Spring 2007 Issue - NIU College of Business - Northern Illinois ...

Cover Focus | The Honor CodeNIU BELIEF Initiative corporate sponsors as represented by (back row, left to right): Tom Sexton, businessmanager, Caterpillar; Haydee Olinger, vice president and global compliance manager, McDonald’s; Rick Plotz,vice president human resources, Experian; Steve Hajdukovic (B.S. Accountancy ’90), audit partner, KPMG;Christina Pierce (B.S. Accountancy ’01), campus development manager, KPMG. Front row, left to right: BrianTalley, business support supervisor, Caterpillar; Sarah Stepanek (B.S. Communications ’06), human resourcemanager, Target; Maria Gilleece, human resource manager, Target; Matt Besler (B.S. Sociology ’91), directorof public relations, Experian.KKPMG. KPMG articulated a Global Code of Conduct todefine the values and standards by which KPMG doesbusiness through its worldwide network of member firms.With KPMG’s core value of Integrity as its foundation, theGlobal Code of Conduct discusses fundamental ethicalprinciples and lists resources and tools to uphold thoseprinciples. The Global Code works in tandem with the codesof KPMG’s member firms in 144 countries. These MemberFirm Codes more specifically detail compliance standards,local laws, policies, and professional standards, as well aslist resources for consultation and assistance. At KPMG,good corporate citizenship also includes volunteer effortssuch as “Make a Difference Day,” in which teams of KPMGemployees give back to their local communities. Previous“Make a Difference Day” efforts included, among others,painting rooms in a homeless shelter, planting gardens fora children’s home, and supporting disabled persons as arunning partner during a sports tournament. Additionally,after the 2004 Tsunami, KPMG funded the building of fivevillages in Sri Lanka, providing homes for 180 families. (SeeKPMG’s governance documents at www.kpmg.com/About/MWeStand/.)McDonald’s. McDonald’s remains grounded in founderRay Kroc’s motto: “Whatever we are doing today, wecan do better tomorrow.” Progress on the company’sgoals, governance, and extensive compliance activitiesare reported each year through McDonald’s WorldwideCorporate Responsibility Report. The report also includesseveral sections outlining McDonald’s standards for ethicsand quality. To strengthen its social and environmentalprograms, McDonald’s works with the Ceres StakeholderGroup, a coalition of investors, environmental organizations,and public interest groups. As listed in the 2006 WorldwideCorporate Responsibility Report, McDonald’s is addressingthe two issues identified by Ceres: 1) current trends inobesity, and 2) the impact of packaging materials on climatechange. Along with the Worldwide Corporate ResponsibilityReport, McDonald’s advances an “Open Door” campaign, akey component of the company’s values and transparencybasedculture. Instituted in 2001, the first “Open Door Day”was an invitation for anyone who wanted to see what wenton inside the company to go through any part of nearly 400McDonald’s restaurants, the main corporate office, threemajor suppliers, and two advertising agencies. McDonald’sengages in a number of philanthropic and social initiatives.Perhaps the best known of these is the children’s charityRonald McDonald House, for which McDonald’s raised $60.9million worldwide in 2005. (See the McDonald’s WorldwideCorporate Responsibility Report at www.mcdonalds.com/corp/values/report.html.)TTarget. Target consistently ranks as one of the mostphilanthropic companies in the country. In a November 2005article, Forbes ranked Target as the highest cash-givingcompany in the U.S. And in fact, Target’s corporate bylawsstate that the firm must give 5% of its pre-tax operatingprofits to charity. To date, Target has given more than $183million to schools across the U.S. through its Take Chargeof Education program, whereby a percentage of chargesapplied to a Target Visa is given to schools designated bythe cardholder. Target’s ethical standards are captured inits Business Conduct Guide, which is distributed throughoutthe company. As Target has relationships with thousandsof vendors, the firm created its Corporate ComplianceOrganization to enforce, through various activities, Target’sstandards for vendors. Some of these activities includerandom audits of vendor and subcontractor manufacturingfacilities. Target also actively engages in vendor education,and quality assurance and vendor selection practices, whichrequire individual factories to meet all legal labor standardsand conditions, among other measures. As demonstrationof Target’s commitment to ensuring that the products inits stores are made in full compliance with the law, Targetjoined 250 other retailers as a signatory of the National RetailFederation’s “Statement of Principles on Suppliers LegalCompliance.” (See Target’s governance documents at sites.target.com/images/corporate/about/pdfs/corp_responsibility_report_0406.pdf.)summarized by Michelle De JeanBusiness Network 2007 | 11