Ethics in the Work Place
Ethical behavior should not cost companies money. However when ethical behavior is not implemented it could cause companies much more. Ethical behavior costs more when not implemented. My company recently went through a huge unethical event in one of the international markets that has created more of a headache and implementation nightmare than if there was something already in place. For many years, the Korea procurement function was under operations, therefore most of the approvals were made by the Senior Vice President of Operations in Asia. This approval conflict created no check and balance resulting in many moral infractions and kickbacks that have cost OB International millions of dollars.
When I took this job over at the beginning of 2010, one of my jobs was to unravel all of the made up companies. I had to change several suppliers and put in place some different ways of doing business. I also hired a dedicated employee for all vendor approvals and contract verification. I advocated for Asia Procurement to report to the Chief Financial Officer and mirror what OSI had implemented in the US. I put in place the new US Standard Operating Procedures that had never been enforced in Asia. All vendors had to be submitted to the process of going through a competitive RFP (Request for Proposal). All new products require at least three RFPs in order to be considered a change of suppliers. Once the RFPs are submitted my office in Atlanta sends out a vendor questionnaire that asks specific questions about the ownership of the company as well any association to any OSI employees. Finally, all vendors are required to sign a very detail Vendors Ethics statement prior to being awarded the business.