a) Identify two Indian organizations that in your opinion are generally perceived as having

an impeccable reputation as being highly ethical. Access information about them and
enumerate the factors that could be responsible for them being perceived as highly ethical
organizations. Does this perception help these organizations in implementing the
strategies? Why or why not? CO5

Characteristics of an Ethical Organisation

Striving to earn a reputation as an ethical business is noble, but it requires commitment.

Most businesses are financially driven, and it is possible to be both ethical and successful.
But there is a fine line between making choices for financial gain and making choices that
will not adversely affect others. The ethical business knows the difference.
 Strong, Ethical Leadership
The culture of an ethical business is defined starting from the very top of the organizational
chart. For a business to be ethical, its leaders must demonstrate ethical practices in any
situation. The true test of this leadership is in the decision-making process when there is a
choice between what is ethically responsible and what will result in profit or gain.
Leaders who can consciously choose the path that is ethically correct, as opposed to one that
is purely financially driven, have successfully created an ethical culture in the business.
When the culture is solid at the top of the organization, it trickles down to all areas and
employees.
 Core Value Statement
An ethical business has a core value statement that describes its mission. Any business can
create a value statement, but an ethical business lives by it. It communicates this mission to
every employee within the structure and ensures that it is followed. The ethical business will
institute a code of conduct that supports its mission. This code of conduct is the guideline for
each employee to follow as he carries out the company's mission.
 Integrity and Fairness
Integrity is an all-encompassing characteristic of an ethical business. The ethical business
adheres to laws and regulations at the local, state and federal levels. It treats its employees
fairly, communicating with them honestly and openly. It demonstrates fair dealings with
customers and vendors including competitive pricing, timely payments and the highest
quality standards in the manufacture of its products.
 Respect for Employees and Customers
Ethics and respect go hand in hand. An ethical business demonstrates respect for its
employees by valuing opinions and treating each employee as an equal. The business shows
respect for its customers by listening to feedback and assessing needs.
An ethical business respects its vendors, paying on time and utilizing fair buying practices.
And an ethical business respects its community by being environmentally responsible,
showing concern and giving back as it sees fit.
 Loyal Relationships with Employees and Customers
Solid relationships are a cornerstone of an ethical business. Loyal relationships are mutually
beneficial and both parties reap benefits. Employees who work for a loyal employer want to
maintain the relationship and will work harder toward that end.
Vendors and customers will remain loyal to a business that is reliable and dependable in all
situations. An ethical business stays loyal to its partnerships even in challenging times. The
result is a stronger relationship when emerging from the challenge.
 Concern for People and Environment
An ethical business has concern for anyone and anything impacted by the business. This
includes customers, employees, vendors and the public. Every decision made by the business
is based on the effect it may have on any one of these groups of people, or the environment
surrounding it.
Wipro Limited and Tata Steel Ltd
Tata Steel & Wipro have been recognized as one of the 2020 World’s Most Ethical
Companies by Ethisphere, a global organization in defining and advancing the standards of
ethical business practices. In 2020, 132 honourees spanning 21 countries and 51 industries
have been recognized.
Ethisphere recognises these companies as having an impact on society as well as contributing
to positive changes in the business community and society. It also sees that the impact of the
company norms and idealogy on its employees, shareholders, customers and other
stakeholders.
"These companies also consider the impact of their actions on their employees, investors,
customers and other key stakeholders and leverage values and a culture of integrity as the
underpinnings to the decisions they make each day," Ethisphere Institute said.

Rishad Premji, Chairman, Wipro Limited said,

We are honored to be ranked amongst Ethisphere World’s Most Ethical Companies for the
ninth year in succession. At Wipro, ethical and responsible conduct has been an integral part
of the way we think and act, since inception. Our values articulated through the Spirit of
Wipro and our brand promise, reflect this in full measure. In the world we live in today, a
corporation that does not commit itself in letter and spirit to a more sustainable, just and
equitable world, will be failing in its primary duty. At Wipro, our attempt has always been to
go beyond what is required by compliance and to do the right things both at our workplace
and in our communities outside.

T. V. Narendran, CEO & MD, Tata Steel, said,

We are honored to be once again recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies.
This recognition encourages us to stay committed to the values and operating principles as
practiced by the visionary Founder leaders of the Tata Group. The Tata name evokes a sense
of Trust, Credibility, and Integrity amongst stakeholders in India and overseas. It is a
privilege to be part of the legacy and to build on this equity which has been earned so
assiduously through our ethical conduct through the years.
Tata Steel Ltd
The Tata Code of Conduct Tata Steel CONDUCT (TCoC) represents the values and core
principles that guide the conduct of every Tata business.

