Introduction: Commonwealth Bank of Australia
In the banking sector in Australia, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia is one of the giants considering the huge number of employees and the amount of money that is transacted through it (Behnke, 2006). Because of this, it is bound to experience a lot of problems which when not properly addressed may result to its failure as a banking institution (Bossaert, 2011). The solutions to these problems are debated upon by the stakeholders and a decision in the form of a code of conduct or rules is reached, where everyone is expected to follow (Cini, 2016).
One of the problems experienced by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia is discrimination. Discrimination in organizations is a major subject matter in today’s business community. The surge in cultural and gender diversity in Australian firms has obliged employees from different ethnicities and backgrounds to work together to accomplish the objectives of the company. Sorry to say, differences between people have a tendency to lead to misunderstandings, and result in conflict and discrimination. Sexual discrimination, racial discrimination or even age discrimination is greatly experienced in the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Bossaert, 2011). These forms of discrimination, for example age discrimination occurs in instances where older employees refuse to give up their positions to the youth who are more conversant with the current trends. This has been experienced severally (Cini, 2016). Case in point is where one of the older bank Managers in the Commonwealth Bank of Australia refused to leave office for a younger employee. Such incidences can be avoided by ensuring that during the recruiting and employment period, the employees sign contracts which contain their retirement age (Cini, 2016). This will enable the Bank as an institution to take action against anyone who goes against the initial agreement.
On racial discrimination, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia should ensure that in all its departments, employee performance is closely monitored and only the best performing employee in those departments are given promotions regardless of the race (Bossaert, 2011). Adopting anti-racial policies such as harsh punishment or even dismissal of staff found to be practicing racism can also be of great importance (Cini, 2016). The same should be applied to whoever is found practicing sexual discrimination. this will go a long way to ensure that all the employees are satisfied as there will be no favoritism in the institution and everyone will only get rewarded based on their performance (Cropanzano, 2010). This will improve service delivery and ensure employee satisfaction (Cropanzano, 2010).
Discrimination in the Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Handling exploitation at the workplace is growing challenge for many institutions and establishments, the Commonwealth bank of Australia being of them. Exploitation is defined as the act of using resources or the act of treating people unjustly in order to take advantage of their efforts or labor (Tomita, 2016). In many cases, the managers seriously exploit their juniors (De Schrijver, 2014). This they do by overworking them, not paying in goodtime, not rewarding their effort by giving them promotions, generally mistreating and even physically abusing them (Demmke, 2015). The most common form of exploitation in the Australian Commonwealth Bank is overworking and not unsystematic and unfair promotions where other hardworking employees are left without being promoted while the other employees are promoted (Feldheim, 2013). This can be curbed by ensuring that there is a policy and a penalty for the managers who fail to recognize the employee’s hard work and rewarding the employee. This will ensure that only the deserving employees get rewards (Fleming, 2012). This will motivate the entire organization hence ensuring proper service delivery to their clients (Demmke, 2015).
Corruption, dishonesty and fraud are major challenge to several organizations and the world in general has not exempted the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Some of the employees in a bid to acquire wealth get engaged in corruption practices. Some use the institution’s property as their own (Cini, 2016). For example, there are some employees who use the vehicles meant for carrying out official duties for the institution to do their personal jobs (Feldheim, 2013). However much the institution may reward their employees, there are some who were still found to be engaging in these immoral misconducts and behaviors (Bossaert, 2011).
The employees and employee recruiters of the Commonwealth bank of Australia were found to be taking bribes so as to recruit under qualified staff (Frank, 2010). This is against the policies of the institutions and a backward step towards the realization of the vision of the institution as a result; many of the objectives set out by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia cannot be achieved. Some of the employees and managers involved in the procurement of services and office items required by the staff would also overcharge the institution (Frank, 2010). This they do by stating prices higher than what the actual price is. This in return inflates the running costs hence the Commonwealth Bank of Australia is constantly not able to realize their target profit hence their visions are not realized in the estimated period (Jarvis, 2009).
Exploitation at the Workplace in the Commonwealth Bank of Australia
In some cases, the employees gain unauthorized access to their clients’ accounts and steal their money. The employees even collude with criminals and allow them to gain access to the customers’ personal details which they then use to access the accounts and steal from them. Such cases have been reported (Feldheim, 2013). Case in point is the incident where several complains of children’s accounts being tampered with and money being withdrawn or transferred to other banks without the authorization of the said transactions by the account holders (Kish-Gephart, 2010). Fraudulent practices such as money laundering and allowing corruption suspects to transact the monetary proceeds gained from such activities to keep their money in the banks have also been reported (Cini, 2016). This can be dealt with by allowing the government bodies mandated to fight such vices to gain access to the said accounts and establish who is involved so that they can be dealt with accordingly (Cini, 2016).
On the whole understanding, an informer is an individual who has access to information, normally retrieved from their respective work areas or their area of specialties (Jarvis, 2009). The said information is mostly about unscrupulous and prohibited practices or activities that are forbidden in an organization and the individual who volunteers to give such information (Fleming, 2012). Actual and sensible whistleblower activities, with the ability and proficiency of allowing the reception and acting on tips given by informants and whistleblowers in a well-organized as well as operative method, besides caring for them and guarding them against any form of vengeance which may cause them, are an important aspect of current commercial control and hazard controlling structures (Mark, 2014).
