Evaluating Walt Disney Vision and Mission Statement

Code of business ethics and conduct varies with each company, since it defines the behavior that is expected from employees and directors of a company, to ensure the good image, reputation and operations are carried out in order. The code of ethics aims to guide the people on the way to handle its operations among all stakeholders to maintain the reputation of the company, and maintain ethics of business. The conduct of a company should replicate its dedication in achieving the set standards acceptable to its business internally and externally, hence, standards of business conduct lay guidelines of behavior expected in order to achieve the main objectives of integrity, honesty, trust, value and just business dealings, which are the main ethics of doing business (Disney, n.d.)

One aspect of Disney that I liked is its ethic of responsibility to other businesses that is well expressed in its code of ethics, which suggests that employees and cast members involved with customers should be conversant with the policies that are set to ensure a good relationship is attained. It further suggests that the employees and cast members should inform the customers on the conditions they are entering into. Many times customers make decisions without full knowledge of the policies underlying only to regret later. This code would ensure that customers make sound decisions on their own account without the influence of misguided information. Another aspect I like in the Disney standard conduct is its commitment to its cast members and employees. It is committed to treating its cast members and employee’s fairness, dignity and respect, and providing a challenging environment. What I like most about this standard is its responsibility to offer professional development of their skills, and using fair appraisal and dismissal methods. This is very important for building up employee confidence, and empowering them ensures continued advancement of operations. The last aspect I liked about it is its legal standards, of tax compliance, where it suggests that it is its duty to pay the tax as expected and has provided guidelines for it and other laws such as compliance with export laws, is a sure thing of giving back the community its due. Companies that tend to avoid tax when they can deprive the public its due, hence it is crucial to comply.

One aspect that I did not like is their responsibility to other businesses where they lay guidelines of accepting gifts. They have define the value of the gift and what constitutes a gift, which I deem to be too restricting since a customer offering a gift after good service is a good thing to me. I however understand the reasons behind it but this is one of my least liked. Secondly, accurate reporting in Disney suggests that each individual will fill out all the documents such as time cards, invoices, payroll records, business records and few more. I disliked this due to the processes involved in signing such forms. Lastly, in the ethic of bids, sole sources, and negotiable bids, the statement is very general and lacking a little explanation for anybody to understand. I did not like it for this reason since other codes are more explanatory.

One aspect in the News Corporation statement that I liked is the code of standard that defines the code of ethics for the CEO and senior financial staff is very appropriate, and it is well defined. This controls their activities and cannot engage in fraudulent behavior, which is often seen in many organizations, where the top management manipulates operations that can influence fraud. The second aspect I liked is fair competition, which is well emphasized in the standard of conduct where the company holds itself responsible for damages caused by their unfair competition where they cause a customer to withdraw from a contract with another company (News Corporation, 2006). They also emphasize that a company should not try to acquire information of another, which is not meant for public purpose. This prevents a company from practicing unfair competition or influencing customers of other competitors from changing course through unfair means such as offering information that ruins a company’s reputation. Another aspect I liked is on conflicts of interest; News Corporation has defined into a deeper detail of the expected ethics when dealing with government officials and suggests acquaintance of the policies required just as Disney with its customers. This ensures transparency and no tolerance to corruption.

One aspect I disliked in the code of ethics of News Corporation is where, after the introduction, the company starts with funds and property, unlike Disney, who started with interest of its customers and employees. This portrayed the company as concerned more with its issues and those of employees come later. Secondly, the safety ethic in News Corporation suggests that each employee should bear the responsibility of doing their work safely, but does not include means that provide safety, which made me not like it fully. The last restrictive aspect I disliked is on restrictive international trade, the company suggests that it should follow the United States law that suggests not complying with restrictive laws imposed on them by other countries. This could mean that a company might have to pull out of a country due to restrictive laws, which might be or not be harmful to the organization. This is protective of the government but considering the kind of restriction would be okay. I did not like this code since it did not expound well for me to understand completely.

I liked the Disney’s code of ethics more than that of News Corporation. The two codes of ethics are common in content and the manner in which they address their issues. The difference appears in the division of the content where in Disney, they are more segmented into each ethic, giving a clear guideline of where the ethic applies most, and it makes them look precise and easy to understand. For News Corporation, they have explained them under few subheadings, making it look a little more generalized. I liked Disney’s code of ethics more since they emphasized on open communication method, which creates an environment for implementation of the ethics and allows training for its cast members and employees, hence ethics can be well maintained.

Having a code of ethics in an organization is very important. However, considering that this is a document containing the expected behavior of employees, it cannot be effective in itself and as such, it needs to be backed up by actions that will translate them into actions. Almost in all organizations, you find one, but this does not mean it is effective. A code of ethics will define what needs to be done and what happens when it is not followed, and hence it is a guideline, that needs to be put into practice. Through creating ways of ensuring that each employee in the organization understands what role they are supposed to play to maintain ethics is key, or else, it will be just a paper with writings on it. Unethical behaviors of individuals differ since they are affected by the nature of their work and personalities, and the culture within the organization. The ethical culture of the organization has to comply with the code of ethics or else it its influence will prevent maintenance of its code. Several ways can be used to ensure ethics are followed.

To ensure ethical behavior, apart from having a code of ethics, communication of its content and understanding it is very crucial. To achieve this, the organization can use open communication method among all levels of the organization, hence encouraging every employee to learn from all aspects of the organizations. With this method, information about what is write and what is wrong can flow to all the employees compared to hierarchical way of communication, whereby, information goes through many levels to reach the lower positions hence it is likely to be distorted and slow, and asking question would take wrong to be answered.

Using the Human Resource department to appraise punish, monitor and at the same time offer training to the employees could be very crucial in implementation since it deals with the employees directly. Many of the employees may not understand the whole document since it is precise, and to ensure everything is covered, it does not clarify, and if it does, it is too cumbersome to finish and understand. Hence, training the employees on the role that concerns them more is welcome through training programs emphasizing on ethics of business, with the objective of helping them understand. Disciplining the employees who go against ethics is mostly said than done and it encourages unethical behavior, hence the human recourse department should be very strict in disciplining to discourage it. Discipline is one way to enforce a policy since punishment mo is not embraced by many, leaving them no choice except to comply.

References

News Corporation. (2006). Standards of Business Conduct. Retrieved from http://www.newscorp.com/corp_gov/sobc.html

Walt Disney Company. n.d. Standards of Business Conduct. Retrieved from http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/conduct_standards2.html