Good Research Paper About Services To Be Offered

The running of a business is subject to ethical checks from the stakeholders. For this, and other reasons, business proprietors have designed codes of conduct to regulate the business dealings. These codes of conduct define what entails ethical behavior and the mechanisms that an organization will take to ensure that its employees and all its business activities are done within the highest ideals of business ethics. I have worked as a contracting officer for a long time, in the process honing skills that informed my decision to start my own firm. Based on my experience, it is important to design a code of conduct for my contracting firm in order to ensure that the business activities of the firm are informed by ethical behavior. Reviewing ethical codes of other organizations is important in order enable to formulation of a comprehensive code of conduct. In this regard, this paper will assess the code of conduct by Raytheon.

The new contracting company is service-based, meaning that the firm will offer services to clients for a charge. One of the services that will be offered by the firm is roofing improvement services. This entails repairs for homeowners, roofing inspections, re-roofing and maintenance. The firm will also perform vinyl siding as a way of saving on the costs resulting from energy use, protecting clients from weather elements and also improving the aesthetic value of the property. The firm will also install triple-paned windows to clients in order to improve the thermal, performance, aesthetic appearance and save on the cost of energy.
With respect to improving the design of the house for energy conservation, the firm will also offer skylight installation services. This is in order to increase natural ventilation in the house and also reduce the cost of lighting the house using electricity. The firm will also offer home maintenance services. These include downspout installation, repair of soffit, chimney, fascia, flashings, gutter guard and the doors. As part of this service, the firm will also offer handyman services, electrical services and closet organization. The form will also offer renovation services for households.
These include remodeling of the entire house, small improvements in the house, removing walls, adding tiles and increasing shelving among other components. The renovation services offered by the firm are perfect for kitchens, basements and lower levels, bathrooms and flooring. Although there are standard rates for the firm, the determination of the price can be done based on the amount of work, the effort and skill required. The firm will also offer premium snow management services. These services are designed for walkways, parking areas, entrances and access roads. Finally, the firm will also offer restoration services for both commercial and residential spaces.

Effectiveness of Raytheon Code of Ethics

Many organizations have adopted codes of ethics aimed at deterring unethical behavior in organizations. However, many of the codes of ethics remain relatively ineffective as organizations are still faced with unethical practices such as graft, insider trading and employee discrimination among others. The code of ethics contains various elements that show its effectiveness in deterring unethical behavior in the organizations. Firstly, the code of ethics has the endorsement of the board of the institution as seen in the speech of the chairman of the board who also doubles as the chief executive office. The importance of this endorsement is that codes of ethics are matters of governance, and the support of the highest organ in the organizations is necessary for the success of the code of ethics (Institute of Business Ethics, 2012).
The effectiveness of the code of ethics is also show by its reference to external standards and practices. For instance, the code of ethics refers to antitrust laws and requires compliance with these laws as one of its provisions. Additionally, the code of ethics also makes reference to anticorruption laws. The fact that the code of ethics makes reference to these external standards and practices makes it effective for deterring unethical behavior. This is because among other things, it informs the employees that actions against such actions may not just be punished at the organizational level, but may be prosecuted by law enforcement officers (Institute of Business Ethics, 2012).
The third element that shows the effectiveness of the code of ethics in deterring unethical behavior is the presence of a compliance committee to enforce the provisions of the code of ethics. Part of this compliance committee includes the protection of whistle blowers. More precisely, the organization guarantees no retaliation to those who report cases of breech of the code of ethics. This encourages reporting for action to be taken by the compliance committee (Institute of Business Ethics, 2012).

Avoidance of the appearance of impropriety

Even the appearance of impropriety is enough to taint the image of an organization. The design of a code of ethics can incorporate clauses that prevent the appearance of impropriety in their business dealings. There are important clauses in Raytheon’s code of ethics that prevent the appearance of impropriety. One of these clauses in Raytheon’s code of ethics entails steering clear of giving and/or accepting improper gifts. According to the Institute of Business (2012), the issuance or acceptance of a gift can increase the vulnerability of an organization to accusations of partiality, unlawful conduct and unfairness. This is even more important in cross-cultural settings where differences might arise regarding what constitutes a gift. Inappropriate gifts can be misconstrued as bribes intended to solicit for favors in business transactions.
Another clause that prevents the appearance of impropriety entails the requirement to only take part in lawful political activities. For instance, any employees with a desire to run for political office ought to notify the firm beforehand. Additionally, any contributions towards political parties or courses should abide by relevant laws and regulations (Canada Revenue Agency, 2012). The third clause that prevents the appearance of impropriety is the avoidance of conflicts of interest and also disclosing any incidents that might potentially result in conflicts of interest. Conflict of interest, more so for the contracting firm can arise when conducting business relationships with relatives. Impropriety can be read in such instances, hence the requirement to avoid them entirely, or report potential instances where conflicts of interest might arise.

Ethics provisions for the new firm

One of the clauses that from Raytheon’s code of conduct that I would include in the code of conduct for the new firm is the requirement to not engage in insider trading. This is because this act is unethical and it fosters an unfair advantage, thereby reducing competitiveness in the market. Although this concept is often used in the trade of stock and securities, the same concept is relevant in other business, especially in an organization where there are many employees. The use of nonpublic information of the firm to grant some suppliers an unfair advantage undermines the concept of competitiveness in business. This is important in prevention the collusion between the suppliers and procurement staff and other personnel of the firm. Such practices involve bribes and kick-backs due to the manipulation by firm personnel (Bartolini, 2012).
Another clause from Raytheon’s code of conduct that I would include in the code of conduct for the new form is the compliance clause where the employees of the firm are required to transact business according to the established laws and regulations. This is important because the code of code of conduct also borrows from external standards and practices, most of which are laws and regulations regarding business practice. This clause is very important in preventing some of the examples of fraud in the contracting industry. For instance, the compliance with the established laws and regulations will prevent the circumventing of thresholds in the contracting and procurement process. These thresholds involve the formal solicitations and the subsequent reviews by the procurement review committees. It is important that these requirements are fulfilled during the estimation of costs and splitting of orders (Bartolini, 2012).

References

Bartolini, A. (2012). Examples of procurement fraud. Retrieved 16 Jan. 2015 from http://cporising.com/2012/08/03/examples-of-procurement-fraud/
Canada Revenue Agency. (2012). Codes of ethics and conduct. Retrieved 16 Jan. 2015 from http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/crrs/wrkng/cdthcscndct-eng.html#item3_o