Example Of Emirates Steel Research Paper

Introduction

Situated in the industrial city of Abu Dhabi, Emirates Steel was established in 1998. Only 35 kilometres away from Abu Dhabi city, the Emirates Steel is owned by UAE’s industrial conglomerate, SENAAT. With the state of the art equipment, the company produces steel sections, rebar and wire rods (Emirates Steel, 2014).
The goal of the Emirates Steel is to produce steel products efficiently and at competitive prices. To attain these, it has heavily invested in expanding its processing, manufacturing and information technology departments. Notably, in 2012, after successive investments of AED 11 billion, production capacity at the steel company hit the 3.5 million MTPA mark (Emirates Steel, 2014).
Emirates Steel envisions being a world class manufacturer of steel products and promotes core values like honesty, creativity, innovation, quality and integrity. Business of the company is conducted in accordance to accepted ethical, legal, and professionally accepted standards.

Ethical culture

Ethics - the values a company demonstrates in its practices, goals, and policies – are at the heart of any workplace-culture. As employees, executives, or customers a positively quality culture enriches our spirits and enlivens our experience with an enterprise.
The way organizational leaders teach and the extent to which they regards its core values distinctively explains an ethical culture. Notably, an ethical culture entails an organization; teaching its workforce the importance of right and whether it matters, making right actions an expected standard and reward and punishment systems in formal ethics systems.
The impact of ethics in the workplace is evident. Traditionally, organizations deriving formal and informal systems from – derivatives of ethical culture – motivate ethical behavior, employees will be more ethical. Particularly, effects of ethical culture are most evident in employee satisfaction; employee commitment; misconduct rates; employee performance; organizational expenditure; perceptions of leadership; and general organization ultimatum.
Ethical culture is formed through; observed organization life cycles, leader’s belief system and perceptions, and to a large extent the formal and informal company mechanisms (Emirates Steel, 2014).

The main unethical behavior at work

Unethical behavior can occur in employee relationships or how business resources are being utilized. In some instances, unethical behavior is illegal.
Inappropriate computer use and time misuse are common unethical behaviors. An employee prohibited from using internet for personal motives commits an unethical act by surfing social media sites while at work. On the other hand - an employee falsifying time sheets, spending a lot of time gossiping – misuses company time; in doing so such personnel act unethically.
Additionally, the company is in the habit of offering low salaries to some of its workforce despite the high living standards in the country. This is despite the employees driving the company’s profitability and value.

The main ethical safeguards

Employees are continually signing confidentiality agreements to maintain the privacy of industrial information. These efforts go a long way in preventing incidents like industrial espionage from occurring. The policy is based on proportionate acceptability of ethical research.
Various security measures have also been put in place. It includes physical, technical, and administrative safeguards. An individual fulfils their ethical requirements by adopting the necessary security safeguards.
In accordance to government lobbying, the company has plans to extend its housing policy to include all employees. Currently, the company is notorious in offering only top management housing, which according to labor unions is a violation of equality.

Progress regarding the ethical/unethical behavior

Ethical concerns regarding information and employee conduct have declined as a result of adopting simple measures. Technological developments have played a big role in attainment of these goals.
Unethical behaviors can plague the workplace; from executive stealing office money to an employee falsifying documents. It can result in the company loosing clients, and eventually winding up.
It is noteworthy that the company has adopted governmental suggestions – working in high temperature months. It has done away with work shifts extending from 12pm to 4 pm during the hot season – July-September. This has been a great ethical win to the company’s workforce.
Additionally, the company has now adopted a just in time policy to ensure that employee salaries are availed on time. This is after the government set violation penalties to acts like salary delays by manufacturers.

Recommendations to minimize the unethical behavior at work

Creating a written code of conduct; it will give employees an overview of what is expected of them. It gives an outline of acceptable and unacceptable behaviours at the workplace, and their consequences.
Lead by example. A workforce looks at owners and management for direction. As a manager, one should make ethical-decisions and monitor the conduct of individuals at leadership roles (Atan, Andreoni, Ortiz, Silva, & Pitta , 2007).

Ethical safeguards that Emirates Steel can adopt in order to maintain and improve ethical standards

HR department should continue offering support to employees who feel that their fundamental rights have been violated. The department should be able to launch investigations concerning such violations and come up with mechanisms to avoid such incidents from happening in the future.

Business courtesies

Business courtesies are any business related items of value given for free or at discounted rates. They can also be social events – sporting activities, meals, receptions and theatrical events – organized by a company. These business courtesies are given and accepted on the ground of potential business relationships. They are a good gesture in creating business partners.
However, business courtesies have negative consequences on participants if, not conducted diligently. In this regard, they must ensure exchange of pleasantries and business courtesies is not an attempt to gaining unfair business advantage. It can be undue influence on an important business decision. They can raise ethical concerns in practicing business and could as well be illegal – especially when considered as bribery and kick backing.
The organization can practice due diligence by ensuring that, when employees receive or give business courtesies; they are conducted on their nominal value, they are infrequently offered they are not tied to reciprocating offers and gifts, and that they are not offered to or by the same organization or person.

