Retail Food Group: Code of Conduct Report, MBA402, Semester 2

This report provides a detailed examination of the Code of Conduct for Retail Food Group (RFG), addressing key aspects of governance, ethics, and sustainability. The report begins with an executive summary and introduction outlining the importance of RFG's ethical framework. It then delves into specific principles, including those related to discrimination, exploitation, and corruption, highlighting the company's policies and enforcement mechanisms. The report also covers dishonest and fraudulent behavior, whistleblower protections, and the enforcement of the code. The analysis incorporates recent news articles and examples of corporate governance issues at RFG, alongside references to academic journals and textbooks, as required by the assignment brief. The report emphasizes the importance of ethical practices, cultural diversity, and the protection of employee interests within the organization. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and reiterates the significance of the Code of Conduct in maintaining ethical standards and promoting responsible corporate behavior. The report uses the provided examples to create a comprehensive code of conduct for RFG, meeting all the requirements of the assignment.

Running head: GOVERNANCE ETHICS AND SUSTAINIBILITY
Governance ethics and sustainability
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author’s Note:

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Executive Summary:
The report intends to bring forth every aspect of the code of conduct as proposed by the Food
Retail Group. The paper covers the strict rules of conduct followed by the company as one ideal
company should follow. It also highlights the consequences of the violation of such conducts and
the strict enforcement policy that the company follows.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Retail Food Group Principles..........................................................................................................3
Discrimination:............................................................................................................................3
Exploitation:................................................................................................................................4
Corruption:...................................................................................................................................5
Dishonest and Fraudulent Behavior:...........................................................................................6
Whistleblower Protections:..........................................................................................................7
Enforcement:................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Retail Food Group has it corporate policies that aim to protect the interest, integrity, and
fairness of the company and its employees. The policies and principles are therefore crafted in
high esteem and are to be preserved with the help of all the personals and the employees with the
highest regard. The code of conduct of the company helps to maintain a high standard of
corporate governance that serves to protect the integrity of the company as well as the ethical
perspective. Moreover, Retail Food Group also has a series of certain fields that would attempt to
eliminate the flaws that might creep up in the ongoing process (Leipziger 2017). It also provides
the company with rules, regulations, and principles that provides the organization to have a
certain direction. Furthermore, the ethical practices are encouraged in the code of conduct of
Retail food Group that would help in the proper growth of the company in a legitimate way. In
this report, the code of conduct of this particular food company will be explored and the detailed
analysis will be provided on various aspects of conduct like the discriminatory practices,
corruption, exploitation, unscrupulous behavior etc.
Retail Food Group Principles
Discrimination:
Retail Food Group has crafted strong policies on discriminatory practices and have no
tolerance on unlawful activities like workplace bullying, harassment, etc. They foster a positive
work atmosphere where cultural diversity is fostered by encouraging each other to collaborate. It
has also a good support system that provides harmony among each other. Furthermore, the
company plays fair and practices healthy competition, taking employment decisions solely on the
basis of performance and merit. This is also followed by the promotion of a constructive work

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culture by imparting trainings to the employees on cultural diversity and intelligence. The
discrimination policy also ensures the protection of females and the third gender, the minorities,
people from other cultures and religion, etc. This policy is introduced in the Food Retails Group
to help maintain diversity, cultural unity and a harmonious coexistence of all the employees
(O’Brien 2017). It also promotes an active environment that works with the cooperation of all the
employees regardless of any discriminatory factors and where the humanitarian values are given
the highest priority. This code, thereby, serves to protect the integrity and respect of the
employees who might feel threatened by other people due to the socially evil practices.
Exploitation:
The company has laid down its exploitation policies to deter sexual exploitation and its
awareness. It also safeguards the conduct of the employees and provide assurance to any types of
misconduct, abuse and corruption (Rothlin and McCann 2016). The Retail food Group aim to
aware the employees with this policy to hinder them form the practicing of any such activities
(Schmidt, MacWilliams, and Neal-Boylan 2017). The policies and guidelines are specifically
directed towards all the employees regardless of the position to promote a healthy and safe
working place. The company has also included this particular policy to support the corporate
social responsibility to show solidarity with the exploited children based on the specifically the
tourism industry. Also, under this particular section various other malpractices fall which are
also deterred by the rules of code of conduct (Fels and Lees 2018). The exploitation is often
conducted by the authorities to the subordinates where they can face threats regarding projects
and the works they are entrusted with. In order to safeguard the interest of the employees and all
the other members of the team the company has signed up with the code of conduct for
exploitation. Under this act, it also does not support any king of misconduct by breaching any

