Analysis Of Ethical Standards And Code Of Conduct Of Major Internet Companies

Results of Survey on Ethical Standards and Code of Conduct

Discuss about the Internet Companies for Social and Environmental Standards.

Internet companies such as Google, Dell, Apple, and Facebook have raised a lot of various ethical issues that are related to their privacy. The main components for the internet companies are the ethical standards and the core values which help them run their businesses and plans. The internet companies have come up with ethical policies and code of ethics which are set to guide the people in the company and their users. The set values set of the internet companies portray to their customers the commitments that the companies have made in the provision of quality services and taking responsibility for any unethical decisions made. The companies have also published their business code of conduct and ethical standards they require from their customers in their websites. The paper will focus on determining how ethical the major internet companies, that is; Dell, Google, Facebook and Apple are through their set ethical standards and code of conduct policies.

A survey was taken to analyze the ethical standards and code of conduct of the four companies, Dell, Facebook, Google, and Apple.  The survey took ten people coming from the four companies.  The recruitment involved a web-based survey before the survey was carried out; emails were sent to the participants to encourage them to participate in the study.  The participants were given one week to the date of the survey to identify how ethical their companies are. The results of the study were found and tabulated as below.  

 From the results of the survey, it was noted that Dell was the internet company which had a high level of integrity as compared to others while Facebook had the least. 

Each of the internet companies has ethical policies or code of conduct that guide them. All the employees and customers are supposed to adhere to the set standards and follow them. Some of the ethical standards are discussed as below;

Google understands that, any business in the world has ethical challenges which should be addressed for the business to be successful. Google requires its personnel to possess high levels of integrity since the company’s reputation is built on the trust of their service. Google makes sure that all the communication with their users earns them trust. All the communications and interactions with the clients are of high integrity levels. Google policy also prohibits any form of discrimination, bullying or harassment in any form. Google encourages reporting of any incidences of harassment and bullying by anyone in the company to the supervisor or human resource they would, in turn, investigate any of the complaints and take necessary action (Google Code of Conduct, n.d.). 

Company Policies on Ethical Issues

Google also does not permit any form of drug abuse. This is for health and safety purposes of the employees since it impairs their performance and endangers the safety and also violates the set laws. For purposes of freedom of expression, security and privacy, their users are always asked to trust them with their personal information; the preservation of that trust requires respect, privacy and security to the personal information.  Google security strictly limits the access and usage of any of individual’s information and requires every user to take measures in protecting the data of users from access that is unauthorized.  Google is also committed in advancement of their freedom and privacy for their users around the world.

Dell code of conduct requires their members to be honest and transparent when carrying out the company’s activities. The company requires their personnel to respect on ant tret their clients with a lot of dignity and value their contributions and ensuring there is fairness in all the business transactions that take place. Dell also stands for courage. In order to ensure that everyone speaks of what is right and report any wrongdoing when noticed. Dell ensures everyone accepts their wrongdoings and takes responsibility for their actions (ethics and compliance, n.d.). People should also admit their mistakes and correct them where necessary. There should be no retaliation against the people who report the violation of the policy or law retaliates against those who report violations of law or policy. All the Dell employees are required to base daily actions and conduct on these standards.

Apple’s code of conduct requires the fair treatment of its workers and suppliers and prohibits any form of harsh treatment. This includes sexual harassment, corporal punishment or physical coercion. Suppliers shall not involve in any form of trafficking and nobody should use them as slaves. According to Apple Inc. Code of Conduct (n.d.), this includes transport, transfer or force payments to anybody for the exploitation purposes. All the work should be done voluntarily, and the workers are required to be free to terminate their contract or leave their employment with a reasonable explanation. Workers are not to surrender to any of the government issued passports or work permits as a condition to guarantee employment. Suppliers are to ensure all the third party agencies that provide workers comply with the provisions of the code of conduct. 

The Facebook ethical policy requires that the welfare of other people comes first. Facebook Personnel are also expected to act in best interests of the company when they carry out their duties. Facebook Personnel are required to avoid by all means possible any forms of conflicts of interests.  Another code of conduct is that Facebook does not allow any form of harassments and mistreatment by any of their workers, guests or clients in the workplace and also in the situations of work from color, nationality or race among others (Investor relalations, n.d.).  Facebook also ensures that all the business records and other communication are made clear and accurate. Another policy is that Facebook ensures that the information of their business is kept confidential and is protected. All personnel are expected to use the information for business and keep information in strict confidentiality. 

