Management Planning and Ethics

In today’s business world, management function of business is extremely important to business survival. These days, managers are facing great challenge due to constant changes in technology, economy, and government laws. Further more, they must take legal issues, ethics, and corporate social responsibility in to consideration during planning stage of management.
Planning is one of the functions of management. Planning is taking appropriate actions to achieve goals. The whole concept behind the planning is to take action or rather scheduling proper actions in order to achieve specific goals and there by completing tasks. Planning can be shot term or long term. Planning involves reviewing past situation, forecasting future situation base anticipation and than planning current events. These days, due to competitive and constant changing business market, planning is crucial to business. In my opinion, managers without plan are similar to mechanics with out tools. There is no way manager will be able to succeed without proper plan. At ABB we have many managers from low end to executive. Decisions made by all have huge impact on how company performs. ABB is in over 180 countries with thousands of employees all through out the world. ABB has done well establishing itself globally. With that in mind, legal issues, ethics, and corporate social responsibility also impact how planning function of management is performed.
Business ethics defines how a company integrates a core values such as honesty, trust and fairness into policies, practices, process and procedure. Businesses also have many on going trainings for their employees to ensure all employees are following policies and procedures. Some time even good managers commit unethical act because they do not carefully think through. All companies have policies that are supposed to help managers make right decision. Even than sometime manager gives in to what they perceive to be the pressure For example, when boss tells them “Achieve specific sale, period,” In my opinion, those manger will do every thing they can to achieve specific sale, even if they have to break their own beliefs. This action is not acceptable. These actions are unethical. It is manager’s obligation to do what is right, just and fair.
Since Enron corporate scandal, the ethic in business world has taken more attention. All businesses are reviewing their process, procedure, and ethical policies to ensure all employees are making right decisions. Companies are paying more attention to their actions. They are also performing internal audits to insure managers are not taking any unethical action. Many big companies such as ABB, IBM, and GM Motor are hiring auditor from outside addition to its internal audits. This allows them monitor activities effectively and to ensure business is operating to its policies.
Sarbanes Oxley act has also been implemented. This ate is in place in United State where all business are required to review all there process and procedure to insure that they are in compliance with Sarbanes Oxley act. Due to this Sarbanes Oxley Act, ABB had SOX plan implemented where all departments, such was operation, purchasing, sales, human resource, receiving and legal, were required to go though their own departmental process and procedure. Once the process and procedure were reviewed, a process flow map was to be created and insure proper controls were in place and also to make sure that ABB is in compliance with SOX. I remember those weeks where I spent many hours creating process flowchart for my department. My responsibility was to insure purchasing portion of the SOX plan was completed successfully. I mentioned earlier, each department had to go through their process. To get understanding as to how be these tasks were, my department alone which is Supply Chain Management, had eight flowcharts for different activities and it took about six weeks to complete. Other departments such as operation, is way bigger than supply chain, creating process map could such size department could create some headache.
ABB also has ethic code policies which set some legal standards and provide guidance for internal rules and regulation. ABB is constantly utilizing its global present and effectively using its resources around the world for support in developing and strengthening its ethics programs. Many successful companies such as ABB have built ethical values and goals into their mission and vision statements. This helps managers and employees understand that values and ethical standards are important to company’s day to day operation and management planning.
Legal standard covers almost all aspect of company’s operation. Companies have strict guidelines for how all employees should comply with all legal standards. In United States, all companies must compile with U.S. laws. If for some reason, employee does not follow the laws than Federal Sentencing Guidelines is used to influence how U.S. laws should respond to misconduct of such employees.
Corporate Social Responsibility is additional corporate role beyond making money. It includes legal, ethical, and voluntary responsibilities. Legal responsibility of business is to obey local, federal, and international law. Ethical responsibility of business is to do what is right, just, and fair. Voluntary responsibility of business is to participate and support community. Basically, Managers should consider human needs in their business world in same way they consider business needs in economy. ABB worldwide has made all its facility ISO certified to take it’s social responsibility toward the environment.
Many people believes that big company should do more than just gives community money to solve social problems. They think that big company should get involve, participate in social problems, and perhaps even help solve those problems. In my opinion, I also believe that companies should participate in community and take social responsibility. I also feel that, its not just responsibility of company but all people as well. Let face it, all people uses resources from around the world so why not take care of planet and the environment by taking social responsibility as employee of the company as well as on personal level.
In conclusion, the legal, ethical, & social responsibility, which I described are very important part of management’s responsibility. There is an also constant change in technology, economy, and government laws. Therefore, managers must make right, just and fair decision when planning.

References
T.S. Bateman, S.A. Snell (2007). Management: The New Competitive Landscape (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
The ASEA Brown Boveri (2006). Retrieved July 15th, 2006 from the World Wide Web: http://www.abb.com
Press release from ABB Ltd. (2005) Retrieved July 14, 2006 from the World Wide Web: http://www.csrwire.com/article.cgi1333.html