Values, Ethics and Collaborative Working: A Business Report Analysis

This report examines the crucial roles of values and ethics in business, emphasizing their impact on organizational image, employee motivation, and overall success. It delves into the definition of ethics, explores factors influencing ethical behavior, and highlights the importance of workplace ethics, using Google as a case study. The report also discusses relevant UK laws, such as the Equality Act 2010 and the Health and Safety Act 1974, that promote ethical practices. Furthermore, it analyzes corporate social responsibility (CSR), including Google's initiatives, and addresses public expectations and legal rights related to GDPR. The report also covers collaborative working, outlining necessary interpersonal skills and the benefits of teamwork. Finally, the report concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the importance of ethical conduct and collaborative environments in fostering business growth and employee satisfaction.

Values, Ethics and Working Collaboratively

Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Task -1.........................................................................................................................................................3
What is meant by the term ‘ethics’..........................................................................................................3
Factors that influence ethics....................................................................................................................3
Why workplace ethics are important in an organisation..............................................................................4
Discuss two laws in UK that promote good ethical practice....................................................................5
Task -2.........................................................................................................................................................6
Concept of initiative falls under...............................................................................................................6
Issues faced with and mention 5 rules the public.....................................................................................6
the legal rights people have in relation to GDPR.....................................................................................7
Task -3.........................................................................................................................................................8
Collaborative working.............................................................................................................................8
What interpersonal skills are required.....................................................................................................9
Benefits of collaborative working..........................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................................11
References.................................................................................................................................................12

Introduction
Values and ethics are important in every organization to build good image in the market
and to satisfy employees. This motivates workers to complete their work on time and give their
best to achieve goals of the company. In the report ethics and values are described, it's
importance at workplace , laws that are applied by Google company. Collaborative working, it's
benefits, how to promote equality and diversity at the workplace.
Task -1
What is meant by the term ‘ethics’
A) Ethics can be defined as to study what is right or wrong in human behavior, beliefs
that what is morally correct or acceptable and what is incorrect or not acceptable. It is a branch
of philosophy that includes systematizing, defending or recommending concepts of what is
wrong and right behavior. In simple words ethics is a system of moral principles. It affects how
people will make decisions and live their lives (Stankiewicz and Łychmus, 2017). Ethics is also
refer to as thinking about what is good for individuals as well as for the society. Generally there
are three types of ethics i.e., virtue ethics, consequents ethics and deontological ethics. In every
organization it is important that ethics and values should be followed as it helps in creating good
image of the company in market and helps in attracting more people. Every organization is
having ethical code that helps in guiding decision making and helps in increasing productivity of
the organization and maintain its reputation. Ethical behavior ensures that employees should
work properly and give their best, they should work honestly and contribute in achieving goals of
the company.
Factors that influence ethics
There are many factors that helps in influencing ethics i.e., personal code of ethics,
legislation, government rules and regulations, ethical code of the company, social pressures,
ethical climate of the company. These are some factors by which an organization get influence.
Personal code of conduct refers to what one considers moral, legislation means laws and rules
that are made by the government and which help in maintaining good environment in the
company (Neill, 2017). Government made rules so that all employees feel safe and they will
complete their work on time. Social pressure also help in influencing ethics as if a company

provides sub standard products and involve in unethical practices then it will create bad image in
the market. So, ethics and values play an important role in an organization. It is important that
every company should have ethical code of conduct so that productivity of the organization can
be improved and it will help in creating good image in the market.
Why workplace ethics are important in an organisation
B) Workplace ethics is integral in increasing productivity and teamwork among employees.
Ethics help workers in giving their best and they work efficiently. Ethics are important because
they serve as guide to daily living and helps in judging behavior. Ethics refer to society's sense of
right way of living lives and it is done by making rules and regulations, policies and values
which employees has to follow and work efficiently. An organization that is perceived to act
ethically by workers will get positive benefits and performance can be improved. Ethics in the
organization help in improving job satisfaction, organizational commitment, trust and
organizational citizenship behaviors and performance of employees as they will give their best.
When ethics are applied in an organization then employees who are ethically positive, honest,
hardworking will increase the overall productivity of the company and enhances performance of
the company (Olaisen and Revang, 2017).
Google is an multi national technology company that specializes in internet related services. It
was sounded on September 1998 by Menlo Park, California, United States. In the Google
company all the employees are expected to do their best and create a good , supportive and
healthy environment in which all the employees are treated equally and they are satisfied. In
Google company it is a rule that there should be no discrimination among workers and all are
having right to give their views or suggestions. Ethics helps in increasing productivity of the
company and people are attracted as good working environment is provided to employees. In the
organization if ethics are applied then it help in smooth running of the company and build good
reputation in the market. As Google is one of the well known company and it provides
supportive environment to employees and they create a good image in the market. The company
want that workers should give their best and contribute in achieving goals and objectives of the
organization. Ethics help in increasing productivity of the organization and also increases profit
of company (Sroka and Szántó, 2018).

