Ethical Management in Different Cultural Values Systems: A Case Study of Unilever

ETHICAL
MANAGEMENT
2

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Ways Unilever performs to adopt ethical codes of practice within different cultural values
systems.........................................................................................................................................3
Effect of values and beliefs on ethical decision-making by individuals in the organization.......5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Ethical management depends on two main principles that are the human being and the
organization, which are the two main components of the business and that are closely linked to
each other. It commits to those employees who have accountability and responsibility as part of
the business or for the whole business to execute the different strategies and approaches which
not only improves the well-being of the company but also of it people.
This report will discuss the ways in which organizations can adopt the ethical codes in
different cultural value systems while identifying the needs of contrasting cultures and societies,
the factors that could impact the organizational ethics especially the legal requirements and the
stakeholders needs. Moreover, it will also discuss the impact of values and beliefs on the ethical
decision-making by the employees of the company and lastly the impact of a company's ethics
on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the business's accountability in a particular
business (Jukić and Puljak, 2018).
MAIN BODY
Ways Unilever performs to adopt ethical codes of practice within different cultural values
systems
A code of ethics is mainly a document or guide involving the principles that assist the
professionals to carry out the business activities with honesty and integrity. It can also highlight
the values, objectives and missions of the company which are based on the core values of the
company (Nair, 2020).
When enquired about their values, Unilever provided a document that specified a code of
conduct or ethics. At Unilever, they believe in enhancing responsibly and with sustainability,
their basic code of business principles elaborates the non-negotiable for their employees which
states their values, in which they clearly define what is being expected from their employees.
They bring values and purpose to everything they do, in everyday life and purpose.
Communication and awareness campaigns- Communication is a continuous process and this
policy of Unilever never ends. The main objective of this policy is to engage the employees and
also to spread awareness and concern about the ethical decision-making. The main challenge was
numerous identities that were being adopted. Although, Unilever created a wide communication
framework, a toolkit which included the guidelines, voice tone for communicating with the
employees (Patterson and Rowley,2019).