Google Code of Ethics

Google is a publicly traded, multinational organization that is built around the famous search engine (google). The organization's other services include operating systems development, web app, advertisement technology, cloud computing and internet analytics. Because of the rising industrial demands the company has remained innovative, Google has been nothing short of relentless effort to acquire and develop new products with the objective remaining ahead of the competitors such as Microsoft. The company’s code of the ethics is one of the guiding principles that ensure that workers offer the best services. To this company, the code of ethics is a crucial to all the employees as it offers guidance to different situations and help work to make difficult decisions.

Google Inc.’s code of ethics is comprehensive and ready to understand. The higher education degree-bearing employees and High-school educated employees alike can understand the different codes that the organization provides. The company’s code of ethics has been drafted in a conversational tone which makes employees feel they are part of it (Hawkes, 2018). The codes of ethics have been explained through the real-life situation and it is straight to the point. The company’s code of ethics is concise and clear, so the worker can trace the codes they are looking for with much ease. The code of ethics is available through the internet, the annual reports and on the employment contract. The code of ethics is not aimed at workers only, it also informs customers of the values and ethical principles of Google. Google Code of this is built around the recognition of everything that the company does (Price, 2017). The company sets bars that are slightly high. The commitment to set the highest standards is important in hiring great people, attract loyal customers, and build great products.

Code of Ethics Is Lacking In the Area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Google Inc. has taken steps to publish the code of conduct that outlines a set of unexpected behavior from their partners, board members, and employees to know and follow. The company’s code of conduct leads with a very phrase, ‘don’t be the devil.' The phrase acts as a guide that drives the stakeholders to observe the code of conduct. The code of ethics also offers much of the required standard laws and corporate governance by which the company operates (Harjo to, 2017). The company has outlined numerous expectation with regard to the corporate social responsibility that stakeholders are expected to adhere to. The codes caution that any violation of the codes can result in various disciplinary actions. The company’s code contains provisions for organizations and individuals who conduct illegal and unethical actions in the name of Google. The firm expects that any consultants, contractors and other individuals assigned to perform tasks to follow the codes in connection with their work. Failure of a consultant, contractor, or a consultant to follow the code of ethics can result in disciplinary actions such as termination of the contract.

In the code of ethics, the company has supported four- principle of CSR: social, ethical, and legal responsibility. The organization operates within the legal frameworks that have been set by various institutions. The company has done a great job with respect to the suppliers, customers, and employees. The firm is committed to the highest standards that help it to hire the best employees from the market, who builds great commodities that attract loyal users. Mutual respect and trust are the foundation of the organization's success. The company’s code of conduct outlines the commitment to a supportive and safe work environment. Google remains committed to supporting the physical environment by relying on clean energy and using other methods that reduce the carbon footprint on the planet. The company has gone beyond the carbon footprint by investing millions of dollars in the renewable energy.

Whether the Code of Ethics Is Lacking In Compliance With Legal Mandates

Google Inc. has developed laws that govern the business conduct. The firm observes laws that govern the health and safety at work, the employee to employer relationships and ensures that consumers are protected. In the code of ethics, Google Inc. has included clauses that ensure that the individuals and the business comply with the regulations in an appropriate manner. Some of the elements of the code include punishment. The firm attempts to encouraging ethical behaviors rather than punishing error and monitoring. The company rewards employees who advance certain aspirational goals such as finding a green solution to some of the problems that affect the planet.

Implications of Being Noncompliant With Legal Mandates

Firms that do not comply with the legal mandates are not subjected to harsh penalties but also the cancellation of certificates of operation. The state sets laws that courts follow when determining whether corporate representatives and the company violated legal procedures. Any violation of the laws such as Sarbanes-Oxley Act can face fines or the company’s representative face imprisonment. Other non-compliant consequences can include facing an audit from government agencies and enormous fines. It is therefore important for Google Inc. to follow the United States labor laws, the OSHA, Americans with Disabilities Act and Sarbanes-Oxley Act in order to prevent adverse consequences.

