AT&T Standards and Business Global Business Environment Research Paper

AT&T STANDARDS AND Business

Global business environment is an environment within different sovereign countries and exogenous factors to the home of an organization influence the process of making decisions when it comes to the use of resources and capabilities. These include political, social, economic, legal, cultural, tax, regulatory and technological environments.

Global business environment is an environment within different sovereign countries whereby factors that are exogenous to the home environment of a particular organization have an influence on the process of making decisions when it comes to the use of resources and capabilities. These include political, social, economic, legal, cultural, tax, regulatory and technological environments.

Challenges to global business environment

Unethical business practices,

Failure to embrace technology advancements.

Stiff competition among the businesses.

Unethical business practices exist due to the lack of established ethical code of conduct within an organization

There are serious challenges on the global business environment which are mostly attributed to unethical business practices, failure to embrace technology advancements and stiff competition among the businesses. Unethical business practices exist due to the lack of established ethical code of conduct within an organization. This presentation will examine code of ethical conduct of companies in the same industry as one company that will be highlighted here.

AT&T Inc.

Multinational telecommunication company

Headquarters in Dallas, Texas.

Second largest mobile telephony provider

Largest fixed telephony provider in U.S..

Provides broadband subscription.

2014 it has been ranked as the largest mobile telecom operator in the whole world with over 107.9 million customers

AT&T Inc. is a multinational telecommunication company based in America whose headquarters are in Whitacre Tower in downtown Dallas, Texas. This is the second largest mobile telephony provider as well as the largest fixed telephony provider within the United States at the same time it also provides broadband subscription television services. By may 2013 AT&T was ranked as the 21st largest company in the entire world by its market value, and the 13th largest non-oil company. By 2014 it has been ranked as the largest mobile telecom operator in the whole world with over 107.9 million customers ( AT&T Intellectual Property, 2014).

Crucial Ethical code of conduct

Ethical handling of apparent or actual conflicts of interest between professional and personnel relationships.

Conflict of interest arises when an employee takes actions which make it difficult for them to perform effectively & objectively.

Fidelity/service are not subordinate to an individual's personal gain.

Key issues in the ethical code of conduct document

There are three key issues I believe are critical for the success of AT&T. These include honest and ethical conduct, conflict of interest and compliance.

Honest and ethical conduct

Every officer, director and employee of AT&T is expected to act with integrity which requires them to be ethical and honest. This involves ethical handling of apparent or actual conflicts of interest between professional and personnel relationships. Any form of deceit and subordination of this principle goes against integrity.

Conflict of interest

Conflicts of interest come up when the personal interest of a person interfere with the interest of the organization. A conflict of interest can arise when an officer, director or employee takes actions or personal interest which can make it difficult for them to perform in the company effectively and objectively.it is the policy of AT&T that fidelity or service are not supposed to be subordinate or dependent on an individual's personal gain .therefore the company advocates for avoidance of conflict of interest.

Policy of compliance to applicable laws.

Personal responsibility of each employee to comply and uphold rules.

Compliance

The company has a policy of complying with the applicable laws, regulations and rules that are set. It is therefore the personal responsibility of every employee, officer and director to uphold the standards and restrictions that have been imposed by the rules, laws and regulations when it comes to performing their duties for the company.

Chunghwa Telecom Co. Ltd.

The directors, managers and employees of the company are expected to act according to the ethics and carry out their duties in an honest manner.

Against any conflict of interest arising from directors/managers/employees.

Business activities subject to laws of U.S. & subject to examinations & other forms of regulatory supervision

Comparison with companies in same industry

When taking the above key issues as a benchmark for other companies in the same industry as AT&T we can see that these issues appear in their ethical code of conduct. Our focus here will be a comparison of the code of ethics of Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. which is in the same industry as AT&T. when it comes to honesty and ethics the directors, managers and employees of the company are expected to act according to the ethics and carry out their duties in an honest manner.When it comes to avoiding of conflict of interest it involves directors, managers or employees face the problem of choosing between their personal interest and those of the company. The company is against any conflict of interest arising from its directors, managers or employees. While potential conflict of interest involving managers, directors are reviewed directly by the board while those of personnel are reviewed according to the relevant regulations of the company. When it comes to compliance, the directors, managers and employees are all expected to comply with the laws, regulations that are applicable to the business activities of the company and with the policies of the company. The business activities of the company are subject to the laws, rules and regulations in the U.S. And are also subject to examinations and other forms of regulatory supervision (Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd., 2013).

Relevance of code of conduct

Code of conduct by AT&T should be one that embraces technological advancement & flexible in line with prevailing global environment.

Technological advancements

AT&T embraces technological advancements for innovation.

Lack of know how and trust is a hindrance to advancements.

Relevance of code of conduct with time

The two techniques AT&T would use in ensuring that its code of conduct remains relevant throughout the years even with changing economic, social, cultural and technological forces on the business and society, open to technology and flexibility. The code of conduct by AT&T should be one that embraces any technological advancement and one that is flexible in that it can change according to the prevailing global environment conditions. These two methods are quite effective as the will ensure that the ethical code of conduct for Schwan is always up-to-date and always relevant worldwide.

Technological advancement

AT&T has embraced technological advancement for innovation and hence improving the business offering through embracing e-commerce and use latest freezing equipment in the market. The company has increased its customer base through the internet and now order can be made online and delivered. At the same time the products last longer since they are stored with the latest freezing equipment. Potential technological challenges the company could face include; lack of technological know how by employees, lack of trust with online business and employees embracing new technology.

The company can ensure that employee is educated on using this equipment, ensure that they are efficient in delivering orders done online in order to dispel any fears customers have finally educating employees on the benefits of embracing the new technology.

Lobbying strategy

Influence national and local government decisions. Achieve this by taking monetary responsibilities of government projects.

Global corporate citizenship efforts

AT&T can achieve this by environmental awareness and social responsibility.

Lobbying strategy

One lobbying strategy that AT&T can use to influence national or local government decision in its favor is by taking part in development activities that the government is doing through funding these projects.

Global corporate citizenship efforts

Corporate citizenship is a global corporate responsibility and AT&T can achieve this through environmental awareness and social responsibility. AT&T ensures that they are taking care of the environment in the course of their operations. AT&T also ensures that it takes part in community development projects where they are located. These two efforts contribute significantly to the development goals of the company as they enable the company to grow and expand its operations there is a positive public image of the organization.

References

AT&T Intellectual Property.(2014). AT&T Inc. Code of Ethics. Retrieved March 15, 2014 from http://www.att.com/gen/investor-relations?pid=5595

Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd.(2013). Code of Ethics of Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. Retrieved March 15, 2014 from http://www.cht.com.tw/en/aboutus/ccoc.html

AT&T Intellectual Property.(2014).AT&T's Code of Business Conduct. Retrieved March 15,2014 from http://www.att.com/Common/about_us/downloads/att_code_of_business_conduct.pdf tw telecom.(2014). Code of Ethics. Retrieved March 15, 2014 from http://www.twtelecom.com/investor-guide/corporate-governance/code-of-ethics/

Global business environment is an environment within different sovereign countries whereby factors that are exogenous to the home environment of a particular organization have an influence on the process of making decisions when it comes to the use of resources and capabilities. These include political, social, economic, legal, cultural, tax, regulatory and technological environments.

There are serious challenges on the global business environment which are mostly attributed to unethical business practices, failure to embrace technology advancements and stiff competition among the businesses. Unethical business practices….....