Moral Responsibility

Moral responsibility

When you think about moral responsibility, it can refer to two different but related things. First, a person has 'moral responsibility' for a situation if that person has an obligation to ensure that something happens. Secondly, a person has moral responsibility for a situation when it would be correct to morally praise or blame that person for the situation. (Velasquez, 2005, p.41)

Moral responsibility is the responsibility that comes with wisdom. Those without wisdom do not have it, and can not understand it. A wise man chooses a different path from a fool, obviously. If he knows that choosing to do a thing has undesirable consequences, he does not do it. He would break from this way of thinking if there were greater or more immediate consequences to inaction or to an action that could be seen as "right" at the given time. It would generally require a unique and special situation, as most day to day choices are quite clear.

From a Franklin's standpoint, I think that since we grew from a very small company, in a very small town, having the ability to trust in other people's moral responsibilities weren't hard to come by, say in comparison to a larger company in a rather larger city. Although I've never seen any kind of formal documentation to reflect any policies or procedures in place, I think that each company should live by these four examples:

1) You are responsible for behaving in an ethical manner as you work and conduct business.

2) You should read and understand company guidelines, rules, codes, and procedures.

3) You should not knowingly help another person act unethically in the conduct of business.

4) You are ethically responsible to yourself, your company, co-workers, supervisor, customers, and your community.

Corporate responsibility

Bringing about a wrongful act with the help of others, then, does not differ in a morally significant way from deliberately bringing about a wrongful act with the help of inanimate instruments: The person is fully responsible for the wrong of the injury even if this responsibility is shared with others. (Velasquez, 2005, p.47)

Every company or business usually starts out with its own set agenda, which differs from business to business. A lot of businesses exist simply to make money. There are others who seriously wish to provide a needed service to a community or to the world. Each of these businesses has a corporate responsibility to the public, its shareholders and the world it trades in. In its most basic terms, Franklin Electrics responsibility can come down to the ethics of a business. Each company has its own set of core values, but the company's values also touch everyone that the business deals with. Years ago, a company's corporate responsibility was dictated by its government. There were set laws that had to be adhered to regarding financial and social responsibility. Today, however, corporate responsibility has to take into account the world that we live in on a much wider scale. Corporations are now held accountable not just by the government, but also by the public. Franklin's responsibility must now take into account how dealings with customers, shareholders and employees are seen by the world. Large global corporations know that people are watching them and that any wrongdoing will not go unnoticed.

Franklin's policies are clearly stated on paper immediately after a prospect goes through the hiring process and can also be found on its corporate homepage:

The purpose of this Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (the "Code") of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (the "Company") is to deter wrongdoing and promote (a) honest and ethical conduct, including fair dealing and the ethical handling of actual or apparent conflicts of interest between personal and professional