Ethical Organizations: Tim Hortons

Ethical Organizations: Tim Hortons

Introduction

Tim Hortons is a company that has been in existence for quite long. It has expanded its franchise of coffee, as well as other goods worldwide. Based on the company’s performance, one can assume that they follow their code of ethics and have no issues, but just like other companies, Tim Hortons also faces some challenges. The company presents a health reputation and this can be maintained if their code of ethics is followed. In the process of following the code of business conduct and ethics, Tim Hortons has experienced both good and bad situations and they are all discussed in this analysis. In other words, the analysis discusses the company’s code of ethics and indicates whether it is being followed or not.

The code of business conduct and ethics at Tim Hortons was approved in 2009 and then reviewed in 2012. The rules and regulations were designed for employees to present the best behavior, and agreement in their business operations. Tim Hortons’ code of conduct and ethics applies to every member of the organization as it gives the board of directors themselves the responsibility of increasing long-term shareholders’ value. Besides, they are also tasked to inspire the organization by ensuring their workforce is behaving and lastly, the code of ethics suggests that the directors have to create a favorable atmosphere that enables workers to respect and value each other. In other words, the board of directors is expected to comply with those guidelines. In the same way, workers are expected to behave, productive, and put their organization first.

Tim Hortons deserve to be considered as an ethical organization because they possess the code of ethics that much emphasizes each member to disclose any waivers and also provide them with the knowledge of committing to the designed rules. There are some crucial areas in the company’s code of ethics such as the conflict of interest. In case an individual shows interests that can harm the whole organization the regulations have a designed measure to address such a problem. The other issue that makes Tim Hortons an ethical organization comes from their corporate opportunities. This discusses the dos and don’ts of the organization, such as competition, taking things for themselves as a company, as well as operating with their business property for personal gain. The third aspect is confidentiality and this emphasizes maintenance of information or data whether for the company or customers private, which has been sustained at Tim Hortons.

Yes, Tim Hortons has a rule on discrimination, which is categorized as illegal and unethical behavior. Notably, this rule encourages all workers to report any case of unethical conduct such as discrimination of race and gender. The rule also ensures that employees become open-minded with their supervisors and managers that if one commits the above-mentioned cases, it can be easily determined and addressed following the regulations.

The same rule applies to harassment, only that Tim Hortons created a special department particularly to cater to cases of harassment. This was influenced by the ever-increasing complaints from workers that they were being harassed by their managers and supervisors. In this case, the rule enforces the department to ensure that any violation of the code of ethics concerning discrimination or harassment is reported to the company’s compliance officer and the board committee.

The code of business conduct and ethics at Tim Hortons greatly embarks on privacy and confidentiality by ensuring that all their company, employee and customer data is well managed. For instance, their employee data is guarded by trusted software and it is also backed up. In addition, Tim Hortons employs trusted companies such as HiringSmart to collect data on its behalf. By this, employees are ensured that their personal information is collected and used only in responding to their requests, as well as in conducting assessments and background checks.

Yes, Tim Hortons has a policy on safety and security and it posits that every employee has a right to feel secure and safe while working. The policy emphasizes that employees have to regularly and appropriately utilize safety equipment. Apart from that, the policy has many precautions, as well as procedures that should be followed to obtain a secure and safe working environment.

Conflict of interest is a circumstance where a person has competing loyalties or interests and it comes as a result of having duties more than one company or individual. An employee can declare a conflict of interest through nepotism; this practice involves a worker giving favors such as job opportunities to close friends and relatives. Such a practice is not good for any organization because this hired person may not be the best for the job.

Tim Hortons has put much effort into promoting the use of technology and intellectual property because the company does not want to lose its competitive advantage. It should be noted that Tim Hortons is a registered member of the Restaurant Brands International (RBI). It means that any other company that may tempt to use Tim Hortons’ intellectual property can be punished by the policies provided by RBI. Some of the companies that have been trying to use the company’s logo have been shut down. For the intellectual property produced by an employee; still, Tim Hortons owns. In this situation, it is considered that the designed intellectual property is meant for the good of Tim Hortons.

No, Tim Hortons’ code of business conduct and ethics does not address employees for their social media presence. The employee gains much from this as they are given a lot of freedom. The company only uses social media as a strategy to reach out to its customers and to build a big customer base.

This study has helped me to understand that every organization has to be with rules that govern its employees. Ideally, this will help me in the future to follow the suggest rule by the organization that I will be working for. I have also realized that no matter the size of the business, it is important to always set standard ethical conduct that can be followed by their employees.

Conclusion

The research explains Tim Hortons as a reputable fast food restaurant with both bad and good conditions. It is also noticed that even though several organizations acquire or formulate a code of conduct and ethics, it is only a few of them that implement the content of these documents. Besides, Tim Hortons has managed to expand all over the world, meaning that the CEO and their management team have to implement essential control of their opportunities through code of ethics. To sum up, Tim Hortons is reasonably exercising its code of business conduct and ethics, although they are still in business.

References

Rue, L. W., Byars, L.L., & Ibrahim, N.A. (2013). Management Skills and Application. Location: McGraw-Hill.

Tim Hortons. (2010). Business Partner and Supplier Code of Conduct. Sustainability Report. Retrieved from http://sustainabilityreport.timhortons.com/2010/pdf/Business_Partner_Supplier_Code_of_Conduct.pdf

Murray, J. (2019). What is a Conflict of Interest? Give Me Some Examples. Business Law & Taxes. Retrieved from https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-is-a-conflict-of-interest-give-me-some-examples-398192

Statista. (2017). Tim Hortons-Statistics and Facts. The Statistics Portal. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/topics/2145/tim-hortons/

Tim Hortons. (2017). Our History. Retrieved from http://www.timhortons.co.uk/our-history.php