ZADCO is an oil company in the United Arab Emirates. Its main ethical principles are respect for its employees, contributing to the economy, fair leadership, commitment to the community and fostering a team performance culture. It seeks to uphold these principles via its ethical culture at work. This is done by taking steps to protect the environment, concentrating on the safety and progression of employees, fostering a culture of teamwork and ensuring that the individuals outside of the company that its staff come into contact with are treated with due respect. ZADCO also takes steps to protect the wildlife that exists on the islands that it drills on and to prevent any harm from being inflicted upon the local flora and fauna.
Throughout the course of this assignment, a brief profile of ZADCO will be provided. The ethical culture at work within the company will be defined and its main ethical principles will be described. The aim will be to provide an insight into the way in which ethics factor into the running of this firm.
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"Business Ethics at Zadco".
ZADCO is a high-performing oil company based in the United Arab Emirates (ZADCO, n.d. b). It has three main shareholders: ExxonMobil, which has a twenty-eight percent share, Japan Development Company Ltd., which has a twelve percent share, and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, which has a sixty percent share (ZADCO, n.d. a). It extracts oil from three different fields: Upper Zakum, Satah and Al Dalkh.
The company’s main industrial base, where it stores and processes oil from all three of the fields that it operates in, is located on Zirku Island (ZADCO, n.d. d), which is a hilly island (ZADCO, nd. e) one hundred and forty kilometers northwest of the United Arab Emirates’ capital of Abu Dabi (ZADCO, n.d. d). The island has been equipped with living quarters that are capable of holding over a thousand personnel. ZADCO also has another large industrial base on Arzanah Island, which contains accommodation that is equipped to hold up to a hundred personnel (ZADCO, n.d., e).
The company was established in 1977. In 1988, it merged with Umm Dalkh Development Company, the logic being that this move would avoid functions being duplicated, reduce cost and rationalize operations (ZADCO n.d. e). The Upper Zakum field is the main field that ZADCO operates in and is the fourth largest oil field in the world. ZADCO has offshore accommodation for this field with a capacity of five hundred and fifty people, which places it amongst the largest offshore accommodation structures that are currently in existence (ZADCO, n.d. c).
ZADCO has stated that its main ethical principles are fair leadership, respect for its employees, contributing to the economy, commitment to the local community and fostering a team performance culture. The company claims that all of its business plans, strategies, performance targets, procedures and policies are aligned with these principles. The company has taken steps to incorporate these principles into its ethical culture. It has implemented measures that are aimed at protecting the environment (ZADCO, nd. e), which honors its commitment to the local community, as it ensures that the setting in which they live and work is preserved. It has also developed an environmental management system that is designed to make sure that the most recent technology is utilized to prevent ecological damage. Other measures to conserve the environment include developing environmental management plans, conducting ecological surveys, gas flaring reduction measures, and waste recycling.
In addition to these points, ZADCO has also surveyed the natural regions of the islands that it drills on in order to provide a greater comprehension of their biodiversity and ecological development. The logic behind this is that it will inform the development of future ecological management plans. The surveys encompassed the islands’ flora and fauna and the conditions of the soil.
ZADCO also takes steps to preserve the habitats of endangered and rare on the islands that it operates on. It makes improvements to their habitats in order to ensure that they do not suffer any harm (ZADCO, n.d. e). It is clear that the company is taking a range of different steps in order to make sure that the environment that it drills in and the creatures that inhabit it are preserved.
The principle of honoring employees has been incorporated into the ethical culture in the workplace at ZADCO via the creation of awareness programs aimed at minimizing hazards and risks to employees and focusing upon improving their capabilities (ZADCO, nd. e). This ensures that the company’s employees are able to work in a safe manner and that they are constantly having their abilities enhanced. It safeguards them against both physical harm and stagnation caused by a lack of development.
ZADCO also focuses upon teamwork within the workplace (ZADCO, nd. e). This ensures that everybody is included in its goals. It means that none of the workers are excluded from the values of the company and enhances their ability to work as part of a single, cohesive unit.
In addition to these points the company has stated that it concentrates upon fostering positive relationships, not just amongst its own employees but also amongst any individuals that it comes into contact with who are not employed by the firm (ZADCO, nd. e). This is partially a practical move, as it maintains the cooperation of external personnel. However, it is also an ethical consideration, as it ensures that people are treated with the due degree of respect irrespective of whether they work for the firm or not.
In conclusion, ZADCO has taken steps to align its ethical culture at work with its main ethical principles. It has implemented a variety of different measures that are aimed at protecting the environment, ensuring that staff are respected and that their capabilities are developed, and guaranteeing the safety of employees. The company has also attempted to foster a culture of teamwork so that no employees feel excluded, and focuses upon creating positive relationships with external personnel. It is clear that it has taken numerous different courses of action in order to attempt to fulfill its ethical responsibilities. The reputation of oil companies in general has a number of negative points associated with it so it is important for ZADCO to put in place as many measures as possible to ensure that it operates in an ethical manner, both to uphold its image and to fulfill its moral duties.
