’s

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partner could be detrimental to the consulting in its goals and the negotiation deal with Government Alliance Company. The officer and the Ethics Review team must think ahead and plan to avert the looming disaster. A legal issue that may arise in this scenario would be data mining. The partner had used previous data from a previous partnership. This knowledge if made public would cause severe implications. First, the team must accept the issue to be their own and formulate the next critical course of action. The action formulated must evaluate the conditions that generated to the legal issue, the current status and the way forward. The team must also critically assess how the action plan can be implemented more efficiently without resulting to more implications. The procedure and the processes are vital with anticipation of the proactive expected outcomes. The policies developed should be well processed to solve the current issues and future related issues that may arise again. Personnel should be trained to develop mind sets that readily solve problems than dwell in them. A proposed cause of action or solution would be for the corporate partner to undertake another market research for the client with current statistics and investment opportunities.

The compliance officer and the ethics team must review critical steps in decision making that would not jeopardize the company’s position in the market. The first step would be to recognize the ethical or legal issue facing the company and whether the decision to be implemented will give the company a positive or negative image to its current partners and future relationships or strategic alliances and whether its more legal to undertake it or its purposed efficiency. The next step would entail acquiring the facts concerning the strategic engagement between ECG’s partner and the client. Known and unknown facts should be assessed by the committee to learn more about the issue in order to make a proper and timely decision. Exceptionally important concerns should be given consideration and reason given for concentration in that issue, and the important stakes in the decision outcomes (Lumina, 2009). Options for acting should be evaluated with relevant management and partners consulted to identify a creative option in the decision being debated. The third step will provide evaluations for alternative actions that give the best plan of action and do the slightest harm to the ECG Company and maintaining its corporate and public image. The Utilitarian Approach can be embraced by the compliance officer and the Ethics Review Committee to choose the appropriate ethical or legal course of action that will respect the rights of the partner and the client. The decision option should treat all the stakeholders proportionally and equally. The decision should not only serve the interests of ECG, but all its partners and the community in general. This is vital to conducting consultations in various professional fields and also its upcoming Initial Public Offering (IPO) to get the support it needs in its business ventures. The fourth step would be to make the decision and test its effectiveness in addressing the situation. Finally, this step would be to act and reflect on the decision outcome to ensure that great care and attention is given to all stakeholders concerns and the lessons learned from the decision turn out.

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Conclusion

The optimal solution for the ECG’s issues would be to re-convene with the partner’s client and develop another strategy management research that will come up with new data. This will make it feasible for the client to continue with his investment initiative with clear indicators for opportunities in their related interests. This outcome will invariably be a positive impact on the company with one more client satisfied with their services. The company stands in a position to make its ethical codes and conduct of its personnel to be more efficient translating to overall success of the organization. Future issues and situations have a basis to be handled effectively.

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REFERENCE:

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Bridges, W. & Mitchell, S. (2002) "Leading Transition: A New Model for Change." In Leading Change. Jossey-Bass, New York.

Lumina, S. A. & Leonard, M. H. (2009). Attachment Styles and Ethical Behavior: Their relationship and significance in the marketplace. Journal of Business Ethics.