Discuss two laws in UK that promote good ethical practice
C) There are many laws that are made by the government and which can be followed by
companies to satisfy employees and create good environment of the company. In the Google
company there are many laws that are applied in organization like, equality act 2010, health and
safety act 1974 and national minimum wage act 1998 and many more laws. The laws are applied
in the company to satisfy employees and motivate them to work efficiently. The organization
apply various laws so that productivity can be increased and performance of employees can be
improved.
In Google company they apply Equality Act , 2010 and Health and safety Act , 1974 to
promote ethical practice in the company. Equality law refers to as the act which is made by the
government so that employees should be treated equally and there is no discrimination between
workers on the basis of age, race, caste, religion, income, gender etc. In Google company
equality act 2010 is applied as in the company all the employees are treated equally and there is
no discrimination among employees. Discrimination is unlawful when an employer is hiring a
person, in terms and conditions of contract that are offered. At the workplace it is important to
treat workers equally as it helps in building good image in the market. It also helps in creating
good and safe environment, employees enjoy working and they will be satisfied (Sumtsova and
et.al., 2018).
Health and safety act 1974, defines the fundamental structure and authority for
encouragement. According to this act workers should get safe and healthy environment so that
they can do their work properly and there should be no problem. The act defines duties on
employees, employers, contractors, suppliers of goods and substances for use at work, manage
and maintain them. Google company is applying this act so that workers get good environment
and they will complete their work on time and achieve goals of the company.

Task -2
Concept of initiative falls under
A) The initiative taken by the company falls under corporate social responsibility. This concept
involves the engagement of companies in nonprofit causes that improve environment and social
condition. Corporate social responsibility companies achieve a balance of shareholder
expectation. Corporate social responsibility is a type of international private business that aims at
providing services to customers or society. CSR is an integral policy of the company and all the
organizations use this scheme to improve efficiency of the company and creates a good image in
the market. It will help the company in building good reputation and can get better opportunities
for future growth of the organization (Svagzdiene and et.al., 2018). Being a socially responsible
firm helps in building brand image in the market. Social responsibility encourages employees to
use resources efficiently and should waste minimum resources. It increases productivity of the
organization as employees are working efficiently and if there will be minimum wastage of
resources then good quality products can be made from less resources. As there is scarcity of
resources so companies should try to make proper use of raw material and make good quality
products.
Google company is also contributing towards corporate social responsibility as it includes
charity programs with the help of Google organization. The aim of Google company is to address
climate change, global public health and poverty. Google company is having good image in the
market. The company has grown fast in the internet technology and brought many products or
services to make lives of people better. Google is providing education to the poor children who
are not able to afford school fees. They want that children should get proper education so that in
future they will get good job opportunities. As education is provided by Google company it helps
in reducing poverty. Children will get good education which will help them in future by getting
good jobs and this will reduce poverty (Breckenridge and et.al., 2018).
Issues faced with and mention 5 rules the public
Another social issue that the company is trying to address is racial discrimination.
Google is trying to give equal treatment to everyone and they apply equality act so that all the
employees should be treated equally and this will help in creating good environment in society.

The company try to provide good facilities to the people living in society and take necessary
steps for improving their condition. There are many programs that are arrange by managers of
the organization to attract people and help them by providing good services. There are many
ways to help society or take initiative for the betterment of the company. CSR helps in increasing
profit of the company and also builds good image among people (Braude, Fertleman and Dhesi,
2017).
B) In every organization there are many rules and regulations that an employee has to follow.
There are many issues that are faced by an employee when working in the company. There are
laws like, equality act, data protection act 1998. According to this act all the information is
stored on computers or in organized paper filing systems. This helps companies in protecting all
the data and important information is kept safely because if essential information gets leak then it
will be loss for organization.
Rules that clients or public expect as employee in the organization are: protection from
discrimination claims, follow rules and regulations, honesty and integrity, make good quality
products, safety and security. These are some rules that public or clients expect from employees
because they want good products and at reasonable price. There should be no discrimination
among people on the basis of race, religion, gender, caste, income or any other issue. In every
organization employees are given training so that they can perform their work properly and
efficiently (Sandman, Molander and Benkel, 2017). Rules and regulations provide safety to
workers as well as to the public as they feel safe. In Google company they provide good services
to the customers and they also contribute some amount to corporate social responsibility which
will be beneficial for the society and for the organization.
the legal rights people have in relation to GDPR.
C) Everyone in the world is having right to the protection of personal data. Such data should be
process fairly for some specific purpose on the basis of consent of person. GDPR stands for
general data protection regulation act. There are several rights under GDPR like, right to be
informed right of access, right to rectification, right to be forgotten, right to restrict processing,
right to data portability, right to object and rights in relation to automated decision making.

