MBA - C206 task 3 - Passed PDF

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Viktoriya Shpuganich Course:C206 12/22/2020

A1. The company that I chose is the Mayo Clinic, where the code of conduct is relatively standard and represents its rules. The principle of ethics is essential for any organization since it does set a standard for employees to follow and help the company understand what is ethically acceptable. The record is unambiguous on ethical standards and allows the company to keep its honesty and be compliant with any current moral ordinance. The document exhibits a significant amount of information that helps the organization attain corporate social responsibility. The organization’s patients and employees are the main stakeholders, and at the beginning of the code of conduct, it clearly states that the patients come first. It precisely shows the organization’s central values and how they must meet all of their patient needs. The Mayo Clinic has a sense of responsibility to their patients and believes they can achieve this goal through teamwork and integrity. The clinic’s code of practice expresses how they fulfill corporate social responsibility towards their patients and employees by having a sense of respect towards them and treating all with compassion. In the code of conduct, the Mayo Clinic has made equality and education a legal obligation by selecting or promoting employees who show individual uniqueness and potential that help fulfill the organization’s goals. The Mayo Clinic not only has a corporate social responsibility to their staff; they also have an obligation to the community. Through their immense research about health needs, the Mayo Clinic has made the surrounding community

more aware of the social and environmental impact on society. A tremendous amount of the Mayo Clinic’s CSR is related to its effect on the environment by stating in the code of conduct that their goal is to minimize the negative impact it may have on the community and ensure they are sustaining natural resources. The code of conduct clearly states that the company must fulfill its obligation to society by following safety procedures and pollution control processes. A2. The purpose of legal mandates is to ensure that organizations have a set of rules and regulations they need to comply with. In this case, the Mayo Clinic needs a legal structure that revolves around patient safety and quality care. These traditional structures make sure that healthcare organizations comply with all healthcare standards, making all healthcare abide by the same structured rules. The Mayo Clinic’s code of conduct distinctly displays these legal mandates and amplifies these mandates' importance. The organization ensures there’s an incredible amount of information regarding the HIPAA regulations and emphasizes the importance of patient privacy. A second mandate that is defined in the code of conduct is the Stark Law. This regulation speaks of the physician self-referral principle and healthcare fraud. Additionally, the document demonstrates its stand against bargains or gifts from the organization’s suppliers or business partners, potentially violating the Stark Law law. Finally, the code of conduct comprehensively mentions the False Claims Acts, including information around the fabrication of records and making fraudulent claims.

A2a. Being non-compliant with the legal mandates can result in the organization receiving a significant financial loss, so the clinic has hired a compliance officer. A compliance officer can ensure the organization follows legal guidelines and help guide the organization into compliance. Since the Mayo Clinic deals with highly confidential patient information, they need to make sure they are cooperative with the HIPAA laws. If not, violating the HIPPA law can result in a federal lawsuit and even leaving the organization without accreditations. This can be a significant loss for the organization because other hospitals and insurance companies require healthcare credentials to work together. Additionally, the Medicare and Medicaid services need all healthcare facilities to go through the credentialing process every few years to receive their reimbursements. These reimbursements are essential for the clinic to operate, and if they do not accept these funds, it could potentially result in the shutdown of the entire clinic. Non-compliance with legal regulations can cause the reputation of the organization. This could become a massive issue for the organization since much information is available on the internet. Most patients do their research on the clinics they want to attend to ensure they are receiving care from compliant facilities with legal requirements. Once patients find out that the clinic they wish to receive care from does not follow legal mandates, they will turn it down and go elsewhere. The inpatient population could be the clinic's downfall, causing a reduction in employee compensation and even a decrease in clinic profit. This damage could be so significant that it could

leave a permanent negative effect on the organization where it could be extremely detrimental and hard to fix. A2b. The Mayo Clinic has implemented safeguards against any unethical acts or any illegal actions. The clinic has enforced a compliance and integrity department that will help the institution comply with government regulations and ensure the clinic is protected against any legal actions. The Compliance Officer is responsible for leading the integrity and compliance department and ensuring they are up to date with the latest law ordinance. By having this department in place, the organization can confidently rely on subject matter expertise regarding ethics, law regulations, and compliance. This will help the organization stay on track with legal compliance and stay away from lawsuits that will harm the clinic. The second safeguard that the Mayo Clinic has implemented is the compliance program, where they provide integrity training to all staff. This type of exercise offers ethics guidance, in-depth code of conduct information, and HIPAA law. Additionally, the practice is mandatory for all connect partners and vendors that work with the Mayo Clinic. This will make sure that all personnel is up to date with healthcare laws and ethics training. A3. The Mayo Clinic has created a culture that values ethics, and it most likely has taken many years to develop. Establishing a solid ethical culture is not easy to achieve and does not happen right away; it takes a lot of practice and dedication from the organization. In the code of conduct, The Mayo Clinic has clearly stated how important it is to have a robust ethical culture since the culture is the foundation of any company. It

