The funny thing about mutual respect is that you can’t control it. Sure, you can control whether or not you exercise on a regular basis, whether you control your temper, or whether or not you express respect to others, but mutual respect implies that two or more persons have respect for each other, and as unfortunate as it may seem at times, you can never control when and where others decide to show you respect. So, perhaps the question should be: “How can I encourage mutual respect?”

Read the five tips below and learn what you can do to create an environment that is more conducive to manifestations of mutual respect.

1) Encourage Mutual Respect with Time

It’s painfully obvious that we simply don’t get along with some personalities, but it is also fairly obvious that the more you get to know someone the more you begin to understand them and in turn, respect them. After those primary bad impressions “sizzle off” you might even make some surprising friendships.

If you truly want to foster mutual respect with people who may be hard to get along with, you are going to have to “buckle down” and set aside time to be with that person, work with that person, talk with that person and even play with that person. You might have to grit your teeth now and again but in the end you will gradually start to realize that his or her personality or point of view aren’t that hard to get along with after all.

2) Encourage Mutual Respect with Patience

Patience, in my opinion, is a combination of empathy and selflessness. In other words, patience is about other people, which is why patience is such a hard virtue to master. After all, who wants to spend time thinking about other people when we are so busy plowing through our own agendas? The truth is that the best people, the smartest people and the most successful people take a good long look at other people and express empathy and selflessness towards the people they associate with. Sincerity of action is also very important. A person who is simply going through the motions of being selfless (i.e. taking more time to talk with someone) will simply appear to be a fake if he or she doesn’t show sincerity.

3) Encourage Mutual Respect by Listening

Listening is one of the greatest manifestations of respect. Even if you think the ideas of a co-worker or acquantaince are way “off the mark,” listen carefully to what he or she is saying and then ask questions that truly make you curious. For instance, if your co-worker wants to raise the marketing budget and you think that is the stupidest idea you have heard during your entire career, don’t express your feelings, or your own thoughts regarding the supposed stupidity of the suggestion. Instead, start asking questions like “How will the company have enough to pay for the new hires in two months?” or “What do you think about our current marketing strategies? Do you think we should improve those first? You might find that he or she has some great ideas that were being poorly expressed because no one took the time to analyze them more fully.

4) Encourage Mutual Respect by Laughing

If you laugh with others, you can relax, and when you relax and help others to relax as well, more effective communication takes place every second. Take time to analyze your “opponent’s” sense of humor and be patient with him or her. Try to find common interests, or laugh about experiences that you’ve already had together without using humor that he or she might find offensive.

5) Maintain Mutual Respect with Honesty

Once a person trusts you and starts to show you respect, it doesn’t mean you will have his or her respect for a lifetime. In order to maintain mutual respect you have to be honest with that person even when it is extremely uncomfortable to do so, and you have to be honest every day–not just on the days that are convenient for you. A dishonest businessman or professional is truly no businessman or professional at all. If you are honest, you will become better at everything you do and others will crave your mutual respect.

Marci Crane is a web content specialist for Innuity. For more information in regards to instruction of activities and lessons that can help you foster mutual respect in the workplace, please feel free to contact a VitalSmarts representative.

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Tags: ethical, workplace, advocate, code, conduct

Business ethics are a matter of much debate. Every MBA entrant is taught the meaning of them, and yet many will never follow these guidelines in their real life careers. It has become a vast and complex field, and is the subject of much research. Business ethics encompass a large and significant portion of what it takes to do business today. Under the umbrella of business ethics comes:

• The social responsibility that a business is supposed to have towards the community in general, particularly the one in which it operates or has any interests. An example of this would be the Exxon Mobil oil spill. It is the responsibility of a business to protect the interests of the people, animals and environment where it uses resources. Due to improper handling of the issue, it became a public relations nightmare for the company. Exxon has now been ordered to clean up the area which it should have taken care not to damage in the first place. Indifference to business ethics in this case, caused a negative public image for the company and a huge lawsuit.

• Issues regarding a company’s responsibility towards its shareholders. This is a heavily regulated area but one that requires a lot of government intervention due to certain unethical practices adopted by many companies in the past. The concept of increasing shareholder value is part of the fundamental principles of a company and if business ethics are not brought into play here, the business can collapse due to the pressure exerted by shareholders.

• Inter-company dealings and negotiations. Often rivalries in business can turn ugly due to the amount of money and ego riding on them. Hostile takeovers and business espionage are some of the examples of unethical behavior within the business world. If discovered, these deeds can be punishable by law or simply public opinion. To allow for fair play and keeping the best interests of the consumers in mind, the government regulates a great deal of what goes on in company dealings. Microsoft has been the target of much abuse and outrage due to its allegedly monopolistic techniques of doing business. While this has not sunk the IT giant, many say that it may have long term repercussions. The government has also stepped in to make sure that other businesses and consumers are not harmed.

• Stakeholder protection. Every business has stakeholders other than its owners – the employees, the stockholders and the general public. The business has to ensure that the rights and interests of all of these groups are adequately protected in the course of its operations. The recent outcry about the harassment and bad working conditions of employees in Wal-Mart led to the generation of a lot of negative press about the outsized department store. This gives the competition the lead and rivals take the opportunity to get ahead while the company is busy trying to do some damage control.

• Fundamental business practices of a company. Underhanded dealings, the use of substandard products, spreading misinformation about the product, hiring illegal workers at lower than minimum wage, etc. prove that a business is run in an unethical way and that it is not a high quality work place or service provider. For instance, cigarette companies that spent most of the seventies telling people that it was not unhealthy to smoke, though they knew this to be untrue. In a recent judgment, one such company was forced to pay out $28 billion.

