Established as the older company of the two, Lowe’s ranks forty-second as a Fortune 500 company. Established in 1946 as a small hardware business, Lowe’s has grown into a 40,000 product, global market enterprise that consist of 1,710 stores nationwide expanding into the countries of Canada, Mexico and Australia (Lowe's Internal, 2010) Home Depot, founded in 1978, is the fastest growing retailer in the United States. Ranked twenty-ninth as a Fortune 500 company, Home Depot continues to remain the number one do-it-yourself retail store in America. These two companies may sell products of the same nature, but comparing their Code of Ethics is their way of setting themselves apart. (Home Depot Internal, 2009)
Lowe’s begins their manual with an Introduction that includes employees’ and Board of Directors’ together. Lowe’s feels employees’ are equal and expects their executives to follow the same rules of conduct. Lowe’s includes ethics and code of conduct together as a framework of principles’ to guide employees’ in their day-to-day conduct. (Lowe's Internal, 2010)
Home Depot provides an Introduction as a message for their employees’ only. By sharing the responsibility for protecting and advancing the company’s reputation and ethics as well as values, drive business strategies and activities. Home Depot provides straightforward information about operating principles, and expectations for Associates of The Home Depot to conduct themselves. (Home Depot Internal, 2008)
Lowe’s and Home Depot introduce each other in a message that clarifies their own explanation of Code of Ethics. Both encourage doing the right thing while performing a job that may not always cover all situations. However, employees’ are provided a strategic map that may...
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...uct and Ethics. Retrieved April 7, 2011, from Home Depot: http://ir.homedepot.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=63646&p=irol-govConduct
Home Depot Internal. (2010). Corporate Financial Overview. Retrieved April 7, 2011, from Home Depot: http://corporate.homedepot.com/en_US/Corporate/Public_Relations/Online_Press_Kit/Docs/Corp_Financial_Overview.pdf
Home Depot Internal. (2009). Our History. Retrieved April 7, 2011, from Home Depot: http://corporate.homedepot.com/wps/portal/History
Lowe's Internal. (2010). Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. Retrieved April 7, 2011, from Lowe's: http://investor.shareholder.com/lowes/documentDisplay.cfm?DoucumentID=3627
Lowe's Internal. (2010). Company Overview. Retrieved April 7, 2011, from Lowe's: http://medica.lowes.com/company+overview
Lowe's Internal. (2010). Our Heritage. Retrieved April 7, 2011, from Lowe's: http://media.lowes.com/history
A code of ethics is essential in today business world, and customers honestly base a company’s reputation on these bases. Simply defined a code of ethics is a set of core values designed to help professionals manage a business that is honest and possess integrity. For example, a code of ethics document should highlight the mission and the values of a business. As well as, illustrate how professionals should approach issues, the ethical principles based on the company’s core values, and caliber to which the professionals are held. It is highly critical that a company like the Cheesecake Factory withholds an ethical and socially responsive code of conduct.
In the early 2000’s Lowe’s was rapidly intensifying its presence nationwide. The company carried a varied assortment of home improvement products and catered to the needs of retail as well as commercial business customers. Lowe’s expanded their reach by acquiring a 41-store chain, Eagle Hardware and Garden, and engaging in a strategic alliance with HGTV to obtain a more profound existence in their market (Rouse, 2005). By 2004, Lowe’s operated almost 1,000 stores with plans to continue expansion across the nation (Rouse, 2005). The company has a core competency in helping customers meet their home improvement needs at a low price. In order to use this core competency to gain a competitive advantage, the company has focused on key functional strategies. To continue their success, Lowe’s must specifically focus on marketing, logistics, and human resource management strategies.
Companies that do not take steps to ensure appropriate associate conduct will be penalized by their constituents and erode public confidence in our free enterprise system” (Kroger, 2014, p. 1). Therefore, as one of the largest retail grocers in the country, they are sincere about their obligation to follow the law and ensure transparency in their operations. Additionally, their core values support the goal of maintaining an ethical workplace, which includes: honesty, integrity, respect, diversity, safety, and
By proactively addressing ethical issues with a code of conduct, Raiders Inc. can set the standard regarding how they want employees to behave. Employee can be trained on the company code of ethics so they understand how their company expects them to respond. They can also train them on the biases of decision making, to make sure they are aware of the pitfalls that exist. (Robbins & Coulter, 2012)
The Home Depot Report Record First Quarter 2004 Earnings. (2004, Mar 18). Retrieved Feb 19, 2005, from http://ir.homedepot.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=135414&ShSect=E
Home Depot is currently the largest home improvement retailer in the world. Co-Founded by Bernie Marcus and Arthur blank in 1978 and later went public in 1981. (Exibit* - Stock Performance). Home Depot currently sells products in more than 2,200 stores in North America reaching out to customers both through brick and motor stores as well as its online stores.
