Does McDonald’s have a Code of Business Ethics?

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The Standards of Business Conduct Information for Starbucks Coffee Company

As provided by CSRNYC (2007), Starbuck coffee company is a retailer and a premier roaster of coffee worldwide and has been the global brand. The reputations for Starbuck coffee company, its finest coffee, its highest integrity and legendary customer services have been the major result of collective efforts of the company. The standards of business conduct promote the Global Business Ethics Policy of the company, and this influences the overview of ethical and legal standards that the organization is expected to follow during every day practices.

CSRNYC (2007) explained that business ethics and standards for Starbuck Coffee Company provide ethical framework of the mission and vision of the company. Its mission is ‘to inspire and nurture the human spirit-one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at one time’. The company standards outline the precise policies that regulate diversity and workplace environment, community involvement, business practices, and ethical sourcing. The commitment towards environmental and social responsibility is the major value of the company because the employees and its founding is held to a particular environmental mission statement.

McDonald’s Standards of Business Conduct

According to Smith (2012), MacDonald’s Company is the leading foodservice or restaurant globally with multiple local restaurants in various countries. Such foodservices or MacDonald’s restaurants are run and operated by affiliates and franchisees. The company has apparent code of ethics governing the business. The code of ethics is an assurance to abide by the standards or principles of business conduct. In relation to the company’s social responsibility, the McDonald’s Company has its corporate responsibility ‘Responsible Food for a Sustainable Future’.

Smith (2012) explained that the Standards of Business Conduct for the MacDonald’s Company provides legal and ethical responsibilities share by members or staff of the company. These responsibilities include the sustainable fish supply, workplace recognition, environmental responsibility, Rainforest protection policy, as well as the provision of environmental Scorecard for the suppliers of MacDonald’s Company to evaluate and lessen their energy, waste impact, air and energy.

Comparison of Company’s Statements between the Starbucks and Macdonald’s Companies

In comparison to the statements of the Starbucks and MacDonald’s Companies, the Starbuck Company is the leading beverage and food company since it demonstrates its values in different ways. It provides the health benefits for both part-time and full-time employees whereas in the MacDonald’s Company, the employers provide no health benefits to the part-time workers. As described in CSRNYC (2007), Starbuck Company also provides international relief efforts and literacy programs, and it assists in sustaining the coffee communities within the globe by the loan program provided by the company, for instance, the company loaned fourteen million US Dollars to a total of forty-five thousands farmers around the world. Besides, the Starbuck Corporation promotes the environmental health in various ways such as using recycled plastics and papers for wastewater reduction, and installing a filtration system for wastewater reduction.

The best statement of conduct is the customer wellness. The Starbuck Company presents customers wellness through improved quality products with less calories and are d-free from superfluous ingredients including dyes, artificial flavours and trans-fats, as well as high fructose corn syrup.

Why Having a Code of Business Ethics is insufficient for Ensuring Ethical Behavior in an Organization

Johnson (2006) provided that business ethics involve evaluation of business actions in the concept of human value. They are found to be necessary but insufficient for god ethical actions. Business ethics are designed for only employee protection and not the society protection. As such, other important means have to be executed to assist ethical behaviours in an organization. According to Johnson (2006), interactional justice is one way of promoting ethical behaviour. This practice promotes the formulation and execution of code of ethics, which enhance respectfulness, sincerity and consistency of all people in the society. Creation of unitary corporate culture also promotes ethical behaviour because the management of business bodies promotes organizational and societal culture.

References

CSRNYC. (2007). Starbucks store. Retrieved from

http://www.csrnyc.com/home/currentnews.htmlJohnson, C. (2006). Ethics in the workplace: Tools and tactics for organizational

transformation. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Smith, J. (2012). The world’s most ethical companies. Retrieved from

http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml