Outcome 3 - Exhibit an understanding and appreciation of the legal and ethical implications of conducting business in a global environment.

My artifacts demonstrating mastery of this outcome (What?)

http://www.geocities.com/stephannie.delong/DeLong_Global_Ethics.doc

http://www.geocities.com/stephannie.delong/DeLong_BusinessLawOutcomeThree.doc

http://www.geocities.com/stephannie.delong/WinterInstituteOutcome3.doc

My reflection on meeting this outcome (So What?)
The first artifact represents the knowledge I gained through Ethics in a Global Marketplace. Not only does this document demonstrate my understanding of the many issues that major corporations have faced, but also the core dilemma of balancing the need in business to earn profits with the responsibility of doing so ethically:

“One key to the survival of any business is its ability to generate income and earn profits. The utilitarian theory of business ethics (Parhizgar, 2006, p.167) would dictate that since the goal of business is to maximize profits that if a business is making money, it is acting in the most ethical manner possible. This is not always the case. Many businesses generate billions of dollars in income and earn millions of dollars in revenue for their shareholders, yet they do so in an unethical manner. Maximizing profits cannot be the only measure of a company’s success or commitment to ethics. Companies must also evaluate their success on other factors such as employee retention and satisfaction, customer satisfaction and loyalty, state and federal regulations and guidelines as well as comparing themselves to other industry leaders” (DeLong, p. 2-3 2008).

It is especially important for me to be able to balance the need to earn money through fundraisers and chamber dues with the need to be fiscally responsible with our Chamber members’ funds and to utilize them in the manner that most benefits our businesses, our community and fits within our mission. Through our budgeting process, strategic planning and local economic issues that have arisen in the past year, I have had a chance to implement the knowledge and strategies I learned in this course.

The second artifact represents not only my understanding of the theory of legal implications of conducting business in a global economy, but also provides examples within my own career. This document provides an opportunity for me to demonstrate my knowledge of the responsibilities of conducting background checks when hiring new candidates as well as what I feel are the most important policies and procedures to have in place to protect not only my organization, but myself as well. Hiring new employees places a significant burden on the organization to ensure that it is getting the best candidate possible, which often means conducting background checks. If I were in a position of conducting a background check which came back negative, I would take the following measures:
1. “I would have first made sure that the prospective employee signed written notice and authorization of the credit check as required by FCRA.
2. I would then need to give the prospective employee second notice since I intend to take an adverse employment action based upon the consumer credit report I obtained.
3. Finally, I must provide the prospective employee with written notice of the adverse action taken. The notice will include the name, address and phone number of the agency who supplied the report; a statement that the agency which supplied the report did not make the decision to take the adverse action; a notice of the person’s right to dispute the accuracy of the report and to obtain a free credit report from the agency within the next sixty days” (DeLong, p. 1 2008).

This document also provides me an opportunity to share a situation in which I was confronted with a potentially illegal and unethical activity in a job and the manner in which I handled it:

“‘Establish and disseminate a written policy regarding workplace investigations, searches, employee surveillance, etc. The policy should set forth the boundaries of investigations and searches that may be conducted. The policy should also state that employees who refuse to cooperate in company investigations or searches will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.’

I believe that this is the most important thing to do because a company that I have worked for did not currently do this, and I have personally had to deal with the fallout of not having such procedures and safeguards in place. When I started at this company, the person who left the position which I was taking had left many questionable (sexually explicit) items on the computer which I was to use for my work. I knew that the person who left the position was a good friend of my boss and that said person was coming back in to train me, so I did not want to immediately speak up. However, I realized that if I did not speak up and left the items on my computer that they could eventually be considered ‘my’ items. So, ultimately I spoke up to my boss, who had the items removed from my computer. I believe that had the company had a policy about workplace investigations, which outlined the fact that there was no reasonable right to privacy that such material (and behavior) would not have occurred at the company” (DeLong, p. 2, 2008).

The final artifact of this outcome is a copy of a post-Institute assessment which was sent to my President/CEO after I returned from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organizational Management in 2008. This opportunity not only provided me with a better understanding of the Chamber industry, but it allowed me to put my skills to use with practical break-out sessions and assessments. This post-assessment allows me to demonstrate how I would ethically handle taking on the responsibilities of being the newly appointed President/CEO of the Chamber in an environment that had been lacking strong leadership for the past several years and how I would plan to build a strong governance structure with the Chamber:
“As the new CEO I would begin by holding two retreats: one for the staff and one for the board. I would begin both by writing our current mission statement and asking each staff/board member to identify three key goals that they would like to accomplish which directly relate to the mission statement. I would take these lists and help the staff and board make one year, three year and five year goals in relation to membership, financial fitness, community support and governance. The goals would help determine not only the new strategic vision statement, but also the program of work. The staff would be an integral part of the new strategic vision for the Chamber and in order to lead my staff through the planning process, I would also invite them to participate in the Board Retreat. I think it is imperative that the board understand what the staff really does and how much staff time goes into each part of the program of work. The program of work must be directly related to the mission statement and governance would be one of the most important issues. In a Chamber that had not had strong leadership, I would imagine that financial audits would be an important process during the first year. The audit process would help us to examine which internal financial controls needed to be altered and also what the strengths of the Chamber have been. It is important to work from the strengths that we have and to also move forward from our weaknesses (whether they be in membership, financial fitness, or governance) in order to build a more cohesive organization. Finally, I would also like to schedule quarterly staff and board meetings related directly to the material outlined in the retreats to check our progress” (DeLong, p. 1, 2008).

My future learning goals related to this outcome (Now What?)
My future learning goals in relation to the legal and ethical implications of conducting business in a global environment include continuing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organizational Management, working with our executive committee and board of directors to ensure governance and maintaining open lines of communication with our legal counsel and insurance professional. Institute will not only continue to provide me with the most current industry related standards and best practices, but it will also provide me with a network, resources and tools to help solve any issues as they arise. I believe that by working closely with the executive committee and board of directors on our program of work and ensuring it closely aligns to our mission, vision and enhances the community we can establish a checks and balances system which will maintain legal and ethical compliance. I also think that by maintaining open lines of communication with our legal counsel and insurance agent we can proactively prevent legal and ethical issues before they arise.