Governance, Ethics and Sustainability: Code of Conduct Report for RFG

This report analyzes the Code of Conduct for Retail Food Group, a leading food and beverage company in Australia. It examines key elements of the company's ethical guidelines, including discrimination, exploitation, corruption, dishonest behavior, whistleblower protection, and enforcement. The report emphasizes the importance of ethical practices in business operations and how they affect the company culture. The code of conduct is designed to guide employees and outline the responsibilities of management towards employees and the community. The report references recent news articles and academic sources to provide a comprehensive understanding of the topic, including the company's commitment to maintaining ethical standards and the disciplinary actions for any breaches of conduct. The report stresses the significance of promoting a harmonious work environment and the protection of whistleblowers. The analysis of the company's code of conduct practices is designed to ensure the business's ethical standards are met.

Running head: GOVERNMENT ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY
Government Ethics and Sustainability
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Code of Conduct..............................................................................................................................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
Reference.........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The main purpose of the assessment is to analyse the business of Food Retail Ltd which
is engaged in the business of providing food products. The business is known to be one of the
leading food and beverages companies in Australia. The company is regarded as Australia’s
largest multi-brand retail food franchise owner which provide quality services to the customers
and has also achieved growth in the operations of the business. The assessment would be dealing
with the code of conduct which is followed by the business and the key elements which are
included in the code of conduct of the business (Rfg.com.au. 2019). The assessment would be
considering key practices of a business in terms of code of conduct of the business. The
assessment would also be stating the key code of conduct practices and how the same is relevant
to the operation process of the business. The code of conduct practices of the business is
specially designed in order to ensure that ethical practices are followed in the business.
Code of Conduct
The management of Food Retail Ltd is dedicated to promote sustainability and ensure
that the needs of the customers are considered. In addition to this, the company is also dedicated
to ethical practices so that the operations of the business are appropriately conducted as per the
guideline of the business (Leipziger 2017). As per the analysis of the recent conditions of the
business in the market, the new chairmen of the business are trying to rectify the effects of the
scandal and also taking all efforts for keeping the bank and other stakeholders of the business
satisfied with the operations of the business. The management of the company has also planned
to improve the code of conduct guidelines so that the employees can perform their duties in an

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ethical manner (Sethi 2016). The elements which are included in the code of conduct guidelines
are discussed below in details:
Discrimination
The management of Retail Food Group aims to promote a working environment which
would facilitate harmony and good behaviour in the workplace. The management of the
company has formulated a work environment where no discrimination of any sort would be
tolerated. The management of the company aims to provide equal opportunity to all employees
so that the employees are motivated and can perform effectively in the business (Mamic 2017).
In addition to this, the m management also aims to retain the top employees of the business so
that the business can maintain productivity in the operations of the business. The management of
the company would maintain an impartial in tehri dealings with any of the employees of the
business. This shows that the management of the company recognises that it is inappropriate for
any workplace participants to engage in kind of discriminatory behaviour in the operations of the
business (Barkemeyer et al. 2014). In addition to this, the management of the company should be
dedicated to take care of the employees of the business and also ensure that they are satisfied
with the operations of the business. This needs to be followed by all employees of the business
so that equality principle in every aspect is maintained in the organization. In order to ensure that
equality is maintained the management of Retail Food Group has introduced EEO and Anti-
discrimination Policy and Workplace Bullying and Harassment Policy. Therefore, the discussion
effectively shows that the management of the company is dedicated to follow proper ethical
practices and ensure that incidents of discrimination is not supported in any manner in the
business.
Exploitation

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The business of Retail Food Group aims to ensure there is no violation of ethical
standards in a business especially after the scandal. It is therefore one of the policy of the
business to look after the needs of the employees and ensure that the employees are not harassed
or exploited in any manner. The management of the company has devised certain policies so that
it can be ensured that proper consideration is provided to the employees of the business who are
the life force of the business (Katamba, Marvin Nkiko and Ademson 2016). The management of
the company effectively recognises the threats of violence, assault, and sexual harassment for
ensuring that the employees are satisfied with the operations of the business. The management of
the company would be taking appropriate steps for establishing the responsibilities which the
business has towards the employees of the business.:
 The health and safety of the employees are the primary concern for the business and the
management would be taking all necessary steps for ensuring that the health and safety of
the employees are maintained at all levels (Bartley and Egels‐Zandén 2015).
 The management of the company would be ensuring that an efficient work environment
is provided to the employees of the business so that the employees are motivated to work
more effectively.
 The management of the company is dedicated to equality practices in a business and
ensure that there is no discrimination or bullying of the employees. In addition to this, the
employees are also provided the power to take part in decision making process and
provide their opinions relating to the same.
Corruption
The management of Retail Food Group is also dedicated towards ensuring that
productivity of the business along ethical standard of the business is maintained. The