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national or international laws, the company laws, sexual exploitations, bullying and other form of
harassment. Therefore, the code of conduct of Food Retail Group acts as a deterrent for any kind
of malpractices. It is also a safety measure for protecting the human rights and valuing them to a
great extent (Feasley 2016). The personnel of the companies are expected to follow the rules and
guidelines which can in turn, protect their interests.
Corruption:
The Retail Food Group also has a zero tolerant towards corruption and has a policy
regarding it in order to prevent corruptive practices in the business. The Various forms of
corruption exists like taking bribery, accepting irregular payments etc. The employees must
follow the code of conduct and must not engage in any form of corruptive activity that is against
the policies and can harm the reputation of the company. The company is also against the
acceptance of any form of gifts, including entertainment, or hospitality services, which would
automatically be considered as the breach of the company policies (Hardy 2016). According to
the Retail Food Group’s ethic it is regarded as unusual business practices. In this regard, the
employees are not ought to offer any kind of gift items in certain circumstances that would make
it look like undue influence. The company do not tolerate giving or accept any form of bribery,
on the occasion of the breach it would be considered as the noncompliance of the rules and
policy of the company. Apart from that, the company also do not support the indulgence of the
employees in unethical values. It does not support donation to political party in the name of the
company’s policy (Flint et al., 2018). Again, in regard to this very statement, if the company
decides to donate something in order to promote developmental activities is a matter of other
fact. It furthermore, records all the business dealings that is being conducted so that further
analysis can be done in regard to any kind of suspicious activities. The retail food group also

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expects that all the employees must stand against bribery of any kind, be it in from third parties
like agents, contractors, etc. This code, in short, aims to promote ethical practices that would
help in the legitimate growth of the company in the long run.
Dishonest and Fraudulent Behavior:
There are core standards and a code of behavior according to which every workplace
participants must act. Food Retail Group is committed in providing a workplace that is ethical for
all including the Society Members, employees and also the volunteers; therefore any kind of
fraud, theft or even any kind of dishonest behavior will not be allowed nor tolerated.
Every member has a responsibility to report any act of fraud or dishonest behavior; any
kind of instance that causes serious wastage of money of the company or the society by an
individual which they have committed in their full awareness (Wesfarmers.com.au, 2019). It is
also the responsibility of every employee to prevent any such instances from taking place. The
Board and the Management team of Food Retail Group are responsible for the management and
control of such acts of dishonesty and fraudulent behavior.
This code of conduct implies that fraudulent behavior includes any impending or actual
loss to any person, both outside and inside the organization; the falsification of any kind of
documents or legal/confidential records will also be considered as fraudulent (Van Ruth 2018).
Dishonest Behavior includes any act that can cause/causes loss or damage to an individual or the
society with any misusage of information, breaching of confidentiality or privacy, bribing or
accepting bribes along with any behavior that goes against the ethics of morality in a workplace.
Food Retail Group ensures that every workplace participants:
 To act with honesty and integrity;

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 To maintain the stance of professionalism and act accordingly in the workplace;
 To safeguard and respect the code of conduct and maintain a healthy work environment.
 To report any violation of the code or policy without delay.
Whistleblower Protections:
Food Retail Group has a serious commitment towards ethical conduction of business so
that the stakeholder’s expectations are in consideration. The Whistleblower Protection code of
the Food Retail Group encourages every employees as well as stakeholders to “whistleblow” any
concern that one may have over any alleged act that has a probability of being considered
Improper. The purpose of this policy is to raise the sense of responsibility and awareness to
maintain a healthy and disciplined work ambience throughout.
The policy applies to every employee, stakeholders, permanent as well as temporary
workers including fixed term employees. The application of policy also includes the non-
executive directors; therefore it is mandatory to adhere by the policy. The safety of the
“whistleblower” is a priority of the company, thus there is the option of anonymity that the
employee/stakeholder can opt to feel safe from being victimized later on (Lee and Fargher 2013).
Those who are not comfortable to report the misconduct directly inside the company premises
can contact the whistleblower service provider externally and share their concerns. They will
allow the person to remain anonymous and identify oneself to Food Retail Group only.
The company has also provided the facility of reporting online through a website
designed for the same purpose. Online reports are checked via the website where one’s identity
will not be disclosed while investigating the matter and thus any one can disclose their concern
through the website by uploading relevant proves if available (Tourani, Adams and Serebrenik
2017). It is to be noted that all allegations made by the person will be treated as confidential