William King is the director of Wholesale UK Dropshipping & Wholesalers Trade Suppliers, Wholesale Dropshipping & Dropshippers Directory, Wholesalers Products & Dropshipping Supplies Directory, and UK Wholesalers & Wholesale Dropshippers. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.

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Tags: business, ethics, conduct, code, issues

With the economy in shambles and investors as weary as ever, one might start to wonder if the Sarbanes-Oxley act has really done anything to prevent fraud. While we have not seen any fraud quite as ugly as the kind that brought down Enron and WorldCom, it is still plentiful. Fraud, it seems, has been slightly deterred at the corporate level, but still runs rampant throughout the financial industry. These ponzi schemes seem to be happening more and more, with former chairman of NASDAQ Bernie Madeoff being involved in one worth around fifty billion dollars recently.

In the early 2000s, investors and employees of the companies involved were devastated when huge corporate fraud cases emerged. This fraud, administered from the highest offices in the corporations, left investors with worthless shares and employees with no job, and depleted retirement funds. It was time for reform, and the federal government stepped in. The Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002, or Sarbanes-Oxley, was their answer to corporate fraud. SOX was intended to make these high ranking officials responsible for the legitimacy of all financial statements released to the public. It also put measures in place to prevent public accounting firms from getting too involved in the corporations in which they prepared financial statements for.

While Sarbanes-Oxley was no doubt a good idea, but it turned out to be very costly for companies trying to implement these new processes in order to comply. Now there is a situation where the companies that were responsible for the start of this fraud panic have folded, and the ones that were honest are paying a stiff penalty. Now these honest companies are struggling to survive between the poor economy and massive costs to keep their financials fraud-free.

Even with Sarbanes-Oxley in effect, there are news reports regularly describing the newest ponzi scheme unearthed in the financial world. These are not your average crooks either, these are brilliant minds of the financial world detecting an exploit and taking advantage of it. We only hear about the ones who get caught, but there are no doubt many who skim constantly and get away with it. With the economy on the fritz, it only increases the motive for fraud. Fund managers and financial advisors are on the chopping block. They are the ones getting the blame for poor performing stocks, and the ones with their jobs on the line. With all this added pressure it is obvious why fraud can look like an easy solution.

So now what do we do? More legislation? Legislation is not the answer here. Sarbanes-Oxley proved that legislation could only take us so far. The answer is ethics. Ethics must be emphasized by businesses instead of profits. If we start leaning towards ethics training and taking a little pressure of performance it will slowly turn our financial ship back in the right direction. Honesty should be the number one priority, and profits should be number two. If you only emphasize profits and performance, eventually fraud will rear its ugly head and the entire company could be at stake. If you emphasize ethics and honesty, the profits may not be as substantial but at least you know them to be true. This sets the groundwork for a company to prosper for many years as an ethical honest corporation rather than burn out quickly like a profit driven supernova.

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Tags: business, ethics, workplace, code, professional

Workplace bullying is more prevalent in today’s workplace than at any time in the past. It is essentially a violation of the individual, and akin to rape in its effects. Both exhibit an abuse of power over an individual(s), resulting in trauma and even psychiatric injury. Both genders may experience it, and as many males as females have been targeted.

A very powerful metaphor comes to mind that is helpful in crystalising your thinking on what workplace bullying does. The powerful and disturbing concept of ‘rape’ comes to mind, with all the horrendous emotions associated with that kind of personal violation. Rape is essentially about the ‘abuse of power’ and only secondarily about intrusive sexual attack. What is done to the victim is nothing less than barefaced rape! This takes two distinct but related forms; there is ‘date rape’ where the target meets with his/her attackers, only to be subjected to strangling emotional abuse by people with a vested interest in destroying the target. Demands are made to violate conscience in which the victim is told that unless s/he did so, the consequences would be terrible. These people see themselves as possessing “the power of life or death” over colleagues. So the rape goes on, time after insufferable time.

Allied to this is the idea of ‘gang rape’ to which some victims are subjected, with key players ‘doing the job,’ and the onlookers enjoying and supporting what they were witnessing. This is excruciatingly painful, especially because these were colleagues with whom the target works, people who are trusted. After such a savage experience, it is difficult, if not impossible, to trust people again. ‘Gang rape,’ as one would imagine, contains the multiplying effect of rape by a single person, and when one finishes and gains his moments of pleasure, others are lining up to gain personal gratification as they continue the psychological torture.

Then there are the bystanders who see what is going on, but do nothing to stop it, or offer any protection from these attackers – no one. They could intervene, were it not for fear of what they might to do them also if they got on their wrong side, and backed someone whom they wanted rid of. It is still true that “turkeys don’t vote for Christmas!”

Hazlett Lynch, Ph.D., is an academic who has researched this phenomenon and is pleased to offer the fruits of his research to a wider reading public. He would draw your attention to his website for further information on workplace bullying http://www.bullying.FirstQualityEbook.com This substantial downloadable ebook is instantly accessible, written in a popular style, and combines an academic base with personal experience. Six free bonuses are included to supplement the report. Please visit this site and give yourself the best chance to recover from the effects of this life-threatening behaviour.

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Tags: ethical, moral, behaviour, conduct, code

Some of the very basic ethics and tactics which I think everyone knows but often observed as ignored situations. I would like to tip these personally. The people who are working in more or less small to medium scale companies, crew of a research center or in universities where they get in contact with the people of different nationalities should,

1: remember “a cultural greeting” at the place where you work. Generally, it leads to have moralistic depiction of your personality and a humanistic respect of you surrounding people.

2: Keep a smiling face as a key to unlock friendship, compare notes and talk together.