 Ethical behaviour is intrinsic to their business and has been part of their legacy
since inception, as envisioned by Founder, Jamsetji Tata. He believed that a
business must operate in a manner such that it respects the rights of all its
stakeholders and creates overall value for society.
 Each year, they observe the month of July as ‘Ethics Month’ across the organisation
to reinforce ethical culture.
 Tata Code of Conduct (TCoC).
 This Code serves as the ethical roadmap for Tata employees and is testament to our
determination to help our employees understand their duties and commitments
towards shared values and principles.
 Equal opportunity- provide equal opportunities to all employees and to do not
unfairly discriminate on any ground,
 Health and Safety- Suppliers shall strive to provide a safe, healthy and clean working
environment for its employees.
 Regulatory Compliance- Supplier comply with all applicable laws and regulations,
 Dignity and respect- responsible for creating a conducive work environment built on
tolerance, understanding, mutual cooperation and respect for individual privacy.
 Products and services- committed to supplying products and services of world-class
quality that meet all applicable standards.
 Fair competition
 Dealings with customers- dealings with our customers shall be professional, fair and
transparent. They respect customers’ right to privacy in relation to their personal data
 Communities- committed to good corporate citizenship, and shall actively assist in
the improvement of the quality of life of the people in the communities in which we
operate.
 Strive for environmental sustainability and comply with all applicable laws and
regulations, seek to prevent the wasteful use of natural resources and are committed
to improving the environment,
 Against Bribery and Corruption

Wipro Limited
Acting in the best interest of our customers, business partners and the public
b) A company wishes to adopt cost leadership business strategies for one of its SBUs. How
should it ensure operational effectiveness in terms of productivity, processes, people and
pace? Now, suppose after two years it wishes to change over to differentiation business
strategy. Identify the changes it should bring in its approach to operational effectiveness.
CO5.

Offering products at the lowest cost available is a strategy business often use to stimulate
growth. A company is more competitive when it can offer its products at a lower price.
Cost leadership strategy?
Cost leadership occurs when a company is the category leader for low pricing. To
successfully achieve this without drastically cutting revenue, a business must reduce costs in
all other areas of the business, such as marketing, distribution and packaging.  A cost
leadership strategy is a company’s plan to become a cost leader in its category or market. 
How to develop a cost leadership strategy?
Developing an effective cost leadership strategy takes some time, research and persistence.
Officials at a company will likely need to update its cost leadership strategy regularly to
account for price increases in labour and raw materials, changes in the market and new
competitors. Here is a how-to guide for creating a cost leadership strategy:
1. Analyse existing operations.
2. Research competitors.
3. Identify strategies to reduce costs.
4. Keep track of progress.
1. Analyse existing operations
First, assess the organization’s existing operations. It’s important to know the exact costs of
every material the company buys and the labor, administration and software that goes into the
production of goods and services. This should include costs that may have been overlooked,
such as invoicing software, grammar-check subscriptions and word processing software. If
the company needs the expense to create its products, those costs should be accounted for in
sales prices.
2. Research competitors
Next, thoroughly research competitors. Companies should find out as much as they can about
other businesses’ processes and costs so they can identify competitors. Assessing a
competitor’s operations can help a company improve its own costs or processes, even if it
doesn’t become a cost leader. 
3. Identify strategies to reduce costs
Finally, identify strategies that can help to drive down costs and develop actionable plans for
implementing these strategies into the business’s operations. This might include following up
with suppliers, creating larger supply orders and introducing new technology into the
business.
For example, after pressure from workers about compensation, fast food restaurants began to
implement touch screen ordering kiosks in select stores. This piece of technology helps to
reduce the number of employees needed to run the cash register and makes existing
employees available to complete other tasks, including customer service.
4. Keep track of progress
As company leaders implement cost leadership strategies, they must find ways to measure
and monitor progress. Cost leadership is a process, and many companies repeat these steps
with some regularity.

IKEA
Needless to say, the famous Swedish furniture retailer has absolutely revolutionized the
furniture industry.
By producing huge quantities of standardized products that people can actually assemble
themselves, IKEA has gained a significant competitive advantage with its cost leadership
strategy. Today, the multinational group operates 433 stores across 52 countries.
IKEA is an absolute leader in the furniture industry it adopt cost leadership business
strategies by-
i. Standardized products – as opposed to competitors, IKEA doesn’t offer
personalized products. Practically all of them are standardized, which allows the
company to produce them in huge quantities for all of its stores worldwide. And
achieve economies of scales that smaller competitors are just not able to.
ii. Self – assembly – the retailer seeks for suppliers who are able to manufacture quality
subassemblies at the lowest costs possible, with customers having to assemble the
furniture themselves. Which is one reason why their prices are so low, as IKEA
doesn’t spend budget on employees for the assembly process. You could hire them
additionally, but they are not included in the basic product price.
iii. Outsourcing – as many other companies do, IKEA also outsources the manufacturing
of its products in low-wage countries, which allows them to cuts on costs additionally.

