UNIVERSITY OF FINANCE – MARKETING INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF FINANCE – MARKETING ISFM FINAL ASSIGNMENT GROUP 1 IP 20DKQ HO CHI MINH CITY, 12/2022 BUSINESS ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Class code 2221[.]
UNIVERSITY OF FINANCE – MARKETING INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF FINANCE – MARKETING - ISFM BUSINESS ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Class code: 2221910007701 Lecturer: Tô Anh Thơ FINAL ASSIGNMENT GROUP IP-20DKQ HO CHI MINH CITY, 12/2022 UNIVERSITY OF FINANCE – MARKETING INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF FINANCE – MARKETING - ISFM FINAL ASSIGNMENT GROUP IP-20DKQ NO NAME STUDENT ID % PARTICIPATE IN Phạm Ngọc Hoàng My 2021009210 100% Phạm Thị Thu Hương 2021009203 100% Pham Thị Thảo Oanh 2021009213 100% TABLE OF CONTENT I QUESTION II QUESTION III QUESTION IV QUESTION I QUESTION Do you agree with the policy? Why or why not? Company policy requires employees not to take advantage of the company's work for personal gain And our company values integrity and business integrity Our team agrees to this policy Because the company introduces this policy, it is a way to help the company reduce the risk that managers or employees will take advantage of work for personal gain In addition, the policy helps to reduce the possibility of causing damage to the property or interests of the company due to self-interested acts at work to gain personal benefits If there is such a policy - there is no self-interest in work, then we believe that a group of companies can create a sustainable association in the business, because an organization can only operate Maximum performance if there is a close connection, no self-interest in the company will help all employees feel that this is a fair competition, contributing to creating a healthy working environment for the company strong However, the issue of self-interest in an enterprise will always have a gap that is difficult for senior managers to fill In the position of CEO or senior managers, they will often be the ones to make transactions in the company Therefore, if self-interested transactions bring more benefits than normal transactions, the company will still choose transactions with self-interest, and the requirement at this time is to implement control measures Suitable so individuals (CEOs or senior managers) cannot profit from such transactions In the position an employee, employees who not have the will to progress and are not satisfied with the position that they are achieving at work will always appear to have some self-interest in their work Work For example, in pursuit of a better position at work, they will sell inside information about the company to a rival company with the request of "a higher position." This is not just a policy that can be prevented Therefore, our team thinks that in addition to making a policy that requires employees and core members of the business not to take advantage of work for self-seeking benefits, the company should provide solutions to control problems Self-interested control over the employees in the enterprise To control self-interested behavior at work, businesses need to the following: First, enterprises need to determine which transactions are likely to generate self-interest that needs to be controlled Because the transaction has the potential to generate self-interest, it has great value and deals with some specific topics Large transactions often have a direct, far-reaching impact on a company's business In particular, transactions with a value equal to or greater than 50% of the company's asset value in the financial statements must be carefully considered before approval These transactions are an opportunity for members of the company to profit, enjoy commissions, and affect the company's business activities Second, anticipatory control (or pre-execution control) involves anticipating the possibility of self-interest that may arise in order to prevent it in advance Because the effect of predictive control will help businesses proactively deal with future risks and proactively avoid mistakes in the first place This is the least expensive form of control Third, current control (or control during execution) is a way of directly monitoring execution It helps the company catch deviations and takes timely remedial measures Fourth, post-implementation control (feedback control) is the type of control that is implemented after the activity has occurred This type of control aims to determine if transactions are taken seriously Detect mistakes in the whole process of transaction execution and put in place an appropriate handling mechanism II QUESTION Would it be against corporate policy to accept such a gift? Give your explanation Accepting a gift as a purchasing manager violates company policy when it comes to realizing that the gift is not an accident organized by the restaurant's program Moreover, right from the invitation to the party, Mr Hung was dishonest when he invited the year-end party, but it was actually an intimate party at a luxury restaurant Here, the company's policy is to require employees not to take advantage of the company's work for personal gain In addition, the company also appreciates integrity and integrity in business Therefore, my wife's receipt of a set of high-quality diamond-encrusted gold jewellery from the restaurant's program was not a coincidence but a purposeful bribe Receiving such an expensive gift as an act of taking advantage of work for personal gain, although it is nominally a gift from the restaurant program, by intuition and social experience in business, the jewellery for my wife can't be so coincidental And that is completely against my company policy More than that, selling and promoting a business's products and services should be based on quality, efficiency, reliability, and consistency By relying on these characteristics to gain and maintain business, people not need to resort to unethical or illegal means to achieve their goals Thus, promoting business relationships by giving valuable gifts like Mr Hung is an act of dishonesty in business It can be seen that in the case of Mr Hung giving me a gift related to the advertisement of products sold by Mr Hung's company, or a souvenir for guests participating