3: Remember the name, academic history of your colleagues, especially if you are in research group at a university, get know-how of their projects and goals.

4: Always be sharp, in time to the office or laboratory but flexible to leaving…

5: Be precise in dealing, money, and “paper-matters”. Documentation should be in an order to access systematically and symmetrically.

6: Always share precious time of “coffee break” as in Germany, or Tee break in UK…or lunch times… these are the times when people of different backgrounds, diverse project round the table and you get a possibility to converse your views, listen their specialties, success stories, international cultural events in your country, religion or special foods stuff… even if you are lucky and still single can also come across your suitable life partner!

7: Be active in social events of your working place. Interaction and participation in Get together is as vital as your report. Anyhow you get experiences of different matters of working social life.

8: If there is more than one colleague in your office, be friendly, and be judging when they need your suggestion in their matters. Do not poke every time your nose in their matters even it is interesting to you. This also depends on if you are male or female. But it is always better and respectful when they ask your opinion, you should impart your honest suggestion.

Well, personally I am not in favor of celebrating birthdays at your working place but as seen in some advanced countries, some people like to! But it depends upon the type and condition plus the working style of your company. Well, you have to decide yourself but events like inauguration ceremonies etc… are worthy to rejoice fully.

9: Build a strong communication line with your boss and the leader of your company in terms of your working reports and update of your project status. If you are the leader of the special department then leave the door open for everyone at anytime to “come and ask”. The feelings of “master-slave” relation are sometimes critical. It is always superior compromising the situations with “give and take” strategy.

As seen, many times there starts grouping and “mobbing” in the business and even in university research institutes. Well, it is true that there could be some “difference” in personal view points but everyone should keep in mind the Ethics and collective aim of the company, the university or the general body of the group…

10: If you are the head of you department where about 100 or more people work in your supervision, especially with different nationalities and cultural background, you should take care of not only the basic cultural demands but also sometimes come to their levels and special religious events, interfaith too.

11: The confidence in helping the colleagues in all kinds of their problems.

12: Least but not the last, I would like to secure my PC before I leave my office even for 5 minutes, lock perfectly your confidential documents of special projects and make password protected folders.

Mr. MALIK graduated with distinction from the University of Punjab (Pakistan) in 2001. For further education he went to Germany and secured M.Sc. thesis from the University of Stuttgart (Germany) in 2003. Now he is striving for his Ph.D. in Physics. His interests are Microelectronic Device Fabrication. Organic semiconductors, Diffusion barrier layers. Inorganic Coatings, Plasma CVD.

To know different cultures, learn other languages, discuss closely related religions, life styles and English, Arabic calligraphy are some of the extra curricular activities which are a significant part of his life.

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Tags:ethics, code, conduct, business, behaviour

A strange title and linking of terms in an article providing information on workplace bullying! But it’s not as strange as you might at first imagine. Abortion is the deliberate destruction of another human life for purely personal reasons; so also is workplace bullying. It is traumatic, guilt-laden, shameful and destructive.

This metaphor may be used to explain what happens when someone is bullied at work. Abortion is usually what is done to those in organisations who become surplus to requirements because the management no longer views them as useful or convenient for them. Through all kinds of machinations, the target’s ‘fetal’ existence within the organisation becomes an embarrassment to the firm, an embarrassment that it does not wish to talk about, except in hushed tones; targets are in danger of infecting the whole, and causing disease in the entire body. Therefore they have to be aborted, and disposed of quietly.

The means of aborting an unwanted employee is immaterial – but it is essentially emotionally and psychologically violent, and sometimes physically violent, and always results in the unceremonial removal of the victim from the organisation at any cost and by any means.

Indeed, the establishment will use colleagues within the firm, in Stalin’s unforgettable but often quite accurate phrase, as “useful idiots,” to do their bidding. Whether they perceived this or not is an open question; indeed, whether they possessed the discernment that one would expect, one cannot say. But the fact is, they were used to doing what management had planned, and executed their devilish plans.

It is quite enlightening and interesting that within a relatively short time of an essential workplace ‘abortion’ having taken place, more senior players are likely to be promoted to even more senior positions. The establishment always rewards its most faithful servants! Senior management will look after the best interests of those who serve it well.

Understanding workplace bullying in this way very often opens up a means of thinking and analysis that is productive of good results and outcomes. This does not imply that everything at work will return to normal, but it does suggest that other doors will open to you for future service.

Hazlett Lynch, Ph.D., is an academic who has researched this phenomenon and is pleased to offer the fruits of his research to a wider reading public. He would draw your attention to his website for further information on workplace bullying. This substantial downloadable ebook is instantly accessible, written in a popular style, and combines an academic base with personal experience. Six free bonuses are included to supplement the report. Please visit this site and give yourself the best chance to recover from the effects of this life-threatening behaviour.

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Tags: ethical, moral, behaviour, conduct, code

On one end of the dress-code dimension we find the Iranian measure in which women are fined if they do not use their veil. A measure that got introduced only recently. The other end of the dress-code discussion is the complete freedom that some tourists exhibit when visiting a sacred building. In business you need to choose a side; somewhere on the wing of total freedom or just on the other side of the center imposing a simple code.

Some schools in Spain and other countries prescribe a uniform. Such a measure brings many advantages; all pupils are treated equally, it is cheaper as you need only a few sets of uniforms and it supports the child in accepting the education. To see this just imagine that you are going for a ride on the bike. In the first case you just wear normal clothes, in the other you put on a professional bicycle gear. In the second case the uniform reminds you every minute that it is serious. Imagine a Tour-the-France where everyone puts on the clothes he or she pleases.
Many other professions require an official uniform. Have you ever witnessed a pilot in shorts? Or a police officer in jeans, a medical specialist — other than Doctor House — dressed casual? Alright… there are exceptions, as always.

