Management Planning and Ethics Paper

Management Planning and Ethics Paper

Organizational planning is one of the most important functions of management, yet many businesses do not realize the impact that outside factors may have on the planning process. This paper will more closely examine those factors, such as ethical and legal issues, and corporate social responsibility, and how they influence corporate decision-making at Target Coporation.

Simply stated, planning is the process of selecting priorities or goals for a business, and then determining how those results should be achieved. Yet, this is a more complex procedure then it seems. Goals must first be identified, plans must be established, and resources allocated. Target also structures the planning around the organizational chart. Decision-making has to go down the chain of command and during this process, appropriate changes are made and new plans are implemented.

This type of corporate governance results in a high degree of accountability on all levels of a corporation, and therefore has a tremendous affect on the way an organization is administered. Some of the principles of this corporate governance include recognizing the legal and ethical responsibilities to stakeholders in the organization. Additionally, roles and responsibilities for the company's board of directors should be clearly defined, with a strong focus on ethical behavior. As a result, these concepts must be considered when any corporation is in the planning stages of management.

As the collapse of many large organizations, such as Enron and WorldCom have demonstrated, this ethical behavior is not only crucial, but should be monitored and enforced. A strong corporate policy means such factors such as accounting and auditing practices will be followed, but also that guidelines and regulations are strictly adhered to, since these factors determine future business decisions.

Differentiation plays a tremendous role in the organizational decision making process. Differentiation is the process in which an organization manages the division of labor, which means that various tasks are divided up through out the organization. Some of the employees are specialized in some thing and this allows them to be a specialist for the task at hand. But one person cannot perform all these tasks. Target has many different units that are part of a larger organization, such as the commercial division, that is concerned with business to business dealings, and the retail stores. This is where integration and coordination come in. The textbook Schermerhorn, Jr., J., Hunt, J., & Osborn, R. (2005). Organizational behavior. 9th ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. States, "Integration is achieved through structural mechanisms that enhance collaboration and coordination." Which means any activity that links different job tasks performs an integrative function.

Ethical business decisions in this stage are crucial. At Target, goals are set in an ethical manner, based on facts. Like any organization, Target wants to be able to increase profit margins, but will not sacrifice ethics in order to do so. To this end, the company clearly defines what is considered appropriate. This includes, but is not limited to such topics as any type of harassment, competitors, insider trading, conflicts of interest, and business relationships between suppliers, vendors, and customers. An example of the code regarding customer pricing is as follows: "The use of false or misleading statements to customers, made in an effort to market Target products and services, is strictly prohibited. Customers must receive accurate and unambiguous information regarding pricing, capabilities, scheduling, and the like."

As a result, Target sets challenging goals for salespeople, yet remains wholly ethical in regards to customer pricing. Target promotes the company's code of ethics to every employee, and encourages each to become familiar with the code. Target places so much emphasis in this code, in fact, that the company has a Compliance Officer that can be anonymously contacted via a toll free number, so that employees can report any "potential or apparent" violations of the code, or law. If the violation relates to auditing or internal control, the employee can request to have the report sent directly to the Audit Committee of Target's Board of Directors.

Target takes fair and appropriate business planning very seriously, and remains alert to avoid any breaches of ethics within the corporation.

The term "corporate social responsibility" has been widely used for several years in business. The web site www.answers.com (2006) states the definition for "Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an expression used to describe what some see as a company's obligation to be sensitive to the needs of all of its stakeholders in its business operations." This simply means that it is recognized that it is necessary to take account not only of the financial/economic dimension in decision making, but also the social and environmental consequences as well. Target understands the duty they have as a business