in the party, the receipt of the gift is not against my corporate policy Furthermore, instead of the year-end party, which is a joint party between business relationships, Mr Hung invited my wife and me to an intimate party, and the invitation to open champagne was originally for the owner of the party to open Still, Hung invited my wife to open champagne to purpose to ingratiate customers The excessive treatment of the position of a business partner shows that Mr Hung wants to ingratiate my customer to maintain the business relationship between the buyer and the seller As a result, it can be seen that accepting or inviting customers or business partners to some form of entertainment (participating in intimate parties, opening champagne) can also be a way to foster a relationship business and cultivate a good working relationship However, ensuring that any form of entertainment engage is appropriate and not extravagant is necessary Just like gifts, needing to avoid the appearance that entertainment could be a way to encourage or receive any return or a favorable business outcome or that it's a bribe to business It can be difficult to determine what is acceptable and what is not Acceptable entertainment is: • Be reasonably priced; • Not lavish; • Seldom, no often; • Legal; • Permitted by the recipient's code of conduct; For example, golfing with a potential client would be entertainment, but receiving or giving golf vouchers would be a gift Inviting entertainment (or any other form of business etiquette) must have a responsibility to ask if the company the invitee is working for has a policy limiting the ability to accept entertainment invitations (or gifts) or not before the invitation We may invite our customers and business partners for reasonable meals and drinks in the course of normal business operations Inviting a meal or attending a party with whom we business can also be a good way to establish or improve a business relationship and conduct a business meeting However, caution should be exercised, only inviting when: • Reasonable and tied to a business meeting (refreshing snacks such as tea, coffee, fruit, and cakes, are good options); • Match the region or market where the invite and the recipient's business policy are located; • Seldom, no often, rarely • No extravagance In all of these situations - gifts, dinner or party invitations, entertainment - it is difficult to define "insignificant", "luxury" or "extravagant" in terms of a specific amount because the cost for such social activities is different around the world It would be more reasonable if Mr Hung invited me to the year-end party as originally said, the party would promote the development of the cooperative relationship between me and Mr Hung rather than attending such an intimate party To sum up, the purpose of gifts, entertainment and business lunches is to create goodwill and sustainable working relationships Therefore, not offer, promise or accept anything of value for an improper financial gain or another advantage Generally, each gift, entertainment, and meal should be casual, reasonable to the market but not lavish, and linked to an appropriate business purpose These guidelines apply to most private, non-governmental situations Special provisions apply in the case of public servants or government employees General laws and regulations may prohibit giving any gift, entertainment, or meal to a public official or employee III QUESTION Put yourself in the position of Mr Hung Is his conduct is unethical? Why or why not? The behavior of Mr Hung (supplying director) includes: (1) Invited Mr A and his wife to the year-end party and brought the car to pick them up (2) Mr Hung changed unexpectedly; it was not a year-end party but an intimate dinner at a high-class restaurant (3) Invite Mr A's wife to participate in the champagne opening program at the restaurant (4) Giving his wife A a set of high-class diamond-encrusted gold jewellery with the reason from the restaurant's program Manifestations of business ethics are expressed in principles as follows: Honesty Respect people Associate the interests of the business with the benefits of customers and society Value efficiency with social responsibility Keep secrets, faithful to responsibility The scope of application of the five principles: - Workers - Client - Partner - Owner - Society, community - Government In this situation, we apply between Mr Hung and Mr A: partnership Discuss: - Grounds for inaction (1) and (2): Invited Mr A and his wife to a year-end party and brought a car to pick them up Mr Hung changed unexpectedly; it was not a year-end party but an intimate dinner at a highclass restaurant It can be seen that Mr Hung was dishonest and lacked consistency in sending invitations to Mr and Mrs A There was ambiguity in the invitation, putting Mr and Mrs A in a passive position and forcing them to participate Therefore, these two actions are grounded as unethical because they violate the principle of honesty and have not yet respected the other party or partner - Discuss behaviors (3) and (4): Invite Mr A's wife to participate in a champagne-opening program at the restaurant and give his wife A a set of high-quality diamond-studded gold jewellery with the reason from his program restaurant Actions (3) and (4) are also deliberate actions on Mr Hung's side This is considered a pre-arranged plan Instead of blatantly bribing, Mr Hung chose to lead Mr A's wife to participate in the game and then win the prize as a random thing to legitimize the gift to avoid breaking the law If Mr A's wife accepts the jewellery set, it will be considered a binding string In the latter case, for some reason, Mr A can no longer buy goods from Mr Hung's company, then the problem happened because Mr A's wife received a gift of great value; Mr A must, by all means, act to help Mr Hung achieve his purpose, namely, continuing to take goods from the party Mr Hung Mr Hung used the invitation to a public job, a yearend party disguised as an intimate dinner, and a personal relationship to benefit the company later Considering the partner is someone who appreciates integrity and integrity in business, that's why Mr Hung had to take the trouble to set up that bogus year-end party to benefit individuals and the company Gifts are given to create