The Boeing Company, Essay Example

Introduction

The Boeing Company is a global organization that buys, sells, and manufactures parts and equipment of the highest quality attainable, with almost every nation in this planet. This company truly exemplifies a global company because of the magnitude of the enterprise and the undisputable quality of goods it produces. There are many ethical decisions made daily that have real consequences on people’s lives and the success of the company. As a result of this the Boeing Company takes their employees ethical conduct very seriously. The company has created a forty page manual on ethical conduct giving great seriousness to the matter. This manual covers every sort of ethical dilemma an employee could come upon and provides guidelines and resources as to how to deal with any of these situations. Analyzing the manual we shall delineate the four fundamental subdivisions which are: The Corporate Citizen, Basic Working Conditions and Human Rights, Proper Marketing Practices, and Offering and Accepting Business Courtesies. Each of these sections will be broken down into what they are and what they mean.

Description of the code

As one of the largest and most well renown companies in the world, Boeing believes that through an exemplary, positive ethical conduct, they can be more successful, not only as a corporation, but also as a provider to local communities and as citizens of the world. A very crucial portion of Boeing’s ethical standards deals with the integration of the company into the community through detailed values and programs; some of the specific areas that the company believes are key for this integration involve education, environment, military and veteran outreach, disaster response and volunteering. Boeing is a company that walks the talk and expresses this by offering many student intern positions every year so that future professionals can get hands-on experience. This allows them to become familiar with the work done at Boeing and helps them understand and experience the way the company operates. Preservation of the environment is a very important ethical concern to Boeing. As they manifest in their corporate citizen report, “The air itself is our element, so it’s not surprising that we’ve always maintained a deep concern for the environment.” Acting on this philosophy they have established to protect the environment Boeing is sponsoring international programs that deal with the reduction of greenhouse gases. Additionally, since Boeing’s products have a direct impact on the well-being of the environment, the company funds research and development of technologies designed to decrease environmental contamination. Through this the company’s focus for the design of new airplanes highlights the importance of developing new technologies aimed to reduce greenhouse gases and minimize fuel consumption. As a result of the long-standing relationship that Boeing has with the military and our veterans, the company has brought forward programs such as the “Wounded Warrior Hiring Program” that provides jobs for disabled veterans. Another area in which Boeing expresses the values it places on its relation with the community is disaster response.  Boeing believes that community outreach is most important during times of disaster and therefore has created programs such as the “Boeing Humanitarian Delivery Flight Program” in which help is provided by delivering humanitarian and medical supplies to disaster-stricken areas. Despite the great programs the company has established, one of the most important ethical aspects that the company values is the direct contact between the employees and the community. Boeing sponsors economically and logistically employees’ efforts to participate in volunteering programs designed to help the community.

Analysis

As a result of the vital role that the community plays on the existence of the company, Boeing exemplifies their belief on reaching out to the community through the various programs they have instituted that reciprocate the great appreciation they feel to the community. The company’s code of ethics highlights the importance they place on participating in activities designed to integrate the company with the community. For instance, Boeing supports programs through which it can project an image of solidarity and humanity, and through which they can help maintain a workforce based on solid ethical principles.  These principals have been instituted to propel the company forward and maintain its growing success globally.

Description of the Code

Marketing in general is a common characteristic that every business company strives to succeed in. It is of major importance because it will bring in greater revenue and “spread” the word about a company and its products and services through a form of indirect advertisement. Boeing’s code of proper marketing practices makes it clear that Boeing is a high-end company that strives to produce the best products and services for their customers at any means possible. Boeing brings forward a rather different approach to marketing by stating that they seek to entail the benefits of their products while providing accurate information to their customers. Another aspect that Boeing mentions within their marketing agenda is that of dealing with the government in a professional manner. Employees must be aware of all the laws, regulations, and customer-imposed rules applicable to the marketing of Boeing products and services. Boeing takes all governmental issues very seriously and makes sure their employees are fully aware of the laws, rules, and limitations applicable for every variant of a situation. Within this context Boeing also provides certain aforementioned rules and regulations that include, “Employees who have provided assistance to a Boeing customer or competitor within the last 3 years are responsible for informing their immediate supervisors of this fact, ensuring that further dealings with such a customer are permissible, and abiding by all obligations of confidentiality owed to the former employer.” Boeing also deals with companies in a fair and just manner by stating, “Employees cannot induce employees of a customer or government agency to place personal interests above that of the firm or organization they represent. Boeing employees cannot ask others to do anything that they are not permitted to do themselves under Boeing policy.” Within the context that has been previously provided it becomes evident that Boeing seeks to make all the interactions it has with other companies as fair as possible always looking out for the well-being of the company itself, as well as that of the other company in the trade.