But the main point is that a simple dress code should help you perform. The suit at the office reminds you that you are a professional like the football player ready to start the match.

There are disadvantages or limitations of the success of a dress code. If you do not feel a professional a proper suit will not change your attitude. There is no guarantee.
Also you can’t push things in a call-center. A call center is already a very demanding environment and some freedom would lower the barrier to accept the job. The client or prospect on the phone cannot see you. So in fact you are free to wear as you please as long as you are able to express respect. Are you when wearing toe slippers, like the tourist visiting a church?

© 2007 Hans Bool

Hans Bool writes articles about management, culture and change.

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No matter how large or small your business may be, the chances are good that there is some level of business ethics training that is needed – either by you or your employees or managers. Too often, however, many business owners think that business ethics training is a waste of time.

This, however, is not the case. Numerous things can be accomplished with business ethics training, and this type of training can be either very simplified or very complex. The business ethics training needed for you and your managers is typically more extensive and complicated than that which you will be requiring for your employees.

Implementing an ethics program in your organization accomplishes many things. First, research has found that greater attention to ethics in the workplace has actually improved society overall, in that we no longer have to fear poverty due to accidents in the workplace, and our children are no longer forced to work. Because of business ethics, people in the workplace have more rights, and are therefore more productive.

The business also benefits from implementing an ethics program. Employees are less likely to quit, and this enables the company to grow, and to cut down on the costs associated with training new employees as old – or not-so-old – employees leave the company for better jobs. With an ethics program, again, employees become more productive, and actually work better as a team.

An ethics policy also protects the business from a legal standpoint, ensuring that all policies of the company are in fact legal. Many people don’t realize it, but an ethics program covers a wide range of business departments, such as planning, management, research, development, human resources, and marketing, as well as numerous other company specific departments. Aside from this, an ethics policy also goes a long way in building a positive relationship with the community, as well as in strengthening the company’s public image as a whole.

Once business owners and managers have had business ethics training, training for employees can begin. This should include existing employees as well as incoming employees. The ethics program should be reviewed with all new employees during the training or orientation period. For employees, this usually not only includes a review of the ethics program, but may also use a number of example ethical situations, where the employee, or prospective employee, is asked to state how they would handle the situation.

Ethics training, or at the very least the ethics policy of the company, should be given to the employee for them to keep. Each employee should also be asked to sign a form stating that they have reviewed the ethics policy of the company, and that they have received the company mandated business ethics training.

This and other topics that deal with corporate communications, business to customer relationships, and sales training through Collective Vision are just some of the topics discuss.

And now I would like to offer you one of my book chapters absolutely free. You can get instant access at this site

From Jed A. Reay – The Communicator/Connector and Visionary Master Sales Trainer.

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Tags: ethics, work, business, life, code

In order to examine ethical issues, it is first necessary to define ethics. Today, we regard ethics as a “”rational process founded on certain principles.”" However, I believe a definition that is more applicable to this project is the ethical theory that existed in ancient Greece. There, ethics was the study of what was good for both the individual and society. We will look at some online issues and how they may be good and/or bad for society. Cyberethics is quite simply the study of ethics on the Internet.

“Ethics begins when elements within a moral system conflict.”
Cyberethics is often called as Information System Ethics. Information System ethics can be defined as “The study of moral, legal, ethical issues involving the use of information and communication technologies“
There are many unique challenges we face in this age of information. They stem from the nature of information itself. Information is the means through which the mind expands and increases its capacity to achieve its goals, often as the result of an input from another mind. Thus, information forms the intellectual capital from which human beings craft their lives and secure dignity.

However, the building of intellectual capital is vulnerable in many ways. For example, people’s intellectual capital is impaired whenever they lose their personal information without being compensated for it, when they are precluded access to information which is of value to them, when they have revealed information they hold intimate, or when they find out that the information upon which their living depends is in error. The social contract among people in the information age must deal with these threats to human dignity. The ethical issues involved are many and varied in Information System Ethics.

Ethics is required in information Systems to overcome the following ethical issues.

Privacy: What information about one’s self or one’s associations must a person reveal to others, under what conditions and with what safeguards? What things can people keep to themselves and not be forced to reveal to others?

Accuracy: Who is responsible for the authenticity, fidelity and accuracy of information? Similarly, who is to be held accountable for errors in information and how is the injured party to be made whole?

Property: Who owns information? What are the just and fair prices for its exchange? Who owns the channels, especially the airways, through which information is transmitted? How should access to this scarce resource be allocated?

Accessibility: What information does a person or an organization have a right or a privilege to obtain, under what conditions and with what safeguards?

Information System ethics explores and evaluates:

• the development of moral values in the information field,

• the creation of new power structures in the information field, information myths,

• hidden contradictions and intentionality’s in information theories and practices,

• the development of ethical conflicts in the information field. etc

Now let us take a look at privacy by the following examples. A few years ago, Florida lawmakers gave the go ahead to have monitors stationed in bathrooms at Tallahassee Community College to determine if the facilities were being underutilized. Students and faculty vehemently protested that the monitors violated their privacy. State officials said that the value of the information gained through the study was more important than the threat to privacy. Other issues like collection of private data of the users using internet by monitoring the traffic is strongly related to one’s policy as that information can be further used for illegal purposes. These types of privacy issues are needed to be addressed properly so that they should not exploit one’s freedom. One issue that I kept thinking about when I was constructing my Web page was whether it was ethical to lift an image from someone’s home page and use it on my Web page without crediting the source. Such ethical issues come under property.

