Response 1: A code of conduct is a guide that a company uses as a framework to shape all of its decisions, how staff operates and how the company interacts with its customer base. Creating a culture that is based on a strong code of conduct, is critical to the overall success of the company. In a situation where a company is devoid of ethics, the company’s leadership will not operate in an ethical fashion and decisions made may not benefit the entire company, just the leaders. The actual code of conduct should be in a written form that is accessible to all staff members and customers. “A formal, well-communicated code of ethics can also help to protect a company's reputation and legal standing in the event of a breach of ethics by an individual employee.” (Ingram, D.) It will be important for Mike and Theresa to foster the proper environment for the company’s staff via an effective, clear code of conduct. The merger brings great benefit given that the companies coming together allows the code to be designed from the ground up. The basic topics that cover how employees across regions will interact, how training will be conducted should be included in the company’s code of conduct. Items such as anti-theft, appropriate use of company assets and resources, sexual harassment, respect for others, safety regulations and anti-discrimination should all be included. Many “Publically-held companies, issuers under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, are required to establish and communicate codes of conduct.” (2009). Privately held companies are not required to establish a code of conduct. At Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, MD, the organization is big on diversity and inclusion. The very fiber of the organization is based on this. Even though Johns Hopkins Medicine is not a publicly traded company, the organization establishes written guides for all of its entities, so that there is transparency. As an institution of higher learning, portions of the code of conduct include: · Bans of opportunity loans · Bans on gifting to recruit new students · Limitations when it comes to employees being members of advisory boards of lenders As the consultant and adviser to Mike and Theresa, I recommend borrowing existing components from both companies’ code of conduct, only using that which has worked well. The code of conduct should outline of the rules and regulations as well as the subsequent consequences for violations. All consequences should be consistent with the violation. I will be working with Mike and Theresa to put a code of conduct together and make it available via the intranet. This is an exciting time for the newly merged company and I look forward to assisting. Respons 2: A Code of Conduct outlines job expectations for performing tasks with uncompromised ethics. It includes responsibilities to teammate ...