Importance of Ethical Behavior and Corporate Governance for Arup Group

This report highlights the significance of moral and ethical codes in the construction industry, with a focus on Arup Group. It covers the overview of the organization, moral obligation, importance of ethical behavior, leadership and corporate governance, professional bodies, and codes of conduct.

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Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
OVERVIEW OF ORGANISATION AND TYPE OF BUSINESS ...............................................1
MORAL OBLIGATION OF ARUP GROUP.................................................................................2
IMPORTANCE OF ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR FOR ARUP GROUP............................................3
LEADERSHIP AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE .................................................................3
PROFESSIONAL BODIES AND CODES OF CONDUCT .........................................................4
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Present report is prepared to highlight significance of moral along with ethical codes in
construction industry. Moral and ethical codes provide a basis to an organisation for fulfilling
compliance requirements as well as legal standard to make decisions which results in impacting
positively addition to steering away from unjust results (Freeman, Parmar and Martin, 2020).
They also clearly lay out rules related to behaviour and provide groundwork for pre-emptive
warning. Corporate governance is essential as it builds a system of practice or regulations which
determines the ways for operations and aligning interests of all stakeholders. Arup Group is
professional services enterprise that provides design, engineering, architecture, planning as well
as advisory services in each aspect of built environment. Its shared values including
organisational name is derived from beliefs along with convictions of founder, philosopher as
well as engineers. Its values entails quality of work, reasonable prosperity, total architecture,
social usefulness along with honourable dealings.
The report covers overview about the enterprise, moral and ethical responsibility of the firm
as well as significance of leadership and corporate governance. It further highlights importance
of codes of conduct along with professional bodies. It also discusses the ways in which code of
conduct addition to professional standards are incorporated in company.
OVERVIEW OF ORGANISATION AND TYPE OF BUSINESS
Overview of company
Arup Group was founded by Sir Ove Arup in the year 1946 as consulting engineers. With
involvement in ample number of high profile projects, the company became popular for working
in complex along with challenging projects that involves built environment. It employs
approximate of 16000 people in over 90 offices within 35 nations in construction sector. The
company has participated in projects in more than 160 countries. The community engagement
programme of Arup Group is particularly aligned with social usefulness.
Type of business
Arup Group works as privately held company that do not offer or trade its shares or stock
to general public on stock market exchanges, despite, its stock is offered, owned as well as
traded or exchanged in private. Working as privately held company, Arup Group is not required
to disclose information concerned with its operations which can potentially benefit rivals. The
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decision of staying private permits the establishment to avoid certain costs together with use
money for various matters which provide advantages of the establishment.
Roles and responsibilities of stakeholders involved
In case with Arup Group, roles and responsibilities of stakeholders are as follows:
Investors: Within Arup Group, role of investor is to provide capital correctly and
promptly. At same time, responsibilities of investor involved in the enterprise comprises of
investigating potential investment prior making them as well as discussing potential risks,
rewards, consequences, etc with advisors prior taking any kind of action.
Employees: In Arup Group, role of employees is to contribute efforts in effective manner
for successful organisational functioning. Likewise, responsibilities of employees in the
enterprise entails striving hard for delivering level best, achieving assigned targets in stipulated
time and deciding workplace culture.
Suppliers: Major role of supplier in Arup Group is to deliver top notch services together
with products from manufacturers to retailers to distributors at reasonable costs for sale.
Responsibilities of suppliers in the firm are providing deliverables in kind of raw materials,
selling deliverables for resale purposes and arranging all materials required in building projects.
MORAL OBLIGATION OF ARUP GROUP
Organisation have many duties including moral obligation. Obligation to make sure that
their services and products are effective and safe, to fairly manage employees and customers and
to follow all the rules and laws (Bowie, 2019). It is related to the duty which an individual owes
and ought to achieve or fulfil but not legally. Moral obligation of Arup Group is to treat their
employees with fairness and honesty. They allow their people to behave honourably and with
integrity in every organisation dealings, making relationship as individual advisors and trusted
executive. Managers of Arup Group apply best practice and increase awareness of ethical
standards that they require of their employees. Arup Group mainly focuses on treating its
employees with honesty and fairly so that they can complete their work effectively and
efficiently with full motivation.
IMPORTANCE OF ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR FOR ARUP GROUP
Ethical behaviour can be explained as honesty, equity and fairness in interpersonal,
academic and professional relation and in scholarly and research activities (Kitson and
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Campbell, 2017). This respects the diversity, rights and dignity of individual and group of
individuals. Ethical behaviour is important in every organisation. It aid in increasing employees
performance, trust, organisational commitment, job satisfaction and behaviour of organisational
citizenship. Ethical behaviour in the organisation helps business to succeed, make society better,
secure meaningful employment, etc. Managers of Arup Group perform their task ethically by
taking companies reputation in consideration. They treat their employees respectfully and
maintain ethical standards of business in the market where they operates. There ethical
responsibility is to perform their task with guidance and rules for action and behaviour of their
people. It assess managers of Arup Group in achieving higher revenues, because they follow all
the rules and regulations properly and motivates their employees. Motivated people work
ethically and properly which leads to companies success and profitability. Ethical behaviour of
employees of Arup Group helps them in improving their brand image and spreading business and
brand awareness in the market all over the world. It enhances Arup Group reputation because of
ethical behaviour which creates positive image of its business in the market.
LEADERSHIP AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Strong leadership is when a person can motivate, inspire, encourage and challenge the
team to give their full efforts for the work (Rosenbach, 2018). It helps a team to connect with
each other and works for a common purpose in the organisation. A strong leadership inspire
teammates to work hard for the organisation and it also provides a purpose and direction to work
on. A manager can become a good leader only when they work with the people in organisation
for success and long term sustainability. Good leadership can benefit the company to establish its
culture and developmental directions for achieving organisational goals. It is very important for a
leader to make everyone work and accomplish their individual goal as well.