If IKEA wants to change over to differentiation business strategy. The company can follow
the approach-
i. By setting itself completely apart from the average furniture store. The whole
experience of IKEA is unique from the minute customers step in the store. From the
magnitude of the stores, walking throughout the entire store in a maze taking in all the
sights and smells (thanks to the in store restaurant) to the actual experience of picking
the furniture from the bins, to checking out and assembling the furniture at home,
IKEA offers customers something no other furniture store does. This concept is so
unique to IKEA. Customers blog proudly about their IKEA furniture and how they
have customized it.
 ii. Increasing variety of products. Great range of products also belongs to the list of
IKEA competitive advantages. There are 12000 products across in IKEA portfolio
and the company renews its product range launching approximately 2000 new
products every year.The company is also increasing its presence in food and catering
industries.
iii. IKEA managed to distinguish itself from other furniture merchants by successfully
making its customers around the world believe that instead of selling furniture, it was
selling a lifestyle by offering a much wider range of home products.
iv. Tailoring the product or service to the customer.
v. Providing unique and superior value to the customer through product quality.

c) Developing and using balanced organizational controls is the final key leadership action
associated with effective strategic leadership. The balanced scorecard is a tool that
measures the effectiveness of the firm’s strategic and financial controls. An effective
balance between these two controls allows for flexible use of core competencies, but
within the parameters of the firm’s financial position.
Apply balance scorecard in an organization and Illustrate that how does ‘The Balanced
Scorecard’ help in improving overall performance of the organization? CO5 (refer
company given in the team list).

Apple’s balanced scorecard

Apple Inc’s senior management came to a point when they needed to focus on a strategy that
would help improve their gross margin and return on equity (net income divided by
shareholder’s equity). The balanced scorecard measurements they developed to address
ongoing business issues were in four categories, and each KPI was designed to improve those
categories.
Financially, the leadership focused on shareholders. For the customer, they measured
increases in their market share and customer satisfaction levels. For employees, leadership
focused on building core competencies and conducted surveys to understand how well
employees understood company strategy.
Except for shareholder value, Apple used horizontal and vertical strategic objectives in every
balanced scorecard category. Leadership understood the value of breaking down the parts in
order to make the whole organization function better.
Most of all, the balanced scorecards helped Apple develop measurable outputs for launching
and growing new products.
Results from using balanced scorecards
Apple used balanced scorecards to help plan long-term performance, and created
independent, balanced scorecards above and beyond what Harvard Business Review or J.D.
Power & Associates previously developed. Apple used balanced scorecards to help the entire
company direct their focus.
Most stakeholders in today’s business world are adept at focusing on their strategic vision.
But many of those same stakeholders could drastically improve their company’s processes
and implementations with balanced scorecards.
If set up well, balanced scorecards collect learnings for management to see the breadth,
width, and totality of the company operations.
The Balanced Scorecard Links Performance Measures
 How do customers see us? (customer perspective)
 What must we excel at? (internal perspective)
 Can we continue to improve and create value? (innovation and learning perspective)
 How do we look to shareholders? (financial perspective)

While giving senior managers information from four different perspectives, the balanced
scorecard minimizes information overload by limiting the number of measures used.

Balanced scorecards bring seven long-term advantages and helps in improving overall
performance of the organization.

1. Strategic planning

There is no doubt that the balanced scorecards give your business a vital and robust
framework for setting up your communication strategy. Your strategy map will contain cause
and effect relationships, each with their own strategic goal. Interrelated strategic goals will
give your business the key enablers it needs for enhanced performance outcomes.

2. Communication execution

In order to adequately execute strategy, you need to communicate your strategy effectively to
staff and other stakeholders. That means you need to engage your stakeholders and staff
member in the delivery and review of the strategy to reap the balanced scorecard’s full
advantage.

3. Project and innovative alignment

Helping your company stay targeted on the strategic objectives in their project and initiatives
means the balanced scorecard was mapped efficiently. The organization map that lays out the
various strategic objectives give your project focused alignment with everyone on the same
page for project initiatives.

4. Better performance reporting

Your balanced scorecard dashboard can heavily influence your performance report. That
way, your management can focus on the most critical strategic issues. More importantly, it
also helps your stakeholders and staff understand how developing and monitoring
performance key performance indicators (KPIs) supports critical strategic issues.

5. Improving organization alignment

If you use the balanced scorecard to structure and align your strategic objectives, you are
helping provide a plan that can be well executed. In addition, every division or department
within your company can work toward the same goals in an almost perfect organization
alignment. You could even create a cascading balanced scorecard that links together each
department with your organization’s goals and objectives.
6. Management of information improvement

Using a balanced scorecard will almost always give you a better decision-making process
with it comes to KPI development and updates. A scorecard will help you chose the best
strategic objectives to measure for your business.

7. Process alignment

Every company is made up of budgeting, analytics, risk management, and more, and all those
categories are within your strategic priorities. If you can include all of those process areas
within your scorecard, you’ve created a perfectly aligned company process.

References
https://www.livemint.com/Companies/zgoA23kut5UeTny1rvBCWL/Wipro-Tata-Steel-Tata-
Power-in-worlds-most-ethical-firms.html
https://www.tatasteel.com/media/10384/tcoc_final_english.pdf

https://www.thehansindia.com/business/infosys-tata-steel-and-wipro-from-india-makes-
it-to-worlds-most-ethical-companies-list-674015
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/six-characteristics-ethical-business-22401.html
https://www.tatasteel.com/media/12833/2020-ba-code-of-conduct-1.pdf