One reason that topics such as online gambling and pornography have become such firestorms of controversy in cyberspace is the simple fact that so many people have access to the Web sites. Simply put, if no one had access to online pornography no one would care. With this another issue “Censorship” comes which should be deal in efficient way as it is not easy to implement. Ethical issues can also be religious, moral or any other.These type of issues are not easy to deal with.

Similarly, let us take China into consideration on the issue of “Censorship”. China has implemented the methods of censoring the internet that are somewhat harder to bypass for people generally unfamiliar with the way internet works. There is ,for example internet censorship as implemented in China—using a list of banned words that are censored on the fly. As users in china request a webpage , the incoming page is first inspected by government servers n blocked if a banned term such as “Democracy” is present. Human censors are also actively looking at what people browse on the internet, and block websites as they see fit.

Crimes on internet are also increasing in a continuous manner.Computer crime is a general term that embraces such crimes as phishing, credit card frauds, bank robbery, Industrial espionage, child porn, kidnapping children via chat rooms, scams, cyber terrorism, viruses, spam and so on. All such crimes are computer related and facilitated crimes. Many recent cases seen like Microsoft’s website was brought down for a little time resulting in a huge loss to Microsoft. Similarly, NUST, one of the best considered university in Pakistan got Hacked and redirected to another domain. Credit card fraud have grown in an increasingly manner. Leakage of Military information from internet is another internet crime. Software known as google earth, which shows information about different places including military land or can lead to robbery planning, is becoming an ethical issue around the world. Many people protest against this leakage of information but still one can’t deny that it is one of the major enhancements in Information Technology.

The question about how to police these crimes has already been constructed, but this task is turning out to be an uphill battle. Since the first computer crime law, the Counterfeit Access Device and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1984, the governments have been trying to track down and stop online criminals. The FBI of different countries have tried many programs and investigations in order to deter Internet crime, like creating an online crime registry for employers .The reality is that Internet criminals are rarely caught. One reason is that hackers will use one computer in one country to hack another computer in another country. And that criminal isn’t working alone. Loosely organized groups–which security experts call “”Web gangs”"–conduct much of the illegal activity online. The structure of Web gangs may be patterned on that of traditional organized crime, in which the members of the group may never come into contact with one another and may never be aware of who they are working for.

Conclusion:

We live in an exciting time in history. The widespread availability of computers and Internet connections provides unprecedented opportunities to communicate and learn. Unfortunately, although most people use the Internet as a powerful and beneficial tool for communication and education, some individuals exploit the power of the Internet for criminal or terrorist purposes.

We can minimize the harm that such individuals do by learning ourselves, and teaching young people, how to use the Internet safely and responsibly. The term “cyberethics” refers to a code of safe and responsible behavior for the Internet community. Practicing good cyberethics involves understanding the risks of harmful and illegal behavior online and learning how to protect ourselves, and other Internet users, from such behavior. It also involves teaching young people, who may not realize the potential for harm to themselves and others, how to use the Internet safely and responsibly.

Muhammad Bilal Azmat,
Operations Manager.

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Tags: it, ethic, morality, code, handbook

888 the operators of casino on net and pacific poker have been accused of stealing webmasters content in an attempt to increase their search engine positions. The practice known as “scraping” is a spam technique and is condemned by all the major search engines. Furthermore the majority of webmasters consider this practice as underhand and disrespectful to other website operators.

Casino affiliate programs, the leading resource for online gambling affiliate programs yesterday announced that it was revoking its certification of the 888 program stating “These illegal activities are negatively impacting thousands of affiliates and online marketers worldwide. There a number of programming teams operating with the approval of 888 Casino which are flooding search engines like Google and Yahoo with thousands of spurious search results. This angers searchers and makes finding legitimate destinations on the internet difficult if not impossible. These rogues are also robbing bandwidth and corrupting web logs with millions of commercial messages all linked to 888 Casino. This abuse of the system tarnishes the image of the industry as a whole and can not be allowed to continue.”

Casino affiliate programs have an active forum within its site with some of the most powerful promoters of online gambling participating in discussions there. The power that they yield together is demonstrated by the search engine results that they can achieve. A page that was set up less than a week ago at http://www.gamesandcasino.com/888/casino one moderator now occupies the top spot in google for the term “888 rogue casino”. Other search terms such as “rogue casino” and “blacklisted casinos” will also provide detailed information on the 888 saga.

Content theft is a serious problem for webmasters. It is essentially the same as somebody duplicating a book that someone else has written and then offering it for half price. The time it takes to scrape a site is minimal. “Content theft is on the rise from countries such as China and the developing world. I spend hours trying to come up with original content only for it to be replicated all over the web weeks later” says Mark Hirst of Bewisebets

Another issue is blog spamming. Blog spamming is where text is written that is of no use to its audience whatsoever. The text often has links inserted into it promoting the spammers site. Examples that have been recorded with regards to 888 are quotes such as

“One would, should he caught a look of terror in her online casino eyes, be a question of waiting for breakfast”

Night and day were 888 the same in this prison room, or daughter, for it was one of the gang. Free betting are you, with sudden glints of gold in it

The highlighted areas are links inserted randomly into blog comments in an attempt to increase the number of links pointing back to a site.

There is some dispute over who is behind this activity. Some say it is affiliates of 888, others claim that it is 888 themselves. Whichever is the case a company the size of the one in question should be taking action against any form of scraping, spamming or copyright theft. At the time of going to press Cassava holdings have declined to enter into a dialogue with Casino affiliate programs stating that they are not interested in a resolution at this time. Casino affiliate programs have requested that 888 introduce the following measures:

“To resolve this issue CAP has been in negotiations with 888 Casino for the last six weeks, but so far they have declined to comply and have stated they are not interested in a resolution at this time.