Corporate governance is a structure by which organisations are controlled and directed. It
is very important for an organisation as it creates a system of rules and regulations that describes
how a firm operates and how it stakeholders set their interest (Adnan, Hay and van Staden,
2018). A strong and effective corporate governance benefits to encourage an organisation's
culture of honesty, which leads to sustainable and positive performance. Managers of Arup
Group use the strategy of corporate governance in order to attain more profits, long term stability
and success.
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Managers of Arup Group uses their own corporate governance framework, which is
based on the long-term sustainable success and similar concept of good governance. The Arup
Group mainly focuses on the position they are standing and a big sense of who they are. It also
includes the significance of their trust ownership and its effect on the culture and values that
shapes their actions and the key activities which changes during the year. Managers in the
company set the rules and regulations in order to achieve individual as well as group goals. It
also look at the practices which describes the company operations and the interest of all
stakeholders.
PROFESSIONAL BODIES AND CODES OF CONDUCT
Professional bodies are considered as important as they aid in maintaining as well as
improving standards in regards with adoption of ethical practices and behaviour in a strategic
manner (Wilkinson, Halvitigala and Antoniades, 2018). These bodies inspire the organisations
for assessing their operations in a fair manner and discourage discrimination. These bodies issues
a code of conduct which guides professional behaviour in a strategic manner. One of those
professional bodies is RIBA (The Royal Institute of British Architects) which is considered as
important as it provides clearly defined phases as well as milestones which makes easy for
architects to decide their deliverables and fees. Professional conduct which is set by RIBA is
based on honesty, integrity and concern for others as well as environment. They are committed
to deliver better buildings, places as well as sustainable environment.
The Chartered Institute of building maintains ethical consideration as well as encourage
quality construction. They believe in treat stakeholders with respect and fairness in relevance
with specified project.
Code of conduct is considered as important as it aid in clarifying mission, values,
principles as well as link organisations with set standards of professional conduct (Johan, 2017).
It is also essential in workplace as it act as an definitive guide in regards with working style
while performing their assigned tasks. In regards with Arup Group, they are committed to
implement whistle blowing practices which allow their employees to speak up in context to any
wrongful activities in an establishment. They also follow Health, Safety and Well-being
requirements at their workplace and globalised locations.
RIBA (The Royal Institute of British Architects) is one of the professional body which
can enhance professionalism in architecture industry. Officials of RIBA investigates ethical
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issues which arise in professional practices of architecture companies as well as provide
guidance to architects. RIBA has designated knowledge schedule for making compliance with
ethical practices in regards with duties towards wider world, profession, society and many more.
It helps in enhancing professionalism in the practices regarding whistleblowing, company
culture, diversity, inclusion and so forth. This presented schedules has helped managers of Arup
Group to formulate their code of conduct in accordance with bribery, fraud, whistleblowing
practices and many more.
These code of conduct and professional bodies are incorporated in Arup Group in an
effective manner through their managers (Fortino, 2022). They believe in performing their jobs
in an open as well as fair competition through lawful means. Managers of Arup Group monitors
their actual, potential as well as perceived conflicts of interests during lifecycle of a project.
They essentially protect their personal information as well as make compliance with data
protection laws. Arup Group works as a transparent institution which collects, use as well as
disclose of personal information. They only collect personal information which is considered as
lawfully correct. They do not indulge themselves in any anti-competitive agreements for
hampering healthy competition in market.
CONCLUSION
From the above presented information, it has been assessed that moral obligations is
considered as a practice of choosing among right and wrong activities. In business parlance, it is
moral obligation for organisations to provide information about their deficient products or
services to their customers. Corporate governance can be described as system which is used for
directing as well as controlling the organisations so that they perform their duties by considering
ethical aspects in an effective manner. Leadership is considered as important in organisations as
it aid in motivating as well as influencing team mates which led to workforce to move in a
specified direction in a strategic manner. Professional bodies plays a significant role in
formulating and maintaining code of conduct for providing effective services to their customers
in an effective manner. It is imperative for organisations to follow code of conduct framed by
governing bodies in order to maintain their position in a competitive industry. Failure of making
compliance with code of conduct led establishments to loose their professional reputation in a
significant manner. It also provides clear standards as well as expectations to employees in order
to move towards in a unified direction. Leadership help employers in leading and influencing
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their team members in an effective manner. Code of conduct are the practices that are essential
for organisations to follow, it also help them in enhancing their reputation in the eyes of public.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Adnan, S. M., Hay, D. and van Staden, C. J., 2018. The influence of culture and corporate
governance on corporate social responsibility disclosure: A cross country analysis. 198.
pp.820-832.
Bowie, N., 2019. The moral obligations of multinational corporations. In Problems of
international justice (pp. 97-113). Routledge.
Fortino, A., 2022. Are They Learning? Assurance of Learning by Curriculum Alignment to
Professional Bodies of Knowledge. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol.
2022, No. 1, p. 13411). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.
Freeman, R. E., Parmar, B. L. and Martin, K., 2020. BUSINESS AND ETHICS. In The Power of
And (pp. 129-140). Columbia University Press.
Johan, G., 2017. Investing in basins of risk: What elements should a putative code of conduct for
business operating.
Kitson, A. and Campbell, R., 2017. The ethical organisation. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Rosenbach, W. E., 2018. Contemporary issues in leadership. Routledge.
Wilkinson, S., Halvitigala, D. and Antoniades, H., 2018. Educators, professional bodies and the
future of the valuation profession.
Online:
Arup Group. 2022. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.arup.com/perspectives/publications/corporate-reports/section/business-
integrity-code-of-practice>
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