UNIVERSITY OF FINANCE – MARKETING

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF FINANCE – MARKETING - ISFM

BUSINESS ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Class code: 2221910007701
Lecturer: Tô Anh Thơ

FINAL ASSIGNMENT

GROUP 1
IP-20DKQ

HO CHI MINH CITY, 12/2022

 UNIVERSITY OF FINANCE – MARKETING

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF FINANCE – MARKETING - ISFM

FINAL ASSIGNMENT

GROUP 1
IP-20DKQ

NO NAME STUDENT ID % PARTICIPATE IN

1 Phạm Ngọc Hoàng My 2021009210 100%

2 Phạm Thị Thu Hương 2021009203 100%

3 Pham Thị Thảo Oanh 2021009213 100%

 TABLE OF CONTENT
I QUESTION 1 ..................................................................................................................................................... 1
II QUESTION 2 ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
III QUESTION 3 ................................................................................................................................................. 5
IV QUESTION 4 ................................................................................................................................................. 7

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I QUESTION 1
Do you agree with the policy? Why or why not?
Company policy requires employees not to take advantage of the company's work for personal gain. And
our company values integrity and business integrity.

 Our team agrees to this policy.

Because the company introduces this policy, it is a way to help the company reduce the risk that managers
or employees will take advantage of work for personal gain. In addition, the policy helps to reduce the
possibility of causing damage to the property or interests of the company due to self-interested acts at
work to gain personal benefits. If there is such a policy - there is no self-interest in work, then we believe
that a group of companies can create a sustainable association in the business, because an organization
can only operate Maximum performance if there is a close connection, no self-interest in the company
will help all employees feel that this is a fair competition, contributing to creating a healthy working
environment for the company strong. However, the issue of self-interest in an enterprise will always have
a gap that is difficult for senior managers to fill.

In the position of CEO or senior managers, they will often be the ones to make transactions in the
company. Therefore, if self-interested transactions bring more benefits than normal transactions, the
company will still choose transactions with self-interest, and the requirement at this time is to implement
control measures. Suitable so individuals (CEOs or senior managers) cannot profit from such transactions.

In the position an employee, employees who do not have the will to progress and are not satisfied with the
position that they are achieving at work will always appear to have some self-interest in their work. Work.
For example, in pursuit of a better position at work, they will sell inside information about the company
to a rival company with the request of "a higher position." This is not just a policy that can be prevented.

 Therefore, our team thinks that in addition to making a policy that requires employees and core
members of the business not to take advantage of work for self-seeking benefits, the company should
provide solutions to control problems. Self-interested control over the employees in the enterprise.

To control self-interested behavior at work, businesses need to do the following:

First, enterprises need to determine which transactions are likely to generate self-interest that needs to be
controlled. Because the transaction has the potential to generate self-interest, it has great value and deals
with some specific topics. Large transactions often have a direct, far-reaching impact on a company's
business. In particular, transactions with a value equal to or greater than 50% of the company's asset value
in the financial statements must be carefully considered before approval. These transactions are an

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opportunity for members of the company to profit, enjoy commissions, and affect the company's business
activities.

Second, anticipatory control (or pre-execution control) involves anticipating the possibility of self-interest
that may arise in order to prevent it in advance. Because the effect of predictive control will help
businesses proactively deal with future risks and proactively avoid mistakes in the first place. This is the
least expensive form of control.

Third, current control (or control during execution) is a way of directly monitoring execution. It helps the
company catch deviations and takes timely remedial measures.

Fourth, post-implementation control (feedback control) is the type of control that is implemented after the
activity has occurred. This type of control aims to determine if transactions are taken seriously. Detect
mistakes in the whole process of transaction execution and put in place an appropriate handling
mechanism.

II QUESTION 2
Would it be against corporate policy to accept such a gift? Give your explanation.

Accepting a gift as a purchasing manager violates company policy when it comes to realizing that the gift
is not an accident organized by the restaurant's program. Moreover, right from the invitation to the party,
Mr Hung was dishonest when he invited the year-end party, but it was actually an intimate party at a
luxury restaurant.

Here, the company's policy is to require employees not to take advantage of the company's work for
personal gain. In addition, the company also appreciates integrity and integrity in business. Therefore, my
wife's receipt of a set of high-quality diamond-encrusted gold jewellery from the restaurant's program was
not a coincidence but a purposeful bribe. Receiving such an expensive gift as an act of taking advantage
of work for personal gain, although it is nominally a gift from the restaurant program, by intuition and
social experience in business, the jewellery for my wife can't be so coincidental. And that is completely
against my company policy.

More than that, selling and promoting a business's products and services should be based on quality,
efficiency, reliability, and consistency. By relying on these characteristics to gain and maintain business,
people do not need to resort to unethical or illegal means to achieve their goals.

 Thus, promoting business relationships by giving valuable gifts like Mr Hung is an act of dishonesty
in business.

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It can be seen that in the case of Mr. Hung giving me a gift related to the advertisement of products sold
by Mr. Hung's company, or a souvenir for guests participating in the party, the receipt of the gift is not
against my corporate policy.