Health, safety, and environment

At Emirates Steel, they have committed resources to ascertain the safety to their clientele, workforce, and communities they work in (Emirates Steel, 2014). Insider prospects suggest that new employees are thoroughly inducted before commencing operations (Careers, 2014). They are instilled with the never risk their health and safety go-to-work mantra. House managers are recognizable at various level of operation ensuring sanitation and security initiatives are complied with accordingly. However, there are still employees who do not enjoy proper working environments with their operation bases lacking in terms of safety conditions.
House managers enjoy control of; legislative compliance, behavioral safety surveys, and crisis management within the steel plant. Continuous safety audits, hazard assessments, toolbox and risk meetings show the commitment the company organ has in attaining its targets. Over time, the company has developed a comprehensive injury management protocol. It entails professional and rapid response to incidents in the manufacturing plant.
Emirates Steel embraces ploughing back into environmental sustainability into all of its operations (Emirates Steel, 2014). Conducting business in a responsible manner and respect for the environment is core responsibility tactical managers strive to accomplish.
The company endeavors in complying with statutory environmental laws, and regulations. Community expectations are the heart of fulfilling this ultimatum. Corporate social responsibility for the steel giant is further extended in helping its clients to protect the environment by attaining sustainable outcomes (Emirates Steel, 2014). Core improvements to business operations are the primary way the company commits itself to protecting the environment. Reuse, recycle and reduce are key performance indicators the company benchmarks itself. It works towards aligning its business management methodology with standards for best practice environment management.
A specialized task force is deployed in the management, control and planning of workplace health and safety. It solely encourages employees to act out of free will in reporting and recommending changes in their workplace in an effort to eliminate risks and hazards. The taskforce currently requires all employees to take responsibility for their actions, to whistle-blow insecure acts and operational situations and to conduct themselves in a manner reflecting safe work practices and ethics.
Injuries sustained by workers and resulting in a disability to employees, Emirates Steel tasks itself in managing the injury to facilitate their safe return to meaningful employment (Kumar & Chadha, 2009). Despite this, Emirates Steel further offers monetary compensation and other damages to employees, clientele and visitors sustaining injuries due to its operational capacity.

Human resource

The Abu Dhabi-based steel giant considers its employees as one of its most valuable assets (Careers, 2014). Currently, the company has over 2,000 employees to whom it instills high-caliber targets for the future (Emirates Steel, 2014). Though a bias, the company increased the number of UAE’s nationals within its workforce. With the high specialization rates being an industry standard, it’s considerable for the company to invest in more productive manpower irrespective of nationality. However, in fulfilling its corporate social responsibilities, the company is at task to ensure community members in which its operations are based are catered.
Emirates Steel Industries has responsively adopted the approach of sponsoring high school graduates. It’s in an effort to develop and nurture management pool for Emirates Steel Industries’ Emiratization strategies (Emirates Steel, 2014). The sponsorship programs were flagged in 2007. The programs will sustain the growing requirements of the job market for its current and future labor needs. The HR team of Emirates Steel are dedicated to the provision of top notch coaching, rigorous mentoring, and guidance to new recruits for operational positions, study and trainee levels.
However, the HR team has been erred in its laxity to provide accommodation facilities to low level employees. Operators at the company, who mostly need accommodation facilities, have been neglected. Surprisingly, highly paid managerial staff has been provided with housing. These colossal activities have made the lives of low-level laborers at the company a nightmare as they live in crowded compass – which is neither clean nor healthy.

Recommendations

Improvement of Commendations
Additionally, the company should come up with ways to reinforce customer comments, suggestions, and complaints. It’s a sign of commitment that will augur well with the community and other stakeholders.

Employee salaries, payments and benefits

As an industrial giant that Emirates Steel is, it will be of great mutually beneficial interest that it offers attractive pay perks and compensation plans. Employee benefits – health, disability and life insurance, vacation, and stock options – are offered to employees in return for their contribution to the organization. These incentives can go a long way in pooling the right human capital for the steel manufacturer to smoothly conduct its operations.

Awareness and security

On matters, pertaining security, a continued employee induction program should be adopted by the company. Considering the high possibility of accidents at the manufacturing plant, employee, and client education on matters security will save the company a lot of costs tied to litigation. As the adage goes, prevention is better than cure.

Free zones

The Emirates Steel factory should be made a free zone to protect them from withdrawal of key sponsorship. A free zone is an area within a country allowing imported goods to be processed without being subjected to import duty. To this end, Emirates Steel executives should seek policy makers to this regard. It will have massive cuts on the company’s material costs, hence giving it a better chance of offering competitive prices.

Government regulations

It is critical to observe the government regulations which require the operations based on safety working environment. In addition, the government has set laws providing the basic minimum salaries (Kumar & Chadha, 2009). These regulations should be considered in their entirety.

Ethical safeguards

The organization should form an ethical committee which shall take ethical audits within all the organizational departments. In this way, the organization would be able to internally identify ethical flaws within time and undertake measures aimed at containing the same.

Conclusion

Managers are aware the difference ethics can make in their organization. It goes beyond clarifying gray areas and providing guidance on existing ethical dilemma in the workplace. To attain these desires, managers are consistently building trust externally and internally, increasing awareness of ethical issues, stimulating ethical dialogues, and guiding in decision making. Management encourages employees to seek advice, foster the reporting of misconduct, and offering clarity on proper approaches.

References

Emirates SteelCareers
Emirates SteelEmirates Steel
Emirates SteelWho we are
High Kidney Stone Risk in Men Working in Steel Industry at Hot Temperatures2007New YorkCengage Learning
India's Outward Foreign Direct Investments in Steel Industry in a Chinese Comparative PerspectiveIndustrial and Corporate Change 249-267
Miniatures Org.Name Code of Ethics