CAP had been seeking the following action items from 888 Casino on behalf of their affiliate members:

1. Issue a public statement indicating that 888 Casino does not condone nor will they reward content theft or illegal marketing practices by their affiliates or marketing consultants. If affiliates or marketers are discovered to be engaged in these practices their accounts will be closed, they will be banned from the 888 affiliate program and their proceeds or commissions due forfeited.

2. Addition to the Affiliate Program Terms and Conditions a provision stating the above policy.

3. A good faith effort by 888 Casino to adhere to these policies now and in the future.”

Clearly this kind of behaviour cannot be tolerated and it is in the interests of all webmasters to make a stand regardless of what industry you are in. If we send a clear message that any webmaster small or large is caught doing these things will be thoroughly hounded by the international web community, then we can stamp this kind of activity out for good.

You can sign a petition that will be sent to google, yahoo and all the other major search engines All you need to do is enter your name and website if you have one. The petition requests that 888 and its partner sites be removed from the search engine indexes until this issue is resolved. Please feel free to sign it even if you are not involved in the industry as theft is theft and together we can make a stand.

Sign the 888 petition here.

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Every large design company whether it’s a multi-national branding corporation or a regular down at heel tatty magazine publisher needs to fill holes in the workforce. If the canny freelance designer plays his or her cards right, he can earn a tidy sum while essentially loafing at home. Here’s how…

Have a handy repotoire of excuses lined up

Everyone has heard of the line ‘the dog ate it…’ or ‘I left it in my jeans when it went into the wash’ to avoid handing in an assignment but how often do we actually use them? Some of these old well worn excuses are due for a renaissance period. A boss is far more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt when you use one of these old dogs as they will question your sanity for attempting to use such an audacious excuse. Reverse psychology. Use it to your advantage

Backstabbing – Is it so wrong?

A favourite trick to pull on another member of staff is to sow the seeds of doubt in the rest of the full-timers minds about your chosen fall guy. Office politics can play a huge role in screwing with their heads. Why not try surreptiously planting somebody elses scissors or staplers in the victims drawer and asking to borrow them. When they can’t find them say you saw so and so using them earlier. Sit back and watch the tension build.

An apple a day…

Being a teachers pet can sometimes work wonders when you haven’t bothered to layout those pages that were given to you 3 weeks ago. Coming into the office armed with a nice rich chocolate gateau for everyone will smooth over any resentment for your tarde lackadaisacal attitude to work. Another good idea is to be the coffee gopher at regular half hour intervals. When you’re gone they’ll really miss you and because of the caffeine withdrawal will be snapping at one another.

Outsource and reap the rewards

Everybodies doing it so why not you? If you’ve landed a hefty long term design job that is a regular payer, why not bump your rates up and get somebody in India or China to knock out the work for you. Unethical? Perhaps but since when did you consider the plight of individuals in far flung places? You can explain away the discrepances in language and grammar by claiming you’ve been working all hours

Getting away with murder

There comes a time and place when despite your best efforts to cover your ass and blame others for your laziness and ineptitude, you are going to be found out. At this stage with disgruntled colleagues lining up to put in a bad word about you, there may be no other option left but to use the failsafe rear guard action of killing someone. This will have the effect of distracting attention from your less than honest approach to handing in graphic designs on time. It’s probably best to avoid murdering the boss as questions are likely to be raised and you may find the new apointed editor will not see you as part of the new team format. No, go for one of the more replacable members of staff such as Ian the sub-editor, the resulting fracas will buy you enough time to work on some new scams at another organisation

So there you go, use these tricks as and when you feel they may benefit you. But be careful the cops are sometimes pretty keen to clamp down on office genocide – only use this last option under extreme duress.

Mindtap Graphic Design Resources is your single point entry into the UK creative industries. We are looking to create a unique site where you can access information on UK graphic design, UK logo design, graphic design tutorials, graphic designer careers, graphics software, graphics tutorials, graphic designers, logo creation, freelancer resources, graphic designer jobs, employment, web page design, free graphics, website designers, artworkers, graphic clipart and any other associated graphic design resource.

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Tags:professional, ethics, code, conduct, work

Is it business ethics or just the golden rule? The golden rule holds a universal theme. Treat others the way you would want to be treated. Do it at work, at home, in life and in Hong Kong. It is a bedrock principle of any good company. Keep focus on transparency and emphasis on doing the right thing. This will become your primary reason for superior performance and success.

Every reputable profession needs to hold a special position of trust within society. That is to recognize that continued public trust is based on the commitment to high ethical standards within the company and that speaks to the equally high standards of the individuals within the company. This all begins at the top. If integrity is not there it will not exist long at the lower levels. It is the responsibility of the person at the top to make it known by example and character that nothing less will be tolerated.

It is important that all the people in the company believe that is critical that all its employees act at all times in an honest and ethical manner in connection with their service to the company. The principles of integrity and accountability are the cornerstone of success.

Each employee should deal fairly with all counter-parties, vendors, competitors, and other employees at all times. It all goes back to the golden rule. There are no ethics that apply here sometimes but not there sometimes. There are no ‘business’ ethics. Around the world religious and cultural differences may vary but the golden rule stands solid.

As an individual in the company making these correct decisions is imperative. In raw everyday life it all comes done to the decisions made with that simple but basic golden rule, do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. By definition deception is out or any attempt to mislead.

And lastly and just as importantly pay prompt attention to and act on all complaints. This includes but is not limited to customers, suppliers and employees. They will do their part in keeping you honest!

Mary Barrett President The European Hardware Company (EHC) & Lynn Cove Foundry and Forge. The website is here.