Analysis

Through this philosophy that Boeing entails of their employees providing only accurate information to their customers it becomes evident that they greatly value their customers as well as their employees and seek the best for both parties. Efficient marketing is a result of the provision of factual information being provided to their customers which is a central idea rooted in the standards of Boeing. Inaccurate or outdated information would not portray Boeing in a professional manner and is therefore avoided through any means possible. The employees additionally make sure that they are fully aware of all the laws and regulations that go into business with the government to preserve the strict standards of high quality that Boeing applies into everything they produce. Expressing a professional way of dealing with negotiations to other companies and especially the government is a big role that Boeing implements into the way their employees conceptualize what they do. With all the rules, laws, and regulations set in place there is no room for failure but only for growth and developmental success all around the firm. Finally, marketing practices by Boeing have a solid structure that provides with the opportunity to continue to grow and become successful in every aspect that makes up a great company.

Offering and Accepting Business Courtesies

Offering and Accepting Business Courtesies is not something in it of itself but rather a small portion of the rather more abstract and often obscured ever-present subject at hand which is bribery. Bribery is a challenge to global companies because the way it is manifested and dealt with is very different in the varying regions all over the world. The Boeing company places such a great value in dealing with this ethical dilemma not only do they have five sections focused on the different ethical areas of bribery, but entire departments of people dedicated to keeping the company clean and safe from problems. Moreover plentiful  resource are provided for employees in ethically challenging situations so that they may assess the situation accurately and derive the best solution to the problem. The five sections that go over the companies policies on bribery include: conflict of interest, proper relationships with suppliers, proper use of company, customer and supplier resources, offering business courtesies, and accepting business courtesies. With these five sections in mind we shall subsequently narrow it down to analyze the most vital of the five which is offering and accepting business courtesies.

Description

Offering and accepting business courtesies is by far the most deliberate way of the different ways bribery can occur. The fine line should be noted, however, between the situations where this is even required and those where this would evidently be taken as a bribe. The rules and customs for this process can change depending on the rules of Boeing, the rules within the other company, the rules within the culture, or if they are working with a governmental or private corporation. The rules laid out in PRO-6 and PRO-8 describe a mindset that the company seeks to establish within their employees. They expect their employees to be courteous and thoughtful, yet not extravagant and compromising. They also reveal the difficulty in the situation and how you as an employee will always be vulnerable to these pressures from other companies and therefore any sort of compensation or offer, no matter how small it might be, should not be taken lightly. The most important part that PRO-6 and PRO-8 advocate in is the fact that in dealing with any of these situations the employee is not alone and help will promptly be provided for those requiring it. The Boeing Company has established various departments to deal with these ethical issues within this company and therefore employees are expected to make full use of them should any ethical situation arise.

Analysis

The section in the Code of Ethics for Boeing is very successful for various reasons. First, it does a great job in trying to instill in the employee the basic moral compass that is needed for successful transactions with customers. This moral compass seeks mainly to address the issue of accepting business courtesies regardless of how small the proposed gift might be. The book does a great job in analyzing every possible situation in which an employee might find himself in a dilemma and this becomes the second reason that is a key factor to the company’s success. The sections do not instruct the reader what decision to make specifically but rather educate the reader on the decision making process. This in turn allows every employee to make accurate decisions regardless of the situation by having the required skillset to decide on the right choice. The final  reason why the section works so well is because everything it explains and outlines is concise and fairly easy to learn and to apply. The sections are short and written in plain English to keep the reader’s attention and make it easy to get the message across to the reader. The examples that are used within these guidelines are very much relatable to things the employee will most certainly come across and increase their entire success. The simplicity also comes from the main idea that the employee is not alone in these situations and has a vast wealth of aid readily available to them. Boeing is a company that provides everything their employees may need through providing them with the resources necessary for their continued growth and success.

Conclusion

In this assignment, we covered  the following ethic codes: The Corporate Citizen, Basic Working Conditions and Human Rights, Proper Marketing Practices, and Offering and Accepting Business Courtesies. Boeing places a lot of value as to how the company is viewed as it is a global power that seeks to provide products with the highest quality attainable. Their ethical code is of great importance to their continued success and is essential for employees to live out what is stated within the code while working with Boeing. Their emphasis on this principle ensures that all the other principles are met with the most rigorous standards of care and customer satisfaction.