Comparison of Ethical Behaviors of Internet Companies

Google also ensures that they adhere to the set standards of businesses and regulations. The culture of Google is also based on the foundation of not being evil that gives them the sense of personal morality which is supported by the policy which states that there are always gray areas where you need to apply the right judgment and making sure you don't disclose any vital information about the company. Most people avoid Google because it involves in breaching of the personal privacy due to the massive gathering of data (An Analysis of the Ethical, Social and Environmental Standards and Practices of Google, 2015). 

The commitment of Apple is to ensure that the supply chain is safe and workers are treated with a lot of dignity and respect. The suppliers of Apple Company commit in all the company's activities and in compliance with set laws, regulations, and rules of the company where they operate. The Suppliers Code of Conduct draws upon the standards which are recognized internationally to advance socially and environmentally. Apple often visits the facilities of the Suppliers without notices to find out if they comply with the code of conduct and audits the wages and payroll of the supplier.

The code of conduct of Dell helps in ensuring that high standards are maintained and business integrity.  Dell has been recently awarded for maintaining high levels of integrity and prioritization of ethical standards of the business (World's Most Ethical Companies, 2018). According to ethics and compliance, (n.d.), the ethical policies of Dell include different components. One of the essential codes is trust; Dell ensures there is an absolute trust which exists between them and their stakeholders. Dell also ensures there is Integrity and discourages impropriety issues with its clients. Dell has thus significantly been recognized across the world for their commitments of ensuring ethical standards are followed. 

Facebook has recently been accused of allowing some violent videos and fabricated article news. The employees and the executives admit having made a platform that manipulates the users to psychological Facebook dependence. Facebook is one of the major channels in history it has never accepted the responsibility of the ethical issues raised in the platform. 

According to the accounts which were carried out by Australian Securities and Investments Commission, (2016), Apple pays an average of $80 million to Australia each year. Apple profits are about $250 million and make annual revenue to more than $6 billion every year. Dell report was an average of $11.49 million profit, the average revenue earned is $268.4 million, and the tax average is $2.6 million. Google pays an average amount of $7.1 million in tax, profit of $46 million and $357.7 million of revenue according to the review (Australian Securities and Investments Commission [ASIC], 2016).

According to Australian Financial Review, (2016), Facebook earns an average of $326.9 million revenue every year in Australia. The net income tax is $3.3 million, and profit of $3 million.

As per the report on the taxes collected each year it is evident that the internet companies do not pay an equal share of the overall tax. The taxes levied depend on the average revenue collected by individual companies.

Conclusion

From the discussions, it is clear that some internet companies have better ethical responsibilities as compared to others. For instance, Dell is found to be much better regarding ethical responsibilities due to its way of following their ethical standards as compared to the rest of the companies. To improve on the ethical behaviors of the companies, it is therefore essential for all the people in it to follow the set code of conduct and ethical policies.  

References

An Analysis of the Ethical, Social and Environmental Standards and Practices of Google(2015). Retrieved from https://sebastianpistritto.wordpress.com/2015/05/09/an-analysis-of-the-ethical-social-and-environmental-standards-and-practices-of-google/

Apple Inc. Code of Conduct (n.d.). Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/a/email.vccs.edu/bus100mlmuseappleinc/home/apple-inc-code-of-conduct

Australian Securities and Investments Commission. (2016). Dell Australia reports. Retrieved from https://www.zdnet.com/article/dell-australia-reports-au11-49m-profit-for-2016/

Australian Securities and Investments Commission. (2016). Senate tax inquiry. Retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/senate-tax-inquiry-google-apple-microsoft-policies-highlight-golden-days-of-tax-laxness-20150410-1mi9k9.html

Ethics and compliance. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www1.euro.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/about_dell/values/sustainability/corporate/ethics_compliance?c=eu&l=en

Financial review (2016). Facebook's Australian revenue questioned under new tax laws. Retrieved from https://www.afr.com/business/media-and-marketing/advertising/facebooks-australian-revenue-questioned-under-new-tax-laws-20170428-gvuf3v

Google Code of Conduct.(n.d.). Retrieved from https://abc.xyz/investor/other/google-code-of-conduct.html

Investor relalations.(n.d.). Retrieved from https://investor.fb.com/corporate-governance/code-of-conduct/default.aspx

World's Most Ethical Companies (2018). Retrieved from https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dell-inc-named-one-of-worlds-most-ethical-companies-for-2018-300596515.html