Professional Ethics

What is CODE OF ETHICS

Code of ethics are voluntary statements that commit organizations, industries, or professions to specific beliefs, values, and actions and/or that set out appropriate ethical behavior for employees.

There are four main type of ethical codes:-
(i) Organizational or corporate codes of ethics- these are specific to a single organization. Basically these codes seek to identify and encourage ethical behavior at the level of the individual organization.

(ii) Professional Codes of Ethics – Traditional professional groups such as doctors, lawyers and accountant have their own guidelines for their members. However this is increasingly common for other professions such as marketing or engineers to have their own conduct.

(iii) Industry Code of Ethics- particular industries also sometimes have their own codes of ethics. For example, in 2005 the electronic industry released its code of conduct to ensure the working environment is safe to work, workers are treated with respect and dignity and the manufacturing process are environmentally responsible. This code was developed by a number companies together including Dell, Hewlett, IBM.

(iv) Programmer or Group codes of ethics:-

 This are code of ethics established by certain programmers, or other sub-grouping of organization participating in specific programmers. For example the usage of a certain label or trademark.

Consequently, codes of ethics are usually written in general terms, nothing obligations to each group without stating which one of them take precedence in any given situation. In terms of the content, codes of ethics typically address a variety of issues, many of which appear to reflect industry factors and the prevailing concerns of the general public.

When an organization deals with the creation of ethical codes, most codes attempt to achieve one or both of the following:-
(i) Define the principles of standards that the organization, profession or industry believes in or wants to uphold.

(ii) Set out practical guidelines for employee, either generally or in specific situations (such as accepting gifts, treating customers, etc)

UTILITARIANISM

• ·         The first is the utilitarian view of ethics, in which decisions are made solely on the basis or their outcome or consequences. 
• ·         The utilitarian approach focuses on actions (behavior), not on the motives for such an action. 
• ·         It is most consistent with Kohlbergs’s social contract stage. A manager guided by this approach considers the potential effects of alternative actions on all involved. 
• ·         The chosen alternative is supposed to benefit the greatest number of people, although such benefit may come at the expense of a few or those with little power. 
• ·         The manager accepts the fact that this alternative may help some individuals but hurt some others as long as the potentially positive results outweigh potentially negative ones, the manager considers the decision as ethical.
• ·         The bottom line of utilitarianism is to provide the greatest good for the greatest number.
• ·         Following the utilitarian view, a manager might conclude that laying off 20 percent of the work force in the plant is justified because it will increase the plants profitability, improve job security for the remaining 80 percent, and be in the best interest of the shareholders.
• ·         The utilitarian approach prescribes ethical standards for manager in the areas of organizational objectives, efficiency and conflict of interest

RIGHT ETHICS & DUTY ETHICS

• In terms of ethical theory, rights can be define along with the following lines:-
•  “ Natural rights are certain basic, important, unalienable entitlements that should be respected and protected in every single action. 
•  This notion of rights goes back to the British philosopher  John Locke (1632-1714). He created the concept of the ‘natural rights’ that humans are entitled to and which should be respected and protected.
• This has extended to include the right to freedom of speech, conscience, consent, privacy and the entitlement to fair legal rights whereby this rights has been enunciated by Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804, a German philosopher) and is called the Kantian/Rights.
• The significance of the notion of the rights of an ethical theory lies in the fact that these rights typically result in the duty of others to respect them. 
•  Today basic human rights will include also right to life, liberty, justice, education, fair trial, fair wages etc. 
• It should be noted that rights are connected with duties, since the right of one person can result in a corresponding duty for other person to respect, protect or facilitate these rights. For example, my right to privacy imposes a duty on others to refrain from gathering personal information about my personal life without my consent.
• Kant’s theory is based on the moral principle that he calls the categorical imperative and that requires that everyone should be treated as a free person equal to everyone else. Everyone has a moral right to be treated in such treatment(i.e. equally) and everyone has the duty to treat others in such a way. 

VIRTUE ETHICS

Virtue Ethics is a departure from the traditional approaches discuss so far. 

• Virtue Ethics can be defined  as follows:-
• Virtue Ethics contends that morally correct actions are those undertaken by actors with virtuous characters. Therefore, the formation of a virtuous character is the first step towards morally correct behavior. 
• This are set of acquired characters that enables a person to lead a good life.
•  Central of the ethics of virtue is the notion of “good life”. 
• For Aristotle, one of the original proponents of virtue ethics is happiness. 
• For example: a happy businessperson would not only be one who finally makes the most money, but one who does so by at the same time savouring the pleasure of a virtuous manner of achieving their success. 
• In a business context, ‘good life’ means far more than being a profitable company. 

ETHICAL EGOISM

Egoism can be defined as follows:-

•      “…… an action is morally right if the decision maker freely decides in order to pursue either their (short term) desires or their (long term) interests. The justification of egoism lies in the underlying concept of a man: as man has only limited insight into the consequences of his actions, the only suitable strategy to achieve a good life is to pursue his own desires or interest.