Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk) has been one of the first Vietnamese companies to build up consistency and transparency in business. Through its Code of Conduct, Vinamilk has announced its core values and used them as a lodestar for the formation of corporate policies, bylaws and regulations.
Construction and completion
In 2009, a year that hallmarked significant production and business achievements, Vinamilk decided to create and exercise the Code of Conduct because it comprehended the necessity of having a written document to announce standpoints and values required for sustainable development and transparency of a leading listed company on the Vietnamese stock exchange.
Vinamilk favourably implemented the Code of Conduct although it involved confronting certain difficulties. The biggest challenge facing the company at the time of start-up was that the Code of Conduct was not commonly built and applied by Vietnamese companies and institutions, although it is quite common with multinational companies. Moreover, Vinamilk understands that, instead of hiring outside consultants, self-construction and implementation of the Code of Conduct is necessary to ensure the highest effectiveness, but this is a difficult process.
Secondly, the construction of the Code of Conduct needs to be considered from many aspects to combine both roles of orientation and encouragement on the one hand, and sanction and regulation on the other. The contents are appropriate and set the values that make success and orient the future. Moreover, the Code of Conduct varies from industry to industry. Besides, culturally, politically and socially sensitive contents need to be taken into careful consideration.
Not only that, language is also a major obstacle because the company has to choose the most correct words and phrasing for the ideas it wants to convey.
Nonetheless, Vinamilk has built and exercised the Code of Conduct. The company has the absolute support of the company’s leaders, timely participation, guidance and coordination of related units, and particularly the strong-willed determination of authors.
Code of Conduct and sharing
Additionally, a compliance division was set up to disseminate the spirit of the Code of Conduct, receive feedback, complete the Code of Conduct and treat violations. To date, Vinamilk has accessed and processed a number of issues related to conflicts of interest in the Code of Conduct. Though the degree is not large, it reveals the usefulness of the Code of Conduct, as well as attempts of Vinamilk for consistency and transparency in business.
According to Vinamilk’s viewpoint, for a Code of Conduct to be successful it must have the support of the management, the determination of authors, and the coordination of related departments. The implementation of the Code of Conduct is also a challenging process and demands constant and even greater effort. It will inevitably raise questions from employees, as a regulatory document concerning ethics, capacity, integrity and security. Every company must have its own specific action plan after the Code of Conduct is enacted.
The Code of Conduct of Vinamilk is an instrument for the company to proclaim its standpoints on business behaviour, inappropriateness, and immorality. Vinamilk hopes it will help it assert prestige, uphold brand image, strengthen the trust of shareholders, and respect from partners. The Code of Conduct also conveys the expectations it puts on employees at present and in the future.
A core element in building and exercising the Code of Conduct is that Vinamilk creates it for the sake of long-term benefits of appropriate business practices with ethical standards and transparency.
Yen Ha
Vietnamese