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management of the company follows a model whereby the company can maintain integrity,
honesty in its approach and should also be held accountable for major decisions which is taken
by a business. The management of the company always takes decisions considering opinions of
numerous individuals such as line manager, operational manager, CEO and sometimes even
some of the employees of the business if the decision is directly related to the employees of the
business (Shaw and Barry 2015). In addition to this, the management also monitors all the
activities of the business in an efficient manner monitors all the activities of the business and also
ensure that the activities are conducted on a fair and ethical manner.
The code of conduct of the business is developed on the basis of meeting the ethical
standards which are applicable to the business and even considering the decisions which appear
to be morally right. Therefore, the analysis shows that the management of the company is
dedicated to meet ethical standards of a business. The business has appointed supervisors for
ensuring that activities of the business are efficiently performed and also ethical standards are
followed when such activities are performed.
Dishonest and Fraudulent Behaviour
The management of the company has a strict code of conduct when it comes to
maintenance of ethical standards in the business. The ethical standards which are followed in a
business are devised to ensure that a health working environment is created so that overall
integrity of the business can be maintained. The Company’s commitment to maintaining the
standards provided for in this Code is taken very seriously and therefore any breach of code of
conduct would be meet with disciplinary actions depending on the breach which is committed by
the employee of the business (Hill and Rapp 2014). A more serious breach of code of conduct or

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fraudulent activities in the business would result in termination of the employment and also legal
charges. The management of the company would be providing a handbook for the employees so
that they are careful in their approaches and do not engage themselves in any fraudulent
activities. In addition to this, the management of the company also would be conducting a
routine audit in order to identify any suspicious activities in the operational process of the
business. Therefore, it is clear that the management of Retail Food Group effectively manages
any such situations and depending on the nature of the breach or fraudulent activities, the
management of the company would decide what disciplinary actions are to be taken against the
employee.
Whistleblower Protections
The whistleblowers are individuals who report to the management of the company in case
any fraud is taking place in the operational process of the business. The management of the
company is quite strict regarding ethical practices in a business and encourages employees to
report to the management of the company in case they notice any breach of ethical practices of
the business. In case any senior management is involved in fraudulent activities in the business
then the employee would have the option to contact the senior independent directors to report
such an incident. The company also assures the whistleblower that his name would not be
disclosed and provides assurance regarding job security in the business. Furthermore, the
employee would be given numerous options as to how whistleblowing practices can be
encouraged in the business in case of breach of ethical standards. Therefore, the management of
the company is dedicated towards appropriate protection of the whistleblower and also provides
assurance regarding the safety and security of the employees of the business.

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Enforcement
The code of conduct practices which are formulated by the management of the company
are to ensure that ethical standards are followed and integrity of the business is maintained while
conducting the operations of the business. It is important for the management of the company to
enforce the code of conduct in the business and the supervisors are to pay attention whether the
practices which is enforced by the management of the company are appropriately followed in the
operational process of the business or not. The management of the company is dedicated towards
maintaining proper code of conduct practices in the business and therefore the management of
the company need to properly implement the code of conduct in the business. The management
would also be ensuring that proper monitoring of the resources is established so that it can be
assured that proper practices of the business can be maintained.
Conclusion
The above discussion shows the importance of ethical practices in the operational process
of the business and how the same affects the culture of the business. The code of conduct is
considered to be an important part of the business process as the same provides guidelines to the
employees of the business regarding which activities are to be undertaken by them. The code of
conduct also states the responsibility which the management of the company has towards the
employees of the business and the community at large. In addition to this, the code of conduct
also provides an idea to the management of the company regarding what is expected of the
employees and which actions can provoke the management of the company to take disciplinary
actions in regards to the employees of the business. The code of conduct for Retail Food Group
is appropriate shown in the above discussion and also it is stated the actions which can be taken

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by the management of the company in case of breach of ethical standards or code of conduct of
the business.

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Reference
Barkemeyer, R., Holt, D., Preuss, L. and Tsang, S., 2014. What happened to the ‘development’in
sustainable development? Business guidelines two decades after Brundtland. Sustainable
development, 22(1), pp.15-32.
Bartley, T. and Egels‐Zandén, N., 2015. Responsibility and neglect in global production
networks: the uneven significance of codes of conduct in Indonesian factories. Global
Networks, 15(s1), pp.S21-S44.
Hill, R.P. and Rapp, J.M., 2014. Codes of ethical conduct: A bottom-up approach. Journal of
Business Ethics, 123(4), pp.621-630.
Katamba, D., Marvin Nkiko, C. and Ademson, C., 2016. Managing stakeholders’ influence on
embracing business code of conduct and ethics in a local pharmaceutical company: Case of
Kampala Pharmaceutical Industries (KPI). Review of International Business and Strategy, 26(2),
pp.261-290.
Leipziger, D., 2017. The corporate responsibility code book. Routledge.
Mamic, I., 2017. Implementing codes of conduct: How businesses manage social performance in
global supply chains. Routledge.
Rfg.com.au. (2019). [online] Available at:
https://www.rfg.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/CodeofConduct.pdf [Accessed 22 Aug.
2019].
Sethi, S., 2016. Globalization and self-regulation: The crucial role that corporate codes of
conduct play in global business. Springer.

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Shaw, W.H. and Barry, V., 2015. Moral issues in business. Cengage Learning.
Tourani, P., Adams, B. and Serebrenik, A., 2017, February. Code of conduct in open source
projects. In 2017 IEEE 24th International Conference on Software Analysis, Evolution and
Reengineering (SANER) (pp. 24-33). IEEE.