Inappropriate handling of the informants may result into great loss of monetary resources, important mutilation to the institutions name and complete damage of confidence (Cropanzano, 2010). For that reason the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, on top of meeting governmental necessities, has made certain that their individual inside informer activities to ensure that early documentation of commercial misbehavior are kept alive and given full support (Frank, 2010).
The activities are become intricate for the reason that, with the intention of being operative, it will be necessary relate to numerous corporate outlines and frequently from corner to corner with numerous authorities with contradictory prospects.
The Australian Bankers’ Association has involved Promontory Australasia Company Promontory to support in consolidation of the ethics of informer defenses throughout the banking trade (Behnke, 2006). Promontory has steered an open evaluation of foreign informer guidelines and activities, in addition to native and worldwide supervisory necessities, to inaugurate the essential fundamentals of a best-practice informer activities. As soon as unsurpassed-activities fundamental basics are taken into consideration and are recognized, the informer strategies are looked over and a model of informer strategies of the commonwealth Bank of Australia are evaluated to determine their configuration with the unsurpassed-practice activities (Fleming, 2012). Promontory had not carried out a recognized investigation of practices in global banks (Behnke, 2006). The informer performances in the other Australian banks were also not carried out or evaluation on exactly how the strategies ought to be used and abided by in exercise (Bossaert, 2011).
Corruption, Dishonesty and Fraudulent Behaviour
There is no existence of any whistleblower rule or even setting in Australia. Above all, the general population in addition to business zones carries out activities beneath dissimilar informer regulations (Fleming, 2012). Despite the fact that the general public zone outline is all-inclusive, regulations overriding the business zone are well thought-out as moderately feeble. Beneath the Corporations and Banking Acts, definite revelations using informers meet the requirements for fortification against unfair treatment, fortification against definite legal responsibility and constitutional rights to privacy (Fleming, 2012).
The exposés that meet the requirements, on the other hand, are by a hair’s breadth demarcated and relate only to revelation to definite persons in relative to unambiguous breaking of the law. Additionally, these revelations are not to be made in disguise. Even though Australian Prudential Regulation Authority ethics make need for banks to have interior informer strategies, neither the Australian Securities and Investments Commission nor Australian Prudential Regulation Authority make available any in depth guidance to the fundamentals that ought to be contained in the interior of a core informer program (Fleming, 2012). Large quantities of current evaluations have made sure that the acknowledged noteworthy insufficiencies in Australia’s business informer agenda. It remains probable that the informer necessities will go through some firming up in the future (Cooper, 2012). A study scheme has correspondingly started, with provision from Australian Securities and Investments Commission, fixated on cultivating supervision replies to informing in cloistered zone establishments (Frank, 2010)
References
Behnke, N., 2006. Ethics as Apple Pie – The Arms Race of Ethical Standards in congressional and presidential campaigns.. Washington DC, Political Science press.
Bossaert, D., 2011. Main Challenges in the Field of Ethics and Integrity in Australia journal. 7, 3(2), pp. 1-19.
Cini, M., 2016. From integration to integrity. Administrative ethics and reform in the. London, Manchester University Press..
Cooper, T. L., 2012. The Responsible Administrator.. The Sydney Workers Journal, 5(1), pp. 3-9.
Cropanzano, R., 2010. Social Justice and the Experience of Emotion.. Routledge Academic journal, 5(1), pp. 6-29.
De Schrijver, A., 2014. Fairness perceptions and organisational misbehaviour: an empirical study. Australian Review of Public Sector Journal, 40(6), pp. 12-26.
Demmke, C., 2015. Regulating Conflicts of Interest for Holders of Public Office in the European Union. Maastricht: EIPA, 12 June, pp. 13-97.
Feldheim, M., 2013. Ethics and Public Trust Public Integrity,. Australian Ethical Journal, 1( 63-75.), p. 6.
Fleming, J. &. H. I. (. ‘., 2012. Motivating ethical conduct in government ministers. Public IntegrityJournal, 5(1), pp. 64-84.
Frank, A., 2010. The Pursuit of Absolute Integrity. American Political Science Journal, 1(23), pp. 23-47.
Frankel, M. S., 2011. Professional Codes: Why, How, and with what Impact?’. Journal of Business Ethics,, 7(1), pp. 49-78.
Jarvis, M. D. &. T. P. G., 2009. ‘The Limits of Accountability: what can and cannot be accomplished in the Dialectics of Accountability?’. 17 November, pp. 13-90.
Kish-Gephart, J., 2010. Meta-analytic Evidence about Sources of Unethical Decisions at work. Journal of Applied Psychology,, 95(1), pp. 1-38.
Mark, B., 2014. Analysing and Assessing Accountability: A Conceptual Framework’.. European law Journal, 4(1), pp. 3-9.
Tomita, A., 2016. Exploitation of On-Demand Workers:A Corporate Accountability Issue of Amazon. Journal of Global Policy and Strategy, Issue UCSD – GPS CASE 16 – 10, p. 1/26