Through corporate ethics, a company can ensure that its program is effective. Employees are “more likely to contribute to firm performance because they inherently want to give their best for a company that cares about its people and its ethics.” Corporate ethics is a system of moral principles and norms of behavior that regulate relations within an organization and interaction with other enterprises. Corporate ethics’ purpose is to manage the relationship between representatives of various professions, united by a shared work collective and operating in one organization.
There are various actions a company can perform in order to provide the functioning of its ethical program. For example, corporate ethics establishes collective principles of conduct at the workplace and stipulates service relationships’ ethical principles. For example, the care for the organization’s interests and each employee, ensuring the growth of the organization’s values, and adhering to business communication norms. Employees of the organization and managers and heads of companies must respect everyone inside and outside the organization, fulfill their promises, and be polite and tolerant of other people’s opinions. Managers are also expected to show their employees a prime example of ethics and business etiquette. They must not criticize employees in front of their colleagues but only do so confidentially, admit their mistakes to their subordinates, and not reprove them for constructive criticism.
Such a document as the corporate code, which constitutes a set of principles and rules of business conduct, is the central element of corporate ethics. Companies must also set up ethics committees, which are called upon to develop the organization’s ethical policy and address specific ethical issues that arise in the company’s daily life. Finally, training of employees and managers in the context of ethical behavior in the form of seminars and short courses should be mandatory.