displays the behavior a company has. Having a positive ethical culture promotes a positive attitude for all employees and ensures staff is excited to follow the code of conduct. The company cannot make every employee ecstatic about the company’s values. Still, if the organization has a robust ethical structure, it can significantly influence the overall employees and follow ethical protocol. Without this in place, the organization is at high risk of not correctly attending to ethical dilemmas. Instead of having a standard in the area where everyone responds similar to ethics situations, not having one in place could create confusion for the staff and cause the company to stray away from their goals. The clinic’s code of conduct is very clear of their employees' expectations and mentions how important it is to have a culture is based on ethics. Additionally, should the employees face any moral conflicts, the code of conduct visibly displays the available resources to the organization, such as the compliance department. Employees can be directed there to help with problematic situations they face and gain more guidance around ethics. A4. A company must provide information on ethical concerns to their employees. That is why the Mayo Clinic has clearly stated in their code of conduct which ethical concerns employees should escalate and what to do if one should arise. Any concern should first be escalated to the leadership of the organization, such as managers and supervisors. If the leadership can not handle the situation, they can escalate it further to the compliance department, where subject matter experts can provide guidance. The clinic’s code of ethics provides the employees with the Chief Compliance Officer contact information, 507-284-9029, and the Mayo Clinic’s online reporting system, which is also

anonymous. Additionally, if the staff does not feel comfortable contacting the clinic’s compliance department, they can get the unknown Compliance Hotline number at 1-888-721-5391. This service is excellent for employees who want to remain unidentified, and the Compliance Hotline also provides interpreting services if there should be a language barrier.

A4a. If I were to be an employee at the Mayo Clinic, I would feel confident in the resources I had available should I report an ethical concern. Each ethical dilemma is to be considered on an individual basis, and should there be a simple concern, I would take the first step in contacting my management. If the situation is more complex, I will get the Chief Compliance Officer or the Integrity department to report the issue. I could be confident that experts could provide me professional guidance. If I were to be faced with a situation where I felt uncomfortable reporting, I would contact the Compliance hotline or submit a report via the internet since they both are anonymous. B1. When employees feel as though there may be some ethical dilemmas in the organization, they could think as whistleblowing is their last resort. Deciding to whistleblow can sometimes be challenging to make and can sometimes be an excellent risk for the employee. Before the employee chooses to whistle-blow, they need to consider the situation at hand and assess it: First, they would need to consider how passionate they are about the situation. Second, they would need to think about the intention behind pulling the trigger.

Thirdly, they need to think about developing strong relationships with leadership and people of influence. Fourthly, the benefits and risks need to be thoroughly investigated once the action is fulfilled. Fifthly, the individual needs to ponder the whistleblowing's timing and ask themselves to escalate now. Finally, if the outcome does not turn out as expected, the individual needs to consider alternative routes to achieve a better result. B2. Once the employee takes all of the information above into consideration and still feels as if whistleblowing is their last resort, they should take significant steps to make it a success. Some of the internal and external reporting steps that the employee should consider before whistleblowing are, consulting with their management and discussing the ethical dilemma they face with their family since their family may be affected by this decision. If the concern isn’t addressed by management, the employee should escalate this matter to a higher level. Fourthly, the employee can report the ethical dilemma to the organization’s compliance department and discuss the concern with the Chief Compliance Officer. Fifthly, suppose the employee feels that the compliance department is not providing guidance or escalating the issue. They can report the concern to a different department, such as the HR department. If the employee feels as though they are not being heard, and the matter is not being escalated, they can always seek help from government officials or even the media. Lastly, if all fails, the employee can quit and seek employment elsewhere.

C. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street and Consumer Protection Act was implemented in 2009 and provided full protection for an employee if they choose whistleblow against a company they work for. This act ensures that the employee information is secure so that they do not face work retaliation. This act provides a financial reward to employees who inform the government of any company wrongdoing that may result in a fine of over a million dollars. An excellent tip for whistleblowing may result in a high compensation or the government recovering large amounts of money that would have been lost. By compensating employees for whistleblowing, other sources can also come forward and back up the confidential information and lead to a company being investigated by the government. The disadvantage of compensating whistleblowers is that some individuals won’t inform the government of ethical concerns a company is committing to do the right thing. Instead, they only think of themselves and how the compensation will benefit them. In a sense, paying a whistleblower is as paying someone for doing the right thing, and instead of the individual doing the right thing for no compensation, they will only rat out their company if there is money involved. The last disadvantage is that once an individual decides to be a source to the government and state what unethical actions their company is taking, they may notice work retaliation and even be labeled as the company's snitch, leading to an unhealthy work environment. Due to whistleblowing, many employees have lost everything in their life, to the point where compensation can no longer be of assistance since their reputation has been ruined.

D. The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines have changed the way organizations operate by making ethics in the workplace highly valued. These guidelines were provided as the foundation for companies to create their own internal rules on how they should structure their code of conduct and which unethical behavior is unacceptable. These regulations were set in place for organizations to mandate various types of ethics programs and to ensure that all companies have an ethical standard that they go by and value. Additionally, the regulations help determine if companies do not have ethical rules in place and can even ensure they get fined for not following the protocols. These fines or penalties from the U.S Sentencing Guidelines Commission could result in organizations taking ethical behavior into significant consideration and can change the way they operate. D1. Under the United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines, several factors are considered when determining which fine to give to a company. They include the organizations sizing or the patience it has toward the unethical act, the organization’s history of the same unethical behavior, and if the company participated in the delay or hindrance of an active inquiry. On the other hand, if the organization chooses to comply and be transparent about reporting unethical behavior in the workplace, they could reduce their government fines. Any organizations that choose to write their delinquency show that they accept their wrongdoing and take responsibility for their actions, which could lead to a reduction in federal penalty fines....