A PROBLEM!

You’re walking down the street …….

…. And you find a wallet or purse…..

…..with id cards and photos inside…..

…..and $200…..

WHAT

DO

YOU

DO?

ANSWER 1, 2, OR 3:

1. Keep the wallet and the money

2. Keep the money, return the wallet3. Return the wallet and the money

Readers’ Digest, April 2001:

“Finders Keepers”

Results: (internationally)Percentage of wallets returned.

Norway 100% Singapore 90% Australia 70% Japan 70% United States 67% United Kingdom 65% France 60%

Holland 50% Germany 45% Russia 43% Philippines 40% Italy 35% China 30% Mexico 21%

Results – by city Seattle 90% St. Louis 70% Atlanta 50% Boston 70% Los Angeles 60% Houston 50%

Greensboro, NC 70% Las Vegas 50% Dayton, Ohio 50% Concord, NH 80% Cheyenne, WY 80% Meadville, PA 80%

Moral Values.

Ethics.

Social Responsibility.

A New Semester.

A Time to Start

Anew and Grow.

-----

A time

to Reevaluate

A Time To Think.

BUT ---------

People are different.

Values are different.

NO ONE can tell you what is right or wrong.------

ONLY YOU can tell yourself what is right or wrong.

But a secondary question arises?

What happens if that wallet

with the $200would have been

your wallet?

And the $200 was your car payment for the month?

DIFFERENT ISSUES –RIGHT.

What teachers and parents and others can do is to try to show the value of right vs. wrong.

***************************

That is what we are doing today.

LAWS

Laws provide a minimum standard

of behavior for people and businessesto follow.

ETHICAL STANDARDS

There are many behaviors that are neither allowed

nor disallowedby law.

ETHICS

a codeof moral conduct

that sets standardsfor what is valued

as right or wrong behaviorfor a person or group.

BUSINESS ETHICS

moral standardsand values

that are appliedto business issues.

5 LEVELSOF BUSINESS ETHICS:

1. PERSONAL

What do you consider to be proper or right?

Ex. Is it right to sell tobacco or alcohol to minors?

2. ORGANIZATIONAL

What does your business consider to be valuable? What about the managers and employers of the business?

Ex. Chick-Fil-A never opens on Sunday.

3. INDUSTRIAL

What does the industry consider to be ethical or right?

Ex. Erin Brockovich fought industry problems with the environment.Ex. Alcoa and new issues with strip mining

4. SOCIAL

What does your community consider to be acceptable?

Ex. Madisonville vs. Huntsville vs. Houston vs. New York City

5. INTERNATIONAL

What does the world consider to be acceptable?

Ex. Mexico vs. the United States vs. France in terms of prison terms

2 of the many ethical issues facing businesses today:

1. Should a business sell something when another product would be better for the customer?

Ex. Miracle on 34th Street

2. Should a business advertise a product very widely believed to be unhealthy?

Ex. Joe Camel

QUICK ETHICS TEST

(From Texas Instruments)

1. IS IT LEGAL?

If not, then don’t do it.

2. IS IT CONSISTENT WITH THE COMPANY’S STATED VALUES?Texas Instruments has a clearly stated set of corporate values. Actions that don’t fit with them shouldn’t be undertaken.

3. IF YOU DO IT, WILL YOU FEEL BAD?

If so, there‘s probably something wrong.

4. HOW WOULD IT LOOK IN THE NEWSPAPERS?

If having people “find out” will be embarrassing, there’s a problem.

5. DO YOU THINK IT’S WRONG?

If so, don’t do it.

6. IF YOU’RE NOT SURE – ASK.

Never feel you have to make a decision on ethics by yourself. Get help from others.

7. IF YOU DON’T GET A CLEAR ANSWER, KEEP ASKING UNTIL YOU DO.

Don’t fudge an ethical problem by saying you “tried” to get help but couldn’t. Keep asking – the boss, the company’s lawyers, human resources personnel – until you get a clear answer.

TEST YOURSELF.

On search engine, type:

boeing ethics challenge

www.active.boeing.com/companyoffices/ethicschallenge/cfm/initial.cfm

Take the challenge now.

Check all 15 questions .

Then select questions.

Read questions,select your answer,go to next question.

Read whatyour score is.

On your paper,keep track of your score

by writing your scorenext to the

numbers 1 to 15.

Total the numbers1 to 15.

RESULTS

Scoreof 125 to 150 points.

You are a pretty moral person. Congratulations.The world needs more people like you.

Scoreof 100 to 125 points.

You might look closely at your answers to determine to what degree and in what areas you

could use an ethical tune-up. Ask your friends and see what their reactions are to this test and

if necessary, get some help.

Score of less than 100 points.

You definitely have a serious ethical problem. Whether you recognize and accept it or not is up

to you. Whether you choose to do anything to change this is also up to you. Know that your ethics reflect who you are and the opinions

people have of you. They also will affect your work and success. Ultimately, what goes around,

comes around.

