We believe in treating all customers with dignity irrespective of whether they purchase our products and services directly from us or otherwise acquire them in the market, We therefore have a responsibility to: + provide our customers with the highest quality products and services consistent with their requirements; + treat our customers fairly in all aspects of our business transactions including a high level of service and and remedies for their dissatisfaction; + make every effort to ensure that the health and safety of our customers, as well as the quality of their environment, will be sustained or enhanced by our products and services; + assure respect for human dignity in products offered, marketing, and advertising; and + respect the integrity of the culture of our customers.
We believe in the dignity of every employee and in taking employee interests seriously. We therefore have a responsibility to: + provide jobs and compensation that improve workers' living conditions; + provide working conditions that respect each employee's health and dignity; + be honest in communications with employees and open in sharing information, limited only by legal and competitive restraints; + listen to and, where possible, act on employee suggestions ideas, requests, and complaints; + engage in good faith negotiations when conflict arises; + avoid discriminatory practices and guarantee equal treatment and opportunity in areas such at gender; age, race, and religion; + promote in the business itself the employment differently abled people in places of work where they can be genuinely useful; + protect employees from avoidable injury and illness in the workplace; + encourage and assist employees in developing relevant and transferable skills and knowledge; and +be sensitive to serious unemployment problems frequently associated with business decisions and work with governments, employee groups, other agencies and each other in addressing these dislocations.
We believe in honoring the trust our investors place in us. We therefore have a responsibility to: + apply professional and diligent management in order to secure a fair and competitive return an our owners' investment; + disclose relevant information to owners/investors subject only to legal requirements and competitive constraints; + conserve, protect, and increase the owners/investors' assets; and + respect owners/investors' requests, suggestions complaints, and formal resolutions
Our relationship with suppliers and subcontractors must be based on mutual respect. We therefore have a responsibility to: + seek fairness and truthfulness in all of our activities, including pricing, licensing, and rights to sell; + ensure that our business activities are free from coercion and unnecessary litigation; + foster long-term stability in the supplier relationship in return for value, quality competitiveness, and reliability; + share information with suppliers and integrate them into our planning processes; + pay suppliers on time and in accordance with agreed terms of trade; + seek, encourage, and prefer suppliers and subcontractors whose employment practices respect human dignity.
We believe that fair economic competition is one of the basic requirements for increasing the wealth of nations and, ultimately for making possible the just distribution of goods and services. We therefore have a responsibility to: + foster open markets for trade and investment; + promote competitive behavior that is socially and environmentally beneficial and demonstrates mutual respect among competitors; + refrain from either seeking or participating in questionable payments or favors to secure competitive advantages; + respect both tangible and intellectual property rights; and + refuse to acquire commercial information by dishonest or unethical means, such as industrial espionage.
We believe that as global corporate citizens, we can contribute to such forces of reform and human rights as are at work in the communities which we open to. We therefore have a responsibility in those communities to: + respect human rights and democratic institutions, and promote them wherever practicable; + recognize government's legitimate obligation to the society at large and support public policies and practices that promote human development through harmonious relations between business and other segments of society; + collaborate with those forces in the community dedicated to raising standards of health, education, workplace safety and economic well-being; + promote and stimulate sustainable development and play a leading role in preserving and enhancing the physical environment and conserving the earth's resources; + support peace, security diversity and social integration; + respect the integrity of local cultures; and + be a good corporate citizen through charitable donations, educational and cultural contributions and employee participation in community and civic affairs.