Two Legal Or Ethical Safeguards Your Chosen Company

Google Inc. takes ethical compliance seriously. The company has come up with numerous ethical safeguard that ensures that all stakeholders comply with legal requirements. Before any employee joins this organization he must sign the code of conduct policy and acknowledge he has read and understood all the details. The employees are forbidden from disclosing confidential information to outsiders without an approval from the senior management. The workers are also encouraged to avoid instance that can create the conflict of interest. Accepting entertainment, gifts and other courtesies that might compromise their work performance are highly discouraged. Because of the strict emphasis on the code of ethics the organization has gained a reputation of being generous to its employees.

Secondly, the company allows its workers to raise ethical concerns, in orders to identify certain weaknesses that can help to improve the code of ethics. The workers are given a chance to give suggestions on matters pertaining to ethics. The company maintains an open door policy where workers can contact the supervisor to address the ethical concerns. Employees can also prepare an ethical report if they have any evidence of unethical behavior.

Whether Code of Ethics Facilitates Development of an Ethical Culture

In Google Inc., the code of ethics facilitates the creation of ethical culture. The company has clearly outlined rules as far as expectation and penalties for not meeting those expectations. The ethics act a guide that ensures that all persons within this organization understand the values and mission. The code of ethics helps employees in this organization to distinguish between wrong and right. Google’s code of ethics communicates to the employees what the company is committed to. The company’s commitment to the code of ethics is what drives internal culture. The company’s customer feels reassured because of the code of ethics that exists in the organization.

Explain How An Employee Would Raise An Ethical Concern In This Company.

All employees of Google Inc. have the responsibility of raising concerns and asking questions regarding various issues that arise at the workplace. This especially true in an event that employee suspect that there is a violation of any policy or law. The company encourages persons to raise concerns and ask questions as early as possible because this helps to solve questions. The company ensures that all the concerns are dealt with as early as possible.

Describe Three Resources Available To Employees.

When an employee raises ethical concerns there are various resources that are required. Some of the resources include the local ethics offers, the human resource department, and the supervisors. The three resources are readily available. In addition, the company encourages these officers to address the complaints as soon as they are presented.

The human resource advocate for the right of employees within an institution and can thus receive their concerns. The HR officers have a responsivity of addressing the employee concerns to the senior management. In this case, they must perform a balancing act to meet the needs of employees and the company successfully.

The ethics officer ensure that the company complies with outside regulations as well as internal policies. The local ethics officer receive employee’s complaints and solves them within a reasonable time.

The supervisors are responsible for representing the worker's interest as well as solving minor issues. For instance, when an employee has raised concerns, the supervisors are responsible for presenting the concerns to the senior management.

Discuss Which Resources You Would Most Likely Use

The Supervisor

The supervisors come into direct contact with employees. Therefore, they create a lever to influence how employees focus their energy. The supervisors are responsible for ensuring that employees act in a professional manner to create a fair environment that gives workers a chance to articulate their issues openly.

Develop a Policy

Factors an Employee Would Need To Consider Before Deciding To Blow the Whistle

The Whistle Blowing Channel

The employee should review the company’s policies with regard to whistleblowing. The employee should check the handbooks that explain the procedure before making the report. In many of the cases employees are required to speak to the manager, but they may also present the matter to the senior management, the legal officer, or the human resource manager.

Ensure You Have Evidence

The whistleblower should ensure that the evidence is credible, timely, and specific and officer detailed information and example of the transaction. The more information the better, and if more evidence is presented in the course of the investigation the whistleblower should submit it to the investigator. A decision to whistle blow might have profound consequences for the company. The whistleblower must be accurate in the presentation and the information should be correct. The whistle-blowing is meant for reporting unethical behavior such as cover-ups, safety and health breaches, and criminal offenses.