Furthermore, instead of the year-end party, which is a joint party between business relationships, Mr
Hung invited my wife and me to an intimate party, and the invitation to open champagne was originally
for the owner of the party to open. Still, Hung invited my wife to open champagne to purpose to ingratiate
customers.

 The excessive treatment of the position of a business partner shows that Mr Hung wants to ingratiate
my customer to maintain the business relationship between the buyer and the seller.

As a result, it can be seen that accepting or inviting customers or business partners to some form of
entertainment (participating in intimate parties, opening champagne) can also be a way to foster a
relationship business and cultivate a good working relationship. However, ensuring that any form of
entertainment engage is appropriate and not extravagant is necessary. Just like gifts, needing to avoid the
appearance that entertainment could be a way to encourage or receive any return or a favorable business
outcome or that it's a bribe to do business. It can be difficult to determine what is acceptable and what is
not. Acceptable entertainment is:

• Be reasonably priced;

• Not lavish;

• Seldom, no often;

• Legal;

• Permitted by the recipient's code of conduct;

For example, golfing with a potential client would be entertainment, but receiving or giving golf vouchers
would be a gift. Inviting entertainment (or any other form of business etiquette) must have a responsibility
to ask if the company the invitee is working for has a policy limiting the ability to accept entertainment
invitations (or gifts) or not before the invitation.

We may invite our customers and business partners for reasonable meals and drinks in the course of
normal business operations. Inviting a meal or attending a party with whom we do business can also be a
good way to establish or improve a business relationship and conduct a business meeting. However,
caution should be exercised, only inviting when:

• Reasonable and tied to a business meeting (refreshing snacks such as tea, coffee, fruit, and cakes, are
good options);

• Match the region or market where the invite and the recipient's business policy are located;
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• Seldom, no often, rarely

• No extravagance

In all of these situations - gifts, dinner or party invitations, entertainment - it is difficult to define
"insignificant", "luxury" or "extravagant" in terms of a specific amount because the cost for such social
activities is different around the world.

 It would be more reasonable if Mr. Hung invited me to the year-end party as originally said, the party
would promote the development of the cooperative relationship between me and Mr. Hung rather than
attending such an intimate party.

To sum up, the purpose of gifts, entertainment and business lunches is to create goodwill and sustainable
working relationships. Therefore, do not offer, promise or accept anything of value for an improper
financial gain or another advantage. Generally, each gift, entertainment, and meal should be casual,
reasonable to the market but not lavish, and linked to an appropriate business purpose. These guidelines
apply to most private, non-governmental situations. Special provisions apply in the case of public
servants or government employees. General laws and regulations may prohibit giving any gift,
entertainment, or meal to a public official or employee.

III QUESTION 3

Put yourself in the position of Mr. Hung. Is his conduct is unethical? Why or why not?

 The behavior of Mr Hung (supplying director) includes:

(1) Invited Mr A and his wife to the year-end party and brought the car to pick them up.

(2) Mr Hung changed unexpectedly; it was not a year-end party but an intimate dinner at a high-class
restaurant.

(3) Invite Mr A's wife to participate in the champagne opening program at the restaurant.

(4) Giving his wife A a set of high-class diamond-encrusted gold jewellery with the reason from the
restaurant's program.

 Manifestations of business ethics are expressed in 5 principles as follows:

 Honesty
 Respect people
 Associate the interests of the business with the benefits of customers and society
 Value efficiency with social responsibility
 Keep secrets, faithful to responsibility
 The scope of application of the five principles:
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- Workers

- Client

- Partner

- Owner

- Society, community

- Government

 In this situation, we apply between Mr Hung and Mr A: partnership

 Discuss:

- Grounds for inaction (1) and (2): Invited Mr A and his wife to a year-end party and brought a car to pick
them up. Mr Hung changed unexpectedly; it was not a year-end party but an intimate dinner at a high-
class restaurant.

It can be seen that Mr Hung was dishonest and lacked consistency in sending invitations to Mr and Mrs
A. There was ambiguity in the invitation, putting Mr and Mrs A in a passive position and forcing them to
participate. Therefore, these two actions are grounded as unethical because they violate the principle of
honesty and have not yet respected the other party or partner.

- Discuss behaviors (3) and (4): Invite Mr A's wife to participate in a champagne-opening program at the
restaurant and give his wife A a set of high-quality diamond-studded gold jewellery with the reason from
his program restaurant.

Actions (3) and (4) are also deliberate actions on Mr Hung's side. This is considered a pre-arranged plan.
Instead of blatantly bribing, Mr Hung chose to lead Mr A's wife to participate in the game and then win
the prize as a random thing to legitimize the gift to avoid breaking the law. If Mr A's wife accepts the
jewellery set, it will be considered a binding string. In the latter case, for some reason, Mr A can no
longer buy goods from Mr Hung's company, then the problem happened because Mr A's wife received a
gift of great value; Mr A must, by all means, act to help Mr Hung achieve his purpose, namely,
continuing to take goods from the party. Mr Hung. Mr Hung used the invitation to a public job, a year-
end party disguised as an intimate dinner, and a personal relationship to benefit the company later.
Considering the partner is someone who appreciates integrity and integrity in business, that's why Mr
Hung had to take the trouble to set up that bogus year-end party to benefit individuals and the company.

