Objective 310.2.3-08

I and two other individuals have decided to start a company that will provide management consulting services to nonprofit organizations. The company will have 15 to 20 employees. Since many of our clients will be paying with funds provided by government sources, we have decided it would be appropriate to have an ethics program in place before we start offering services. A company must have an effective ethics program to ensure that all employees understand its values and comply with the policies and codes of conduct that create its ethical culture (Ferrell, Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2008, p. 211). In order to develop an effective ethics program, it must contain certain items. It must first have a code of conduct to establish what is and is not acceptable behavior and to set a general corporate tone as to how employees are expected to conduct themselves. Second, it should have a high level corporate officer in charge of the program. This will also help demonstrate the importance of ethics to the corporation. Third, an effective and ongoing ethics training program is necessary to ensure all employees are aware of what is expected of them. Fourth, a system to monitor and enforce ethical standards must be in place in order to hold employees accountable for their actions and lastly, it must have a mechanism to modify and improve the program when deficiencies appear. When developing our code of conduct, we will use a values orientation instead of a compliance orientation. A compliance orientation approach sets a negative tone, as it sets regulations and rules and the punishment for violating them. A values approach is positive and inclusive and motivates people to willingly follow rules. This approach also has regulations and punishment for violations, but they are not the main driving force as in a compliance orientation. When