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Tags: business, ethics, workplace, code, professional

Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations. The sin is limitations. As soon as you once come up to a man’s limitations, it is all over with him. – Emerson

Many people wonder about the trends of unethical conduct by today’s leaders. Obviously, some executives and government officials have not upheld the standards of their positions by not stopping the unethical behavior among their peers.

If an observer was to review past leaders’ conduct, one would be able to appreciate the ethics involved for 21st century organizations. There are still problems to solve and challenges to discover. As people continue to be hired or elected in order to gain power for the wrong reasons, society will continue to see unethical conduct. However, people must expect high standards from today’s leaders and never compromise their own principles in the process.

Organizations can be most effective when they build their organizations around shared values. However, leaders must buy-in and become value advocates. Leaders must model the way, and they must demand proper ethical behaviors from their peers. This can be clearly understood from a biblical context. 1 Corinthians 15:33 reads, “Don’t fool yourselves. Bad friends will destroy you.” People, especially leaders, need to pick their friends and associates carefully.

President Harry Truman said, “Men make history, and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.”
Therefore, it is important that leaders align themselves with the right people.

Just as God provided Adam the instructions to lead humanity, leaders must provide a blueprint for greater ethical conduct for others. Therefore, this responsibility is in the hands of today’s leaders’ hands.

Daryl D. Green has published over 100 articles in the field of decision-making (personal and organizational), leadership, and organizational behavior. Mr. Green is also the author of four books, including More than a Conqueror: Achieving Personal Fulfillment in Government Service. Do you want to improve your life? Do you want to make better decisions? If you answer “yes,” then go to the ‘master decision-making’ website at this site.

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Tags: ethical, behaviour, conduct, code, leadership

The chances are good that you have your own ethical code, even if you don’t realize it. You have a sense of what is right and wrong. You have a sense of what you are and are not willing to do. There are even things that society would consider ‘right,’ which you consider ‘wrong,’ and which you will not do. This is your unwritten ethical code.

If you own a business – whether it is large or small – you should have a written ethical code for that business. Today, while people have their own personal ethical code, businesses, organizations, and governmental agencies also have ethical codes that they conduct their business by, just as you live your personal life by your own ethical code.

In this case, however, the ethical code is written, and typically available for anyone to view. This code may not actually be called an ethical code, however. It may be referred to as a statement of responsibility or a code of professional responsibility, or by another name altogether. The question is, why does this code exist, and why is it written?

It is simply a statement that provides the company or organization with a blue print of what is and is not acceptable in terms of business practices. When moral questions or ethical questions arise in the course of business, the code of ethics generally provides an answer as to whether or not the business is being conducted in an ethical, moral way.

For some organizations, the government actually dictates the code of ethics. An example of this is the American Medical Association. Violating the code of ethics in this instance can have serious consequences, such as the loss of ones medical license. In corporations, however, violating the code of ethics can result in something as minor as a demotion, or as major as being fired by the company. There may also be ramifications from the major stockholders in the corporation if the code of ethics is violated.

Many organizations and corporations have entire boards that are dedicated to examining whether or not the code of ethics has been violated and in dealing with those violations as they arise. For small businesses, however, the code of ethics is really nothing more than a promise as to how the business owner will conduct his business – but if those ethics are violated, there are no ramifications.

Today, the ethical code of many businesses contain information not only concerning ethical business practices, but also entail information on how the company will help to protect the environment, and other social issues. If you own a small business, it is important to address these types of social issues, so that your customers know where you stand on those issues. In fact, you may be surprised to learn that you can actually grow your business easier when you do have an ethical code for that business in place, and when you actually adhere strongly to that code of ethics, simply because individuals do place a great deal of importance on the social issues of today and our responsibility as a whole to those issues.

This and other topics that deal with corporate communications, business to customer relationships, and sales training through Collective Vision are just some of the topics discuss.

We help you create your future through Collective Visioning

And now I would like to offer you one of my book chapters absolutely free. You can get instant access at this site

From Jed A. Reay – The Communicator/Connector and Visionary Master Sales Trainer.

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Tags: question, person, ethics, code, result

Each of us is ultimately responsible for our own actions. Although in today’s business world, I imagine many skeptics would take exception to that statement because there is evidence that people are not held accountable for their actions, even when they are unethical. And even more disturbing, some are even rewarded for unethical actions. Each of us makes a choice to act ethically or to act unethically.

It is essential that we know what is ethical and what is unethical. But, more challenging and difficult than knowing what is ethical, is knowing what is right and then doing what is right. Always doing the right thing is required for long-term success in your business and personal lives. So what advice and guidance are available to check if the action is right before implementing a decision to act? Well, your strategic thinking business coach has a set of questions to provide guidance to you for ethical decisions and actions.

My advice as a strategic thinking business coach is to ask the following ten (10) questions about any action and idea you are contemplating. And if you cannot answer yes to any of these questions, then you must develop an alternate strategy or seek advice and counsel from others.

+ Is the idea or action congruent with your core values and guiding principles of your business life and personal life?

+ Is the idea or action legal?

+ Will the idea or action be fair to all concerned?

+ Will the idea or action pass the Golden Rule test (Do Unto Others Test)?

+ Would the idea or action stand up to a critical public review if brought out into the open?

+ Will the benefits of the idea or action exceed the costs?

+ Does the idea or action comply with your company or organization’s rules and regulations?

+ Will you feel comfortable and without any feelings of guilt if you follow through on the idea or action?

+ Does the idea or action meet stated goals and objectives?

+ Would the most ethical person I know follow through on the idea or action?