The company was founded in 1978 in Atlanta, Georgia by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, and grew rapidly, with sales topping $1 billion annually by 1986. From the moment of its foundation, HD has continued to grow constantly by targeting strong markets with many new homeowners and young people such as New Orleans.Home Depot managed to grow fast by quickly adapting to change and continued to be successful by holding fast to the culture and values of the organization.
Home Depot was founded in 1978 by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank in Atlanta, Georgia. With their store, Marcus and Blank revolutionized the do-it-yourself home improvement market in the United States. Home Depot began as a very basic store, operated in a large, no-frills warehouse. Home Depot carries over 35,000 products, with national brand names along with the Home Depot brand. At the start, Home Depot was able to offer exceptional customer service with knowledgeable employees who could guide customers through home renovation projects. Since its opening, Home Depot has experienced incredible growth, and today is North America's second largest retailer, and the largest home improvement retailer. Internationally, Home Depot has expanded into Canada, Mexico, and is beginning to operate stores in China. Home Depot's competition includes Sears, Ace Hardware and Lowes (the main competitor).
Home Depot is built on the principle of creating value for our stockholders while never forgetting our values. We seek to be profitable, responsible and balance the needs of our communities. Throughout our company, our associates are challenged with finding ways in which we can provide the best products for our customers, provide the best possible work environment for our associates, have a positive impact on the communities in which we operate, and provide excellent returns for our stockholders.
In today’s global society, a Code of Ethics policy is used to label established, acceptable behaviors among that industry’s business associates, potential investors, and the corporation’s executive officers and employees, and most important, the consumer (Ethics Resource Center, 2003). In an attempt to promote an increased efficiency and productivity potential level, among employees and prospective clients, a corporation’s standard Code of Ethics should guide its members toward a more in-depth examination of their personal moral activity, and how these actions affect the people or acquaintances they encounter. A company should utilize this strategy as a model for the professional behaviors and responsibilities of its constituents, and proves the occupational advancement of that business. Ethics are important in every level of a corporation, but specifically in the day-to-day actions of its members, and the image the company broadcasts to its associates is fundamental in building a stable business foundation. These pledges are a vital communication tool used to covey the firm’s standards for business operations, and predominantly, its relationships with the surrounding communities (Ethics Resource Center, 2003).
The founders of The Home Depot, Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, set the foundation of their company on eight core values that are transferable to any business. Their tools for success included:
The importance of having a code of ethics is to define acceptable behaviors and promote higher standards of practice within a company. The code should provide a benchmark for...
Our Vision at AT&T – connect people with their world, everywhere they live and work, and do it better than anyone else – is what unifies us as a company. In order to fulfill that mission, each of us is responsible for protecting AT&T’s longstanding reputation as an ethical, reliable, and honest business. The employees of AT&T represent that reputation to the public. This Code of Business Conduct sets out certain fundamental commitments we make to each other, to our customers, to our shareholders, and to all who have a stake in AT&T’s success. No Code of Business Conduct can provide rules that cover every situation or challenge. This important document serves each of us as a guide to our ethical commitments and leads us to ethical decisions
To provide an example of a breach of ethical conduct in the workplace, we may remember the case of a financial manager in a corporation that decided not to pay overtime to some employees. After a deep outside investigation, the company was summoned with thousands of dollars to remedy the payment that was supposed to be paid to all employees who worked more than forty hours per week. Again, it is needed more than just a booklet stating that the company adheres to the code of business ethics. It is needed serious managers that can run the company with the most seriousness as possible. Consequently, any written codes of business ethics, regardless of how well it has been crafted, need people that adhere to its internal content with a serious desire to do the right thing.
While our organization prides itself in a well-defined and thorough code of ethics, there are occasions where situations arise, but the solution is not clearly defined within our code. In such a case, it is critical to develop a decision making framework that allows our employees to make a decision while operating within the moral guidelines of our corporation. In the hope that we can eliminate discrepancies, Royal Dutch Shell has created an ethical decision strategy that will make clear the ethical standings of our corporation and ensure a consistent decision making process. Our decision making process is focused on our stakeholders, and how we can maximize their benefit.