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under the strict regulations of this policy. Food Retail Group will not disclose any kind of
information to anyone who is not connected with the concern matter.
Enforcement:
The code of conduct of the Food Retail Group is the cultural foundation of that company.
The internal investigations that are carried on inside the work premises are the part of
consequences of violating the code of conduct. The potential violations depend on the nature of
the act and can possess disastrous consequences. That is why the enforcement of the Code of
Conducts becomes a vital and critical part of the commitment of company’s ethics.
The enforcement of the Code of Conduct is mandatory and denial of any conduct might
lead to legal actions. The enforcement of the codes and policies does not imply the violation of
privacy of any worker or stakeholder who is accused of any improper conduct (Kim 2013). There
are privacy laws that clearly prohibit any such violation and it is ensured that no individual gains
anything from such violations (Mayer et al. 2013). The purpose of the enforcement is to promote
the sense of respect for the policies and make an employee as well as stakeholders to value the
ethics and morals of the company.
Enforcement of the Code of Conduct ensures that if any kind of breach is made, the
guilty might have to face disciplinary actions, which can include the termination of one’s
employment (Johansson and Carey 2016). If the matter is much graver and involves the violation
of any law or breach of any other regulation, then the matter will have to be transferred into the
hands of law enforcement authority, who will take further legal actions based on the violation
attempted by the guilty.

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Conclusion:
The code of conduct is the recognition that there are responsibilities and obligations that
are mutual between the company and its workers as well as amongst the workers themselves.
These codes not only work at the work levels, yet also on every level of ethics and moral
obligations. The responsibilities and obligations that these codes teach and encourage to imply
inside the work premises are also to be followed outside the work premises. These codes teach
integrity, commitment and professionalism to every individual, which is why its enforcement is
justified. In an overall matter, these codes teach all work participants to deal fairly and honestly
and to avoid any such situation that can hamper personal integrity as well as honesty.
There is a responsibility that a company has towards its employees and vice versa. In any
way -both internal and external- it is inappropriate to act in a discriminatory manner by any
workplace participant. The Food Retail Group is committed to the health and safety of every
worker and thus all the codes of conduct are impartial and when received any violation, the
company treats the matter equally without any biasness. Any breach of the above mentioned
codes that can also result in the breach of a law it might make an individual liable for his/her
own actions personally.

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References
Feasley, A., 2016. Eliminating corporate exploitation: Examining accountability regimes as
means to eradicate forced labor from supply chains. Journal of Human Trafficking, 2(1), pp.15-
31.
Fels, A. and Lees, M., 2018. Unconscionable conduct in the context of competition law with
special reference to retailer/supplier relationships within Australia. In Abusive Practices in
Competition Law. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Flint, S.W., Nobles, J., Gately, P. and Sahota, P., 2018. Weight stigma and discrimination: a call
to the media. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 6(3), pp.169-170.
Hardy, M., 2016. Drafting an effective ethical code of conduct for professional societies: A
practical guide. Administrative Sciences, 6(4), p.16.
Johansson, E. and Carey, P., 2016. Detecting fraud: The role of the anonymous reporting
channel. Journal of business ethics, 139(2), pp.391-409.
Kim, J.Y., 2013. The politics of code enforcement and implementation in Vietnam’s apparel and
footwear factories. World Development, 45, pp.286-295.
Lee, G. and Fargher, N., 2013. Companies’ use of whistle-blowing to detect fraud: An
examination of corporate whistle-blowing policies. Journal of business ethics, 114(2), pp.283-
295.
Leipziger, D., 2017. The corporate responsibility code book. Routledge.

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Mayer, D.M., Nurmohamed, S., Treviño, L.K., Shapiro, D.L. and Schminke, M., 2013.
Encouraging employees to report unethical conduct internally: It takes a village. Organizational
Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 121(1), pp.89-103.
O’Brien, M., 2017. Sexual Exploitation. In Criminalising Peacekeepers (pp. 117-125). Palgrave
Macmillan, Cham.
Rothlin, S. and McCann, D., 2016. Employees: Discrimination and Sexual Harassment.
In International Business Ethics (pp. 179-201). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Schmidt, B.J., MacWilliams, B.R. and Neal-Boylan, L., 2017. Becoming inclusive: a code of
conduct for inclusion and diversity. Journal of Professional Nursing, 33(2), pp.102-107.
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.
Van Ruth, S.M., Luning, P.A., Silvis, I.C.J., Yang, Y. and Huisman, W., 2018. Differences in
fraud vulnerability in various food supply chains and their tiers. Food Control, 84, pp.375-381.
Wesfarmers.com.au. (2019). Code of Conduct. [online] Available at:
https://www.wesfarmers.com.au/docs/default-source/corporate-governance/code-of-conduct---
feb-2018.pdf?sfvrsn=12 [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019].