Case Study for Alcoa Core Values in Practice - myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theCase Study for Alcoa Core Values in Practice. Answer: Alcoa, also known as the Aluminium Company of America is a company that was established in 1888 and is a powerhouse in the aluminum sector. The company is characterized by a spirit of innovation and over the years has also received numerous awards for practicing high ethical standards (Paul, 2008). This paper looks at various facets of ethics as pertains to Alcoa. Alcoas Ethical Work Climate Alcoas ethical climate can be considered as organizationally-based. This is because the company has always had a culture that is value-based, and this applies to all global branches. The company had maintained most of its values and documented them since 1985 when Fred Fetterolf was the president. The company has established programs that have enabled a focus on ethics and compliance across the business (ALCOA, 2018). The company has made it a policy to make sure that ethics is instilled in each of the employees that join the company. Due to its ethical policies, the company has been able to receive some awards that are ethics-related (Weber, 2015). The company keeps revising its guide to business conduct which is a 22-page document that aims at clarifying to the employees the responsibilities that they have towards all the companys stakeholders and one another. The basic theme of the guide is, Do what is Right. How Top Management has Influenced Ethics The top management of Alcoa has had an integral part in the companys current ethical culture. In 1994, the then Chief Operating Officer, Alain Belda started streamlining processes that saw the company be ready to embrace change swiftly. Perry Minnis was appointed as Ethics and Compliance Director in 2000, and while he was at the helm, he came up with a program called the Integrity System. This was used in training staff and suppliers on ethical and safety policies of Alcoa. The program applied to all countries and was targeted to specific employees. It is mandatory that employees follow the program or they can face disciplinary action. Another step that the company has taken is the ethics auditors having to follow strict guidelines and being audited independently by audit firms. Suppliers are also involved and educated via the integrity system (ALCOA, 2018). These policies have enabled the employees to work ethically hence focus on company performance, hence making Alcoa the top comp any globally in the aluminum sector. Two Cultural Questions that Apply to Alcoa The two cultural questions that can apply to Alcoa are how do we deal with the time difference and what is our emotional style. Alcoa, when it comes to time has a monochronic culture. The company is used to working with schedules and doing things in an organized manner. They like pre-arranged meetings with agendas that have been well set-out. Since the company operates globally, they have found themselves in cultures that are polychromic, and for the sake of business, they have had to adapt. When it comes to emotions, Alcoa is the type of company that has a neutral culture since in the workplace it is important how one displays their emotions (Ferraro Briody, 2017). They encourage managers to be there for the employees and issues to be resolved amicably. References ALCOA (2018). Home. [Online]. Retrieved from https://www.alcoa.com/global/en/home.asp Ferraro, G. P., Briody, E. K. (2017).The cultural dimension of global business. Taylor Francis. Paul, K. (2008). Corporate sustainability, citizenship and social responsibility reporting.Journal of Corporate Citizenship,32(32), 63-78. Weber, J. (2015). Investigating and assessing the quality of employee ethics training programs among US-based global organizations.Journal of Business Ethics,129(1), 27-42.