goodwill with those we business with and as a way to promote a company or its brand Gifts need to: Has negligible value to the market Allowed by law (and recipient company policy) Not required by the recipient Appropriate and relevant to a sound business purpose Not given regularly For example, in the United States, we not give or accept gifts with a market value of $100 or more without prior approval We offer or carry promotional items of negligible value (usually less than 25 USD) that are generally acceptable Therefore, in this case, a set of high-end diamond-set gold jewellery is invalid because of its high and substantial value, besides the recipient's company rules From Mr Hung's position, it is true that giftgiving is to create goodwill with those with whom we business and as a way to promote a company or its brand; however, the present and treatment Mr Hung chooses and the method of giving to the partner is not valid, as explained above Therefore, Mr Hung's behavior, even from Mr Hung's position, is still unethical because it violates the general standards of ethics in business IV QUESTION Imagine that you are the president and CEO It means that you are both the largest owner and decision-maker for business activities Would it be unethical to accept this gift? Why or why not? Let's say I'm a company owner, and my company has an integrity policy So, as the owner of a company, I have to be a person who works with rules and has consistent actions So accepting this gift will be considered unethical for the following reasons: Leaders must adhere to the company's principles and values The head is an example for all employees in the company As an example for all employees to follow, all actions related to the common interests and interests of the company must be transparent, clear, and ethical So, if receiving the gift (high-end jewellery set) will violate the consistency in words and actions (honesty - in ethical principles in business) So, if I am the owner of the company, I will not accept this gift and will find a way to return it to the partner Because accepting this gift would be an ethical violation based on the above argument (violation of consistency in words and actions) But in fact, if the owner of the company is a person who is flexible, responsive, and capable of skill in the above situations, the owner of the company will be the one who gives the intention to consider it; that gift is like an exchange The exchange has benefits for both parties in a long-term cooperation Then, as the owner of the company, I will consider and accept the gift as creating sympathy for the long-term cooperation relationship between the two parties In addition, a set of high-class jewellery from the position of a company owner can only be seen as a gift of no great value, regardless of other transactions between the two parties, and this gift sometimes can't affect the transaction process because, in fact, gift giving is just a form of increasing sympathy in a partnership relationship So, if this exchange or transaction is proportionate, the company owner still has the right to accept the gift, and this action does not violate any ethical principles at all And in this case, the gift is a high-end jewellery set that has monetary value but no value in creating additional wealth or money in the short or long term Mr Hung's aim is that the company owner will cooperate with his long-term interests in purchasing goods for his company (Mr Hung) From this perspective, this is a disproportionate exchange or transaction compared to the benefits to the company (and its owner) compared to a gift In order to develop relationships with suppliers, I regularly contact and have lunch with sales representatives of these companies, namely Mr Hung In response to my good will, Mr Hung, the director of a company supplying main materials for my company (accounting for 30% of my company's purchases), invited me to the year-end party Still, in the end, it was an intimate party We may offer our customers and business partners reasonable meals and drinks in the normal course of business Inviting people with whom we business can also be a good way to establish or improve a business relationship and conduct a business meeting However, we must be careful and only invite those who: • Reasonable and tied to a business meeting (refreshing snacks such as tea, coffee, fruit, and cakes are good choices); • Consistent with target regions or markets and human business policies; • Not extravagant luxury In all of these situations—gifts, meals, entertainment—it is difficult to define "insignificant," "luxurious," or "extravagant" in terms of a specific amount because of the cost of the activities Such social behavior is different around the world On the other hand, suppose I am the company owner's wife In this case, I am completely passive because, at the party, Mr Hung is the one who invites me to open the champagne—this action is an open ritual The party is usually reserved for the party owner, the party's relatives, or an outsider who must have a commensurate position with the host Therefore, this action makes it impossible for me to refuse my wife's work But must accept to join the champagne opening with Mr Hung Moreover, if I decline the invitation, it will affect the long-term cooperation between the two companies As for the fact that two weeks later, I received a gift of high-end jewellery; it was considered a gift from the restaurant's program But my husband's intuition is that this is not a coincidence, so I can completely refuse to accept this expensive gift Because the husband does not directly decide the refusal to accept the gift, the denial will not affect the cooperative relationship between the two parties ... QUESTION I QUESTION Do you agree with the policy? Why or why not? Company policy requires employees not to take advantage of the company''s work for personal gain And our company... sound business purpose Not given regularly For example, in the United States, we not give or accept gifts with a market value of $100 or more without prior approval We offer or carry promotional... (or any other form of business etiquette) must have a responsibility to ask if the company the invitee is working for has a policy limiting the ability to accept entertainment invitations (or