ETHICS are a product of one’s upbringing, moral

values and in some cases spiritual beliefs.

Many unethical people are also very narcissistic, believing that the rules apply to others but not themselves. Others are simply

ignorant of ethical standards or in denial about their own behaviors.

Only you can judge yourself.

If you don’t like what you see, seek professional help to change your beliefs, feelings, and what you manifest in your social and

business relationships.

PART 2.PERSONAL ETHICS.

Society has laws to guide our actions.

Then why is there a needfor ethics?

And what is the difference between laws and ethics?

Laws are required behavior.

Ethics are ideal behavior.

For example:

The law requires that you do not steal a person’s food.

Ethics challenges you to give food to a starving person.

ETHICAL CODESIN HISTORY

When selected ethical principles are grouped

together, they are called an ethical code.

The best known code of ethics in the Western World is the

Ten Commandments.

Medical doctors take an oath based on an code made by Hippocrates in ancient times

known as the Hippocratic

Oath.

SOURCESFOR PERSONAL CODE OF ETHICS

FOR AN INDIVIDUAL:comes from his/her

experiences, family, religion, education, and culture.

To create your own code of ethics, you must first identify what is important to you and what you place a high value

on or what motivate you.

VALUESare those qualities of life that are important to you.

On the next slide is a listof 33 items.

Select the TEN itemsthat are most important

to you in the orderthat they are most important

to you.

Work Love Independence

Wealth Marriage Individuality

Power Family Education

Recognition Friendship Freedom

Possessions Children Security

Rank & status Relationships Acceptance

Achievement Affection Formality

Authority Beauty Informality

Respect Health Cooperation

Competition Tradition Involvement

Efficiency Faith/Religion Energy

VALUES

This list of ten items is what is most important TO YOU in

your personal and professional life.

PRINCIPLES:On the following list, is a list of

common principles (general belief or truth) that people

have indicated are important to them in a job.

Look at the list and again, select the five items (in order) that are most important to you.

PRINCIPLES

Honesty Respect for human life

Integrity/Sincerity Kindness

Loyalty Tolerance

Fairness Concern for the environment

Concern for others Concern for all life

This list of principles needs to be placed next to the list of

values.

MOTIVATIONS:What makes people act.This is a survey of 383

employees who ranked 15 job-related motivational

factors in order of importance.

Select the top 7 (in your opinion) and list them on your worksheet under motivations.

MOTIVATIONS

Challenging workMy opinion matters when decisions are madeRecognition for job well donePay clearly tied to my performanceWorking for a company I can be proud ofGood, fair performance measuresAutonomy on the jobA competitive salaryClear performance goalsOpportunity to learn on the jobClear career opportunitiesHarmonious relationships with co-workersJob securityGenerous benefit programSpecial incentives (such as merchandise and travel)

Look at these lists and compare the three.

Look at the similarities.

Do you see any potential conflicts?

You should now be able to begin to develop your own

code of ethics.

MAINTAINING PERSONAL ETHICAL STANDARDS

1. Be consistent in small daily actions that reflect what you are right and wrong.

For example, you would never steal a computer from work, but

you would take a calculator. Small violations build up till you no longer know where to draw

the line.

2. Resist following the suggestions of coworkers to do something unethical, to cheat the company in

some small way.

3. When you are mistaken, admit your mistake. When you

are strong enough to take responsibility for your own

actions, you build a positive ethical and professional

image.

4. Develop skills in responding to people who ask

you to act in inappropriate ways.

For example, try these:

“I’m sorry I can’t do that because it violates company

policy.”

—OR—“I would like to help you, but it

doesn’t feel right to me.”

—OR—“I just wouldn’t be comfortable

doing that.”

—OR—“I don’t see the issue that

way.”

—OR—“As I understand the situation,

that would not be fair.”

Emphasize the difference in the way you feel about the

action rather than the way you feel about the person. State

your position rather than attack ideas.

BUSINESSVERSUS

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

What to do when a conflict arises between a personal

ethic and an employer demand?

1. Communicate.Arrange for a conference with the manager. Ask for clarification. Talk with the

manager.

2. PERSIST.If the manager cannot help

you resolve the conflict, move up the chain of

command to the next level of command.

3. COMPROMISE.Seek a compromise if you

can do so within your personal code of ethics.

4. CHANGE POSITIONS.Remove yourself from the

situation if you cannot resolve it; transfer to

another department or find another job.

Assignment: To gain experience in dealing with ethical dilemmas, consider the cases that follow. We will be using the Form 11-8 and will answering each question on the form. Your team of three must select three problems from the group

Your team of three must select three problems from the list of nine problems and must present at least one problem to the group at large. All questions must be answered on the worksheet.

All decision must be unanimous.And all three team members must participate in all decisions.

REMEMBER: The golden rule: Treat others as you would have

them treat you.This applies in business as well

as in personal life.

GOOD LUCK.

Ethics

by Rhonda CmerekMadisonville CISD

P.O. Box 879Madisonville,TX 77864