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Shivani Patel Unit 3 Assignment GB590: Professor Carol Hancock 02/16/2013

INTRODUCTION USAA is a company that is dedicated to ensuring the financial security of its members and the military community. USAA has its own Conflicts of Interest and Business Ethics Policy & Procedures, just as the Military has their own standards of conduct. Each organization has their own rules to running their business. In this case USAA is a business that is directly related to the Military family. Looking that the two different codes of ethics and conducts, there are similarities to be found. Throughout this paper many questions will be answered about the two codes of conducts. HOW EXTENSIVE ARE THE CODES? USAAs codes are quite extensive when it comes to ethics. USAA lives by four core values that they believe all employees should follow. These values are Service, Loyalty, Honesty, and Integrity. These values are those of USAAs code of ethics, as these are the same values that the military community follows. There are four main topics that the USAA code addresses. They are policy, guidance, disclosure and reporting procedures, and definitions ("Usaa.com," 2010). The militarys code of conduct is much more extensive then many others. It is a way to provide guidance to the military members in regards to the conducts and ethics of the community. The code of conduct is very detailed and describes many different situation and standards that are to be followed by the military. This standard of conduct is not only related to those members in the military but those that also are civilian employees for the military (Powers). DO THESE CODES REFLECT VALUES? WHAT VALUES?

Both these codes of conducts are based around values of the military and the community. They both serve to protect the members in different, yet similar ways. USAAs values are to protect their members through the four core values they believe in. USAA believes in the same few values the Military believes in. These values are Service, Loyalty, Honesty and Integrity. These values are what USAA believes keeps the members protected when they protect us ("Usaa.com," 2010). The military have many similar values also. They have ethical values in their standard of conduct that they are to follow. Some of these values are the same as USAAs four values. The military also believe in accountability, fairness, caring and respect. Each company or community have their own values that they follow. Most companies have similar values of honesty and what is ethically right and wrong (Powers). DO THESE CODES REFLECTLAWS AND POLICIES? HOW? USAAs codes do reflect laws and regulations. One of the first points in the code of ethics is that USAA is to comply with all laws and regulations, whether local, state, federal, or international, that govern USAA activates ("Usaa.com," 2010). They are dedicated to ensuring the business is functioning legally for its members and its community as well as the military. The military may not have laws written in their code of conduct, but their code of conduct are in fact the laws and policies that they follow. A lot of the statements that are listed in the Military code of conduct are what they believe are laws and policies that should be followed. WHAT KINDS OF ACTIONS DO THE CODES COVER? The codes of USAA cover what is expected of the employees while working at USAA. They have a set of policies they cover that range from laws and policies to be

followed to protecting USAAs confidentiality, to reporting ethical violations and encouraging others to comply with the code. It goes over some guidance of conflicts of interest and personal financial interests also. They discuss the disclosers and reporting procedures and how they are to be followed through. These actions just state the way a USAA employee should carry themselves and how they should act for the best interest of the company ("Usaa.com," 2010). The military code of conduct follows the same principles. It discusses many actions the military members should follow. It starts with the ethical values they should follow, that not only include the core values of honesty, integrity, and loyalty, but also accountability, fairness, caring, respect, promise keeping, responsible citizenship and pursuit of excellence. It also mentions ethics and conflict of interest prohibitions, which include things like bribery, compensation from other sources and gifts from foreign governments. This code of conduct is very in depth and touches on a lot of actions (Powers). ARE THERE RAMIFICATIONS FOR VIOLATIONS? HOW EXTENSIVE ARE THEY? Like all companies there are always ramifications for not following the code of conduct. When it comes to the military they can have some very extensive ramifications for not following procedures. Those who do not obey the orders of their superiors can be subject to a few different articles that are held closely to the code of conduct. Military members can be discharged from service due to not following the code the way they are required to do so. They can also be held in confinement if need be (Powers, 2012).

At USAA, those who violate the code of ethics and conduct also can receive ramifications. Depending on the type of code that was violated, an employee may be terminated or put on a coaching schedule. This coaching schedule is when a director or manager watches you closely to determine if you are able to stay with the company. They also have committees that are dedicated to the ethics policies that can imply a ramification if they believe it is required. These committees are known as the USAA board of directors conflicts of interest and the Governance committee ("Usaa.com," 2010). WHAT INFLUENCES DO YOU BELIEVE THESE CODES OF CONDUCT HAVE ON THE DECISION-MAKING BEHAVIOR OF THEIR MEMBERS AND EMPLOYEES? The codes of conduct for USAA and the military have a big impact on the decision making of the employees and members. These codes are set in place and each individual is aware of them. As for USAA, we are working for the military and this code of conduct ensures everything that can be done to help the military community is going to be done. Having these codes drives the decisions of the employees, as they understand the consequences of breaking them. The same goes for the military, they are helping civilians who want to live in this country and the codes they follow ensure the decisions they make are for the better of the country. I believe the codes of conduct have a great impact on the way employees and members act. They set a standard for all individuals to follow. CONCULSION

Overall the code of conduct at USAA and the Military are very similar. USAA employees are there to serve the military, which do everything in their power to serve our country. These codes determine what is right and wrong, and what may happen if they are not followed. Codes of conducts are placed in every company to ensure procedures and policies are followed. They show how members are expected to behave and provide a way for employees to ensure they are following the procedures set forth by companies.

REFERENECES: Powers, R. (n.d.). Military ethics and conflicts of interest. Retrieved from http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/generalinfo/a/stanconduct.htm Powers, R. (2012). Punitive articles of the ucmj. About.com US Military. Retrieved from http://usmilitary.about.com/od/punitivearticles/a/mcm92.htm Usaa.com. (2010, August 21). Retrieved from https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/about_usaa_conflictEthics_corporate_governance

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