Ethical and Socially Responsive Business

nName

nInstructor

nInstitution

nDate

n

nThe vision of the Ruby Tuesday, Inc. is to offer an exclusive value to their customers and suitable working environment for their staff. They reflect their core value of Pride, Passion and Quality in every aspect that can affect the company. The firm initiated the Code of Business Conduct and ethics to ascertain its commitment to perform its endeavors at a higher level of integrity (RTI, 2008).

nThe most crucial factor in a code of conduct of a company is the adherence with Laws, Rules and Regulations. In this respect the firm should avoid improper payments, discrimination and harassment as well as provide for environmental compliance (RTI, 2008, p. 2). Consequently, the firm will be able to avoid the risks associated with lawsuits, huge fines and destroying the corporate image.

nAccounting and financial integrity is also a crucial factor in a firms code of conduct. Ruby Tuesday Companys codes of conduct bans any form of fraudulent effort that involves alterations or forgery on drafts and checks, misappropriation of the firms resources, dishonest behaviors and forgery of the firms financial records and statements (RTI, 2008, p. 4). Most importantly, integrity is very important as it helps the firm minimize negative publicity towards a company, and unwanted lawsuits and fines. If the organization does not provide adequate resources towards it projects or if its workers are misappropriating funds for personal uses, it affects the corporate image and reduces its competitive advantage (RTI, 2008, p. 4). In addition, it could ruin the cordial relationships with its customers, who will not be willing to do business with unethical people.

nMoreover, confidentiality plays a crucial role in the companys code of conduct. The code of conduct of the Ruby Tuesday Company ensures the protection and adequate application of trade secrets, confidential information. Subsequently, they improve the firms capacity to conduct business competitively (RTI, 2008, p. 5). Confidential practices are essential in a firm because they ensure that employees do not reveal the confidential and secret information to unauthorized people or competitors.

nRuby Tuesday, Inc. should take appropriate steps to ensure that its workers are adhering to the code of conduct. In this regard, it should provide adequate framework to facilitate training of code of conduct and penalties for not observing them. Most important the senior managers should conduct their activities in an ethically and morally acceptable manner. Codes of conduct training should begin at the inception stage, but should continue throughout their job contract with the firm (RTI, 2008, p. 6). For instance, the firm can convene monthly meetings to address the factors of the codes that will equip employees with appropriate skills. The meetings can also be beneficial because they facilitate discussion of unethical concerns that the firm is experiencing or other companies are facing in order to emphasize the importance of ethical behaviors in business (RTI, 2008, p. 7). Besides, the employees should be aware of the consequences of unethical behaviors.

nRuby Tuesday can participate in socially responsive behaviors in three ways in the community. These include engaging in local charity and actively involving its activities in the charity. Additionally, the firm can establish a loyalty program and can launch smartphones applications (Lesonsky, 2012, p. 1). When the organization actively engages in local charity, it demonstrates to the society that it is willing and empathetic to their needs. In addition, they show that they are ready to support the society in their business. Establishing loyalty programs help the firm to show to the customers that it can provide benefits for doing business with the company (Lesonsky, 2012, p. 3). Moreover, launching smartphones applications assist it create an easy contact with the customers. Therefore, the firm will get feedback from customers through the application.

nIt is essential that the organization and customers work in moral and ethical way. Every organization needs to have a code of conduct and all its employees should be aware of it. Therefore, adequate training of its employees on code and conduct plays a crucial role in the companys success.

n

nReferences

nLesonsky, R. (2012). Four Easy Ways to Build Customer Relationships. Groupon Merchant Blog. Retrieved 14 December 2014, from https://www.grouponworks.com/merchant-blog/marketing/four-easy-ways-to-build-customer-relationships-restaurant/

nRTI,. (2008). CODE OF BUSINESS CONDUCT AND ETHICS. Retrieved 14 December 2014, from http://www.rubytuesday.com/content/files/cbcethics.pdf