Process the Employee Should Follow When Whistle Blowing

The first step in whistle blowing is evidence gathering to facilitate proving of the case. Whistleblower ought to have the evidence about the matter. The matter should involve an illegal or criminal offense. The evidence should be tangible and capable of proving the case. To fulfill this the whistleblower ought to collect the information: contact and names of the parties involved in the wrongdoing and the laws he believes are being violated. The information should be adequate to build any case. Since whistleblowing can be stressful process it is important the employee seek support. The employees can get support from National whistleblowing center or via an attorney. The whistle-blowing center is a nonpartisan group that protects and educates people through the process.

Once enough evidence has been collected the whistle blower the second step should be to file an official complaints to the courts or the federal government. The attorney might present the complaint to the government or present it to the courts. The attorney can set up a meeting with the government to present the case and convince the state to conduct an investigation.

The whistle blower should prepare to testify once the government commences investigation. The whistle blower might be asked to testify during trail or at the grand jury. The whistleblower ought to keep all the information confidential. It is important to avoid presenting the information to the third party or discussing with anyone else other than a trusted attorney.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Paying Whistle-Blowers Based

Advantages of Paying Whistle Blowers

Dodd-Frank Act envisages giving monetary benefits to whistle blowers. The benefits of paying whistleblowing are that it will encourage persons to come up and report some of the unethical behaviors. In addition, it will increase in reporting of unethical behavior that occurs in the company because of the money motivation.

Dodd-Frank act requires that the information presented by the whistle blower results in positive enforcement before they qualify for the benefits. On the negative side, most people will be on the hunt for unethical behavior with the objective of getting paid. In addition, it will be impossible to weed out the valid reports because most persons will report just to get paid (Taylor, 2018). Whistleblowing can have a damaging impact on the organization and it is important the accurate information is presented.

Impact the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Might Have On an Organization

The sentencing guidelines have been successful in inducing many firms both, indirectly and directly to create new programs to detect and prevent any violation of the law. The presence of these laws prevents the management from engaging in illegal activities because they will be eligible for criminal proceedings. USSG covers most crimes for instance tax, securities, antitrust and fraud. The punishment is usually fines and restrictions.

The USSR provide a uniform sentencing policy for the convicted defendants in the US. The guidelines indicate the principle of criminal law that the company is responsible for, the action of the agents and the employees. The role of USSG is to impose sanctions and prosecute individuals as well as firms for felony crimes

Three culpability factors that are used to determine fines

First are the mitigating factors: an organization must put in place a program that is capable of detecting unethical behavior for instance of fraud. If it is noticed that a company has such kind of fraud detection procedures, three points can be deducted from the score.

One exasperating issue that can intensify the culpability score is the company’s history in terms of unethical behavior. Having similar or recurrence violation is viewed negatively and can lead to a rise in the culpability sore by more than 2 points. Another infuriating issue is the role of impeding or obstructing an inquiry. If the firm does not corporate with the investigator, the factor can increase the culpability score by more than three points.

There are aggravating and mitigating factors that can decrease or increase a culpability score, the score can affect the sentencing. Each business or individual start off with a score of five and can either decrease or increase.

References

Harjoto, M. (2017). Corporate social responsibility and corporate fraud. Social Responsibility Journal, 13(4), 762-779. doi: 10.1108/srj-09-2016-0166

Harjoto, M. (2017). Corporate social responsibility and corporate fraud. Social Responsibility Journal, 13(4), 762-779. doi: 10.1108/srj-09-2016-0166

Hawkes, N. (2018). Google tech company must spell out how it will make money from the NHS. BMJ, k2665. doi: 10.1136/bmj.k2665

Price, T. (2017). A “critical leadership ethics” approach to the Ethical Leadership construct. Leadership, 174271501771064. doi: 10.1177/1742715017710646

Taylor, J. (2018). Internal Whistle-Blowing in the Public Service: A Matter of Trust. Public Administration Review. doi: 10.1111/puar.12946