These rights help in maintaining data protection in the organization and all the employees are
given training to keep the information safe (Montrezor, 2021).
Right to be informed - It states that information that is being supplied about processing
of personal data must be in a private note, which includes, concise, transparent, intelligible and
easily accessible. It is written in clear language and free of charge. In this people is having right
to be informed and obtain personal data directly from individuals.
Right of access - In this a person must able to provide processing confirmation and
access to individuals data and it is provided in a commonly used format. It ensures careful
planning and it deals with multiple system to achieve high efficiency.
Right to rectification - In this individual are entitled to have personal data rectified if the
information is not accurate or incomplete. A person should respond to rectification request
within one month.
The right to erasure - It is also known as right to be forgotten means there should be
proper procedure in place for deleting personal data easily. Some specific circumstances that are
included are, where the personal data is no longer necessary in relation to purpose for which it
was originally collected, when individual withdraws consent, the personal data has to be erased
in order to comply with a legal obligation.
Task -3
Teamwork and working collaboratively is important in every organization because it
helps in achieving goals and objectives of the organization. Teamwork helps in solving the
problems easily and find creative solutions of the problem. There are many opportunities
available and working in a group helps in getting new ideas or ways for the development of
company. Managers give work or task in groups to employees to build relationship between
employees so that they can work efficiently and complete their work on time.
Collaborative working
Collaborative working refers to a partnership which includes spectrum of ways that two
or more organization work together. It is an informal networks or groups, joint delivery of
projects or full merger (Purwanto and et. al., 2019). Collaborative working can be defined as

working environment which supports people such as professionals, in their work. It means to
work in a group or team to achieve goals and objectives of the company. Some crucial skills for
collaborative working are, open mindless, communication skills, long term thinking ,
adaptability, debate and other skills that are important for collaborative working. Employees
should have the skills to work in a team because sometimes there is some work which is to be
done in group. All the workers should do their work properly and also work efficiently when
doing work in a team.
There are some strategies that can be used by the managers like, communicate want they
want to say to team members, organize individual task to check that strengths or weakness of
each employee. The managers should pick the right leaders who can manage or control their
team and complete work on time. A leader is able to control all the members and motivate them
to work efficiently. Some games should be arranged by managers so that employees understand
about each other and know how to work in a team. All the workers should focus on achieving
goals and objectives of the organization and managers should promote a community working
environment. Different situations should be given to employees and ask them to find creative
solutions and suggest new or creative ideas (Dan and et. al., 2019).
Values that will guide for collaborative working are, trust, service excellence and
learning. Collaboration helps in building trust among employees towards each other, new and
creative ideas are being given by the employees for development of company. Workers learn
many new things and they also learn how to work in a team or perform task in groups. In
collaboration people should know that they are coming together to achieve a common goal.
These help company in boosting confidence and they work efficiently without fighting with each
other and co-operate with everyone (Galant and Cadez, 2017).
What interpersonal skills are required
Interpersonal skills can be defined as that are use in every day life when we
communicate or interact with other people. It includes a wide range of skills but the most
important is communication skill. It also include the ability to control and manage emotions.
Sometimes interpersonal skills refers to social skills, people skills, life and soft skills, emotional
intelligence, team working, negotiation, persuasion, trust building, decision making, problem
solving and conflict management. It is important that workers should interact with each other

properly and they should not fight for small issues and work together to achieve common goals
of the organization.
Benefits of collaborative working
 Collaborative working helps in saving time as when work is done in groups then it can be
completed in less time. Task is given in groups so that work can be completed in less
time and it helps in increasing productivity of the organization.
 It is not flexible and creative as every task is new and it requires creative or innovative
idea. When work is given in team then all the members are having right to give
suggestions or ideas and if leader like any idea then it can be used for development of
organization.
 Collaborative working helps in improving atmosphere of the company, if all the
employees will work together and they will not fight then it will build good image in the
market.
 It will help in increasing productivity of the company because workers will understand
nature of each other and they will work with coordination. This will increase the
productivity of the company.
Promote equality and diversity at the workplace
It is important to maintain equality and diversity in the company. To promote equality and
diversity in the organization all the employees should be given task in group and there should be
rule that every worker should be given equal treatment. There should be no discrimination
among any employee regarding income, religion, caste or any other issue. As in Google
company Equality Act is applied to maintain good environment at the workplace and this helps
in building image in the market (Vijayaraman and et.al., 2018).
British values embedded into collaborative working
British values are democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect for and
tolerance. It will help in collaborative working as everyone will be treated with respect and all

the employees are having right or give their ideas. Position in the company does not matter,
everyone should be treated with dignity. Nowadays, there is no discrimination among people
because men and women are equal and in this modern world all the people are having right to
share their views (Rasool, 2017).
Consequences of poor collaborative working
Poor collaboration at the workplace will reduce productivity, quality and profit of the company.
It is important that all the employees work together and if goals are not achieved then it is loss
for organization. Poor collaboration means that workers do not adjust with each other or they are
not comfortable with other people. It reduces productivity of the company as if employees will
not work properly and they will fight with each other then who will complete the work. So
managers of organization should take necessary steps so that all workers complete their work on
time (Agudelo, Jóhannsdóttir and Davídsdóttir, 2019).
CONCLUSION
From the report it can be concluded that values and ethics play an important role in the
company as it helps in motivating employees to work effectively. Google company is
contributing some amount of profit in corporate social responsibility which helps in creating
good image in the society. There are many laws like data protection act, health and safety act,
Equality Act. These laws and rules help company in smooth running and employees are also
satisfied. Collaborative working and teamwork is essential as it helps in building good
relationships between employees which reduces conflicts.

References
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