Gifts are given to create goodwill with those we do business with and as a way to promote a company or
its brand.

 Gifts need to:

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  Has negligible value to the market.
 Allowed by law (and recipient company policy).
 Not required by the recipient.
 Appropriate and relevant to a sound business purpose.
 Not given regularly.

For example, in the United States, we do not give or accept gifts with a market value of $100 or more
without prior approval. We offer or carry promotional items of negligible value (usually less than 25
USD) that are generally acceptable.

 Therefore, in this case, a set of high-end diamond-set gold jewellery is invalid because of its high and
substantial value, besides the recipient's company rules. From Mr Hung's position, it is true that gift-
giving is to create goodwill with those with whom we do business and as a way to promote a company or
its brand; however, the present and treatment Mr Hung chooses and the method of giving to the partner is
not valid, as explained above. Therefore, Mr Hung's behavior, even from Mr Hung's position, is still
unethical because it violates the general standards of ethics in business.

IV QUESTION 4

Imagine that you are the president and CEO. It means that you are both the largest
owner and decision-maker for business activities. Would it be unethical to accept this
gift? Why or why not?
Let's say I'm a company owner, and my company has an integrity policy. So, as the owner of a
company, I have to be a person who works with rules and has consistent actions. So accepting this gift
will be considered unethical for the following reasons:

Leaders must adhere to the company's principles and values.

The head is an example for all employees in the company. As an example for all employees to follow, all
actions related to the common interests and interests of the company must be transparent, clear, and
ethical.

So, if receiving the gift (high-end jewellery set) will violate the consistency in words and actions (honesty
- 1 in 5 ethical principles in business)

 So, if I am the owner of the company, I will not accept this gift and will find a way to return it to the
partner. Because accepting this gift would be an ethical violation based on the above argument (violation
of consistency in words and actions).

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But in fact, if the owner of the company is a person who is flexible, responsive, and capable of skill in the
above situations, the owner of the company will be the one who gives the intention to consider it; that gift
is like an exchange. The exchange has benefits for both parties in a long-term cooperation. Then, as the
owner of the company, I will consider and accept the gift as creating sympathy for the long-term
cooperation relationship between the two parties.

 In addition, a set of high-class jewellery from the position of a company owner can only be seen as a
gift of no great value, regardless of other transactions between the two parties, and this gift sometimes
can't affect the transaction process because, in fact, gift giving is just a form of increasing sympathy in a
partnership relationship. So, if this exchange or transaction is proportionate, the company owner still has
the right to accept the gift, and this action does not violate any ethical principles at all.

And in this case, the gift is a high-end jewellery set that has monetary value but no value in creating
additional wealth or money in the short or long term. Mr Hung's aim is that the company owner will
cooperate with his long-term interests in purchasing goods for his company (Mr Hung).

 From this perspective, this is a disproportionate exchange or transaction compared to the benefits to
the company (and its owner) compared to a gift.

In order to develop relationships with suppliers, I regularly contact and have lunch with sales
representatives of these companies, namely Mr Hung. In response to my good will, Mr Hung, the director
of a company supplying main materials for my company (accounting for 30% of my company's
purchases), invited me to the year-end party. Still, in the end, it was an intimate party.

We may offer our customers and business partners reasonable meals and drinks in the normal course of
business. Inviting people with whom we do business can also be a good way to establish or improve a
business relationship and conduct a business meeting. However, we must be careful and only invite those
who:

• Reasonable and tied to a business meeting (refreshing snacks such as tea, coffee, fruit, and cakes are
good choices);

• Consistent with target regions or markets and human business policies;

• Not extravagant luxury.

In all of these situations—gifts, meals, entertainment—it is difficult to define "insignificant," "luxurious,"

or "extravagant" in terms of a specific amount because of the cost of the activities. Such social behavior is
different around the world.

On the other hand, suppose I am the company owner's wife. In this case, I am completely passive
because, at the party, Mr Hung is the one who invites me to open the champagne—this action is an open

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ritual. The party is usually reserved for the party owner, the party's relatives, or an outsider who must
have a commensurate position with the host. Therefore, this action makes it impossible for me to refuse
my wife's work. But must accept to join the champagne opening with Mr Hung. Moreover, if I decline the
invitation, it will affect the long-term cooperation between the two companies.

As for the fact that two weeks later, I received a gift of high-end jewellery; it was considered a gift from
the restaurant's program. But my husband's intuition is that this is not a coincidence, so I can completely
refuse to accept this expensive gift. Because the husband does not directly decide the refusal to accept the
gift, the denial will not affect the cooperative relationship between the two parties.