Need three replies to discussion boards, each one needs to be 2 paragraphs long with an in-text citation and each needs to have an open-ended question at the end. Please add reference at the end of each one separately, please do not add a cover page:

Question 1-Discussion 1-Reply to Caleb

Has whistleblowing legislation been a good enforcement tool?

Should whistleblowing begin internally within the company’s compliance department or should reports go directly to regulators?

Like many parts of business legislation that is passed, the intentions are well inspired, but there seems to be a counterpoint. Whistleblowing legislation is no different. “A whistleblower is anyone who has and reports insider knowledge of illegal activities occurring in an organization”. (Investopedia, 2018) Provided the information is proven true, whistleblowers are protected against retaliation from the company under Sarbanes Oxley Act, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The protection from direct retaliation is an important issue, however there might be subtle retaliation that is difficult to prove in a court of law, such as loss of promotion opportunities or “corporate restructuring”. Under the Dodd Frank act, there has been a mandatory financial incentive that comes from being a successful that incentivizes whistleblowers. (Rashty, 2015). This is where the companies have found fault with whistleblowers in relations to the Dodd Frank act. Corporations are concerned that a potential financial windfall will lead to an excessive amount of false allegations. (Bloomberg, 2012)

As far as whistleblowing investigations beginning internally rather than going directly to regulators; it depends on the way the corporation is structured. If the corporation has a culture of being ethically responsible and a history of putting corporate values, employee relations, and societal impact as their priority, then the compliance department should be allowed to correct the actions. However, if the company is more concerned with profits and market share above all, then employees might opt to go directly to authorities. Either way the employee, many times, is putting themselves in jeopardy with the company and could face a great deal amount of scrutiny from a variety of different sources.

Bloomberg. (2012, March 23). Frenkel says new sec whistle-blower rule `unfortunate’. [Video]. Retrieved fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2qw49gi1io (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Investopedia. (2018, April 20). Whistleblower. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/whistleblower…

Rashty, J. (2015, February). Corporate ethics and the rights of whistleblowers. The CPA Journal, 85(2), 48+. Retrieved from Gale database.

Question 2-Discussion 2-Reply to Heather

You have worked in the Compliance Department at a foreign auto manufacturer for 10 years and have been very proud of the fact that the company produced cars with better fuel economy that were environmentally friendly. However, given past automobile fraud cases, you begin to see some red flags that indicate noncompliant behavior in some areas, in particular – emission rigging.

Gurkaynak and Durlu (2013) raise the question of the “extent to which companies are willing to take measures to encourage compliance with the law and nip corporate misconduct in the bud before courts and agencies detect such errant behavior” (para. 1).

It will be your responsibility to convince senior management that proactive measures will help save the company from reputational damage as well as regulatory fines and sanctions. Please provide specific examples to support your argument.

Proactive measures will help save the company from representational damage as well as regulatory fines and sanctions by recognizing that there are emissions issues and exhausting all efforts to improve them. We certainly wouldn’t want to end up like Volkswagen and promise our consumers a product that isn’t accurate. False advertising, should emissions be a factor in advertisement, is a large concern and will damage our honesty and transparency. We can’t follow suit and put “bogus eco-friendly credentials in print, media, and even Super Bowl commercials” (Smith & Parloff, 2016, p. 2). Not only did they ruin their reputation, they had several different law and civil suits against them that “could theoretically subject VW to up to $45 billion in fines” (p. 2). In the words of Gurkaynak and Durlu, “take measures to encourage compliance with the law and nip corporate misconduct in the bud before courts and agencies detect such errant behavior” (2013, p. 1). We can save our company, and our employees, from the shame of overlooking such careless behavior by addressing these issues proactively. By doing so, we will also show that our compliance department is ethical and efficient, and that by uncovering our mistakes, we are continuing to make efforts to improve. Regulations exist in the world of vehicles to protect our consumers and our environment. We have found a solution to be more environmentally friendly and cannot tarnish our name for any reason negating that. If we continue to overlook this non compliant behavior, we will end up being investigated, again, like VW. Despite their hoax, they continued to sell diesels, fully aware they were under scrutiny for another issue (Smith & Parloff, 2016, p. 11). Each issue that was discovered led to discussions of scandal, hoaxes, and cheating accusations. It would be neglecting our CSR duties to not address these potentially hazardous and harmful noncompliance behaviors.

Refernces:

Gurkaynak, G., & Durlu, D. (2013, Summer). Harmonizing the shield to corporate liability: a comparative approach to the legal foundations of corporate compliance programs from criminal law, employment law, and competition law perspectives. International Lawyer, 47(1), 99+. Retrieved from Gale database.

Smith, G., & Parloff, R. (2016). Hoaxwagen. Fortune, 173(4), 98-115. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.prx-necb.lirn.net/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=113500226&site=ehost-live (Links to an external site.)

Question 3-Discussion-Reply to Debra

Tom Grott, project manager for American Construction Inc. (ACI), sat down with his team to evaluate the progress of their building expansion project. The team had been working on the World Outreach Church expansion project for more than a year already and it was nearing completion. The project completion deadline was pushed ahead and Grott and his team needed to determine if the new date is feasible.

What will be Grott’s largest challenges and potential problems? How can these be overcome?

Tom Grott, project manager for American Construction Inc. (ACI), had a daunting task in front of him. The building expansion project for the World Outreach Church was due to be finished in March 2010, but the customer was asking for the completion to be accelerated to December, 2009 so the building would be ready for the Christmas season. This business was extremely important to ACI as church construction business was a booming business. Breaking into this industry was critical for ACI as the industry was estimated at more than $7.6 billion.

The major challenge that Tom faced was that meeting the December deadline was going to be fairly impossible. There were three areas that remained to be completed: the bookstore/café/kitchen, the lobby and the sanctuary. All three areas had work that remained which would extend the expansion well beyond December. This could hurt the reputation of ACI significantly which created a big problem that Tom needed to figure out how to solve.

There are a couple of things that Tom could examine. First, overtime is a key resource that he and his team should consider. This time of year with the holidays approaching, his workers and the subcontractors may very well be willing to work overtime to complete the project on time. Second, Tom should ensure that the right people with the right skills are assigned to tasks that best fit their expertise (Mochal, 2003). He will need to determine what the critical path is for each area and should consider adding additional resources or re-allocating resources from non-critical tasks to critical path tasks.

Finally, Tom should then re-evaluate project dependencies. If he can spread out portions of the larger tasks, he may be able to have tasks being completed in parallel rather than serially (Mochal, 2003).

References:

Mochal, T. (2003, February 17). Apply these techniques to get your project back on schedule. Retrieved from https://www.techrepublic.com/article/apply-these-t…