The board of directors and management at all levels must demonstrate their commitment to integrity and ethical values through their actions, behaviors, decisions and directives in support of the organization's internal control. The right formal tone should be described in mission and values statements, standards and codes of conduct, policies and practices, and operating principles. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The right informal tone can be found in the actions and decisions of management at various levels, in routine communications and actions. To have a good internal control system, organizational leaders must not just talk about actions, they must take right ethical actions to motivate their employees to follow their ethical behavior. One of the problems most leaders face is that most organizations are made up of different people, from different countries, with their own values, norms and expectations. For these reasons, it is very important that the board of directors and management establish common ethical values that will be appropriate for each employee in the organization. And then, they should apply training, communication and oversight to ensure that all employees follow those ethical standards. The board of directors and senior management should not be sure that integrity and ethical values are defined in the entity's standards of conduct and understood by employees as well as outsourced service providers and business partners. Organizations establish standards of conduct through the creation of a Code of Conduct or other foundational document. It is very important for an organization to set standards of conduct for its employees and other stakeholders. Employees and stakeholders may act according to their own norms without such standards, and their acts may lead to wrong ethical behavior. There are some processes that can help evaluate employee performance when following ethical standards or not. Lack of adherence can be caused by several situations, for example: a board of directors does not provide adequate oversight of senior management's adherence to standards, a weak internal audit function, insignificant sanctions for improper conduct, etc. Keep in mind: This is just a sample. Get a customized paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay The organization must establish methods to apply the standards and take other measures to prevent deviation from the standards such as: create a set of indicators to identify problems, consider the right of leadership in demonstrating integrity, identify, analyze and immediately report conduct problems, etc. These deviations from the entity's expected standards of conduct must be resolved promptly and consistently. Depending on the severity, an appropriate punishment system should be established: warnings, probation or dismissal.
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