Week 3 Journal Entry

This week during study time I had a good time learning about John Deere Co. and their ethical rules and company mandates.  I assume that all companies have a similar mantra, however I wonder how many take personal responsibilities for their company codes of conduct.  I read through all the material presented to me by the company I personally work for; after an honest evaluation I concluded that a majority of my coworkers often try and live accordingly.  However, I don’t know if I can honestly say the same thing for those in management.  I’m often in meetings and hear things from managers, both those directly above me and those who lead on a much higher level, saying they believe whole-heartedly in our company’s code of conduct.  However, I often see in their day-to-day dealings with me, my co-workers and even others in management that they believe words speak louder than actions.  It’s sad, knowing their actions are not congruous with company mandated ethics.  Also, it’s clear that if even a small percentage of middle-level management cared about ethics, I believe the company would be a completely different atmosphere.

I believe the tension between ethics and profit is a valid concern to executives in the business world today.  I’ve found that performance metrics are placed to push employee limits.  The metrics sometime require management in live in a grey area – pushing and pulling accounting numbers to suit the desired outcome.  I find this somewhat necessary in my current position, I guess you could consider this coexisting.  I don’t feel like I’ll lose my job if I don’t make a certain amount for the company each month – I’ve never been given a measurable goal.  However, I try to surpass my previous numbers, if only to beat myself.  Now when management forces me to hold back invoices to either sandbag for numbers or asks for invoices with jobs not prepared or completed properly because numbers are down – this is where I feel ethics versus profit collide.  I don’t like feeling undue pressure because others have failed to live according to their bonus given levels.  I like to believe everyone tries their best and due to unforeseen economics, the company just won’t meet levels this month.  However, this is not an applicable excuse in the business world, everyone must answer for their area of responsibilities – whether those responsibilities are known or unknown.

I currently feel that investors and the financial community care greatly over ethics and supposed social involvement, if only to be situated on the positive end of consumer opinion.  Everyone likes to look good, look like they care.  When 4th quarter numbers are banked, management would like to prove to their investors how much they care by showing them ethical guidelines and social justices that were righted because of corporate donations or employee engagement.  I hope that there is an ounce of actual, legitimate care and concern from higher management at this point.  I hope there are still investors that are only willing to fiscally help companies because of the service hours they donate to communities.