Professionalism and Ethics Flashcards

• Professionalism

• Manner of conducting tasks with commitment, enthusiasm, personal integrity, and respect.

• Derived from the Latin word 'profiteer' - to declare what you stand for as a craftsman.

• Encompasses how one speaks, dresses, acts, and works.

• Acceptable behaviors are prescribed by business values and ethics.

• Importance of Professionalism

• Builds professional behavior into organizational culture.

• Establishes common values.

• Impacts the company image through employee actions and interactions (employees and management; employees and peers; employees and suppliers; employees and customers).

• Elements and Principles of Professionalism

• Key Documents:

  • Code of Ethics: Basic morals, principles, and values (honesty, transparency, care for the environment).

  • Code of Conduct: Specific behaviors expected from employees (image, communication, actions, working environment, respect).

• Ethics

• Human values that distinguish between right and wrong.

• Ethical Theories:

  • Consequence-based

  • Principle-based

  • Narrative-based

  • Utilitarian-based

• Moral Absolutism vs. Moral Relativism

• Moral Absolutism: Only one ethical solution to a problem.

• Moral Relativism: The ethical solution depends on the situation and people involved.

• Business Ethics

• Management formulates policies; employees do the right thing.

• Guidelines provided by the King Code and New Companies Act.

• Personal actions impact others (stick to commitments, avoid personal use of business resources).

• Unethical Behavior in Business

• Financial misconduct (e.g., cheque fraud).

• Misrepresentation (false information).

• Employee-related issues (lack of acknowledgment).

• Stealing (money, information, time).

• Steps to Introduce More Ethical Business Practices

• Define ethical expectations (code of ethics).

• Ensure employee awareness of codes.

• Encourage management to set an example.

• Identify causes of unethical behavior.

• Establish procedures for dealing with ethical issues.

• Praise and reward good ethical behavior.

• Introduce new employees to ethical business practice.

• Advantages of Business Ethics

• Adherence to the law

• Helps avoid issues like tax evasion.

• Improves teamwork and productivity.

• Enhances employee security.

• Improves relationships with stakeholders.

• Enhances the ethical culture through adherence to the King Code.

• Effective Business Practice

• Success measured by creativity, innovation, outperforming competitors, and profit.

• Ethical Theories (Additional)

• Virtue-based theory: Judges character

• Deontology: Ethical when a person upholds obligations to others and society.

• Professional vs Ethical Behavior

Ethical behavior: Honesty, integrity, and acting acceptably.

• Professional behavior: Encompasses ethical behavior plus:

  • Current job knowledge, lifelong learning.

  • Sharing knowledge.

  • Good judgment.

  • Reliability (honoring commitments).

  • Accepting accountability (mistakes).

  • High standard appearance.

  • Punctuality.

  • Appropriate language.

  • Avoiding gossip.

  • Keeping personal issues separate.

• Batho Pele

• Aims:

  • Efficient use of state resources.

  • No discrimination; fairness to all.

  • State departments respecting people’s needs.

  • Transparency and accountability.

• Principles:

  • Hear people.

  • Monitor service standards.

  • Increase access to public services.

  • Courtesy, consideration, respect.

  • Share relevant info.

  • Accountability.

  • Redress service delivery failures.

  • Value for money.

• Code of Ethics vs. Code of Conduct

• Code of Ethics: Principles for decisions (honesty, respect, obeying the law, accountability).

• Code of Conduct: Prevents negative behavior (abuse of property, racism, honoring contracts).

• Ensuring Staff Use of Codes

• Obtain staff input (buy-in).

• Managers lead by example.

• Use understandable language.

• Regular training.

• Proofread documents.

• Awareness of consequences.

• Implications of Unethical Business Practice

• Mistrust in the workplace.

• Embarrassment if discovered.

• Class action suits.

• Reputational damage.

• Fines.

• Lower profits, investor confidence.

• Increased regulations.

• Corporate Governance

• Advantages of being a good corporate citizen:

  • Good image/Public relations

  • Improved stakeholder relations (easier recruiting, investor confidence, increased market share).

• Research Ethics

• Principles of right conduct when doing research to avoid plagiarism issue.

• Ethical Research includes:

  • Research question itself.

  • Honest and ethical data collection and usage.

• Guidelines for Ethical Research:

• No fake survey forms, record meticulously

• Check transfer and data manipulation

• Avoid leading question for surveys

• Respect IP, do not skew results.

• Ethics with Respect to Respondents

• Get permission to use information.

• Handle sensitive issues with care.

• Protect respondent identity.

• Get permission before recording.

• Avoid misinterpreting answers.

• Ethics with Respect to Sources Used

• Check source authenticity and availability.

• Get permission to use sources.

• Use Open Educational Resources (OERs) and Creative Commons (CC) licensing.