These are very practical and useful questions to test your ideas and actions. You may develop other questions and add them to the list. If you use these questions to test your ideas and actions and remember that acting ethically is a requirement in everything you do, you will greatly increase your potential to be very ethical and successful.

If you would like to learn more about the importance of business ethics in your business and how to foster an environment of ethical behavior, please visit Glenn Ebersole today through his website

Glenn Ebersole, Jr. is a multi-faceted professional, who is recognized as a visionary, guide and facilitator in the fields of business coaching, marketing, public relations, management, strategic planning and engineering. Glenn is the Founder and Chief Executive of two Lancaster, PA based consulting practices: The Renaissance Group, a creative marketing, public relations, strategic planning and business development consulting firm and J. G. Ebersole Associates, an independent professional engineering, marketing, and management consulting firm. He is a Certified Facilitator and serves as a business coach and a strategic planning facilitator and consultant to a diverse list of clients. Glenn is also the author of a monthly newsletter, “Glenn’s Guiding Lines – Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach” and has published more than 250 articles on business.

To find out more about the benefits & rewards of effectively working with a strategic thinking business coach, please contact Glenn Ebersole through his website

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Dear reader – this article was developed to explain in pray fully simple, basic words and with a universal understanding of why one COE does not fit all, why there are varied COE’s, and the important question as to why different approaches are taken in administration. And why we have supported APEX since its inception in 1999.

Approaches: Please see the second section on the Gnostic and the Knights administration. Both require background reading and there is no substitute for gathering accurate and factual information. As
we read the varied backgrounds, explore the historical significance, seek meaning for certain words, we begin to form the basis for our own beliefs, rather than blindly following or taking an oath
without meaning.

Which ever approach is taken, an individual revisits a COE on a daily basis to instill the personal meaning and tempers understanding by application of honesty, respect, responsibility, fairness and
compassion. This is not a one time trip. It is a continuous journey the whole of our lives on this earth.

One Does Not Fit All: Doctors, lawyers, web developers, forums and all others have a very different set of objectives and as a result, have very different COE’s, but again and again…all contain
honesty, respect, responsibility, fairness and compassion. To me at least the highest COE among we mere mortals on earth is that of a mother, who also holds her warm arms around all, with she who is
called “”moral courage.”"

Conclusion: Ethics is an application which includes sound logic based upon more than casual inspection and must be a matter taken seriously today as in yester year. The survival our humankind depends
upon order, not chaos, love not hate, compassion not ridicule and a quest to be stronger than a locomotive, run faster than a speeding bullet and being able to leap tall buildings with a single
bound.

Code of Ethics Background

Ethics is best understood by taking the individual’s time for instruction, understanding and application.

Professional Associations are among those who adopt a “”code of ethics”" for their memberships. Each administers compliance with the code according to the specific needs and wants of the organization.
But all include the core elements of honesty, respect, responsibility, fairness and compassion. Many also include the provision of “”moral courage”" which has an ancient origin.

The ancient origin of ethics has not been altered in any significant
form from its beginning and continues today because the philosophy, is a study; not mere words in which one does not seek understanding, truth and knowledge.

Origins of Ethics

Influenced by Daoism, Zhou Dunyi (1017-1073) commented on the Yi Jing (Book of Changes) and explained the cosmic diagram of the great ultimate in a new way according to Confucian philosophy that
emphasizes ethics. Superior people cultivate moral qualities and enjoy good fortune, while the inferior violate them and suffer. Following The Center of Harmony (Zhong Yong), Zhou Dunyi believed the
foundation of a sage comes from cheng, which means sincerity, honesty, integrity, and authenticity. From this integrity he derived the five traditional Confucian virtues of humanity, justice,
propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness. Humanity is loving; justice is doing what is right; propriety is putting things in order; wisdom is penetrating; and faithfulness is abiding by one’s commitments.
Zhou Dunyi explained that in human nature are strength and weakness, good and evil, and the mean (center).

Confucius also concluded that music was central to this ordered universe in that the harmony was essential for its preservation and expansion. Reading became central to the application, but carried a
divine responsibility, for having read one now has the duty to expand knowledge by administering to the needs and wants of those who could not read. Understanding and a one-ness became crucial to
accomplishment of the end.

Administration of Ethics

An avenue of administration involves that of self or a Gnostic belief”" where the individual seeks to rise to the level of angels so that each may”" come that mystical level
which brings the individual into direct”" contact with the Divine. This administration includes three”" attributes: incorruptibility, aspiration and surrender.”"

Without reciting the entire Code of Chivalry, which is a second administration of a code of ethics, we will mention a few. To call one’s self a Knight and be afforded all of the rights and privileges
an oath was sworn to uphold and included the following:

* always champion right against wrong and good against evil.
* be polite and attentive.
* always keep your word
* show courage in the face of the enemy
* never be cruel in battle and show mercy and compassion to the enemy.

Knights as a group administered their code of ethics. Those in violation where immediately stripped of knighthood. There was no tribunal summoned nor a vote of the membership. Three knights in
good standing held the authority.

Historical footnote to the Knights administration: Augustinus the philosopher eluded to “”three knights in good standing and their authority”" but included the concept of “”redemption”" which allowed
reinstatement. However after three “”falls from grace”" was given a permanent ban upon being a knight. Hence an origin of “”three strikes and you are out.”"

* Core moral values include honesty, respect, responsibility, fairness and compassion and have come to be a kind of litmus test for ethical behavior. Added to that list is a word “”courage”" which is now commonly accepted but absent from formal presentations but abundant in classroom discussions and formal gatherings of those involved specifically in the area of ethics.
* Courage comes in several forms: moral versus physical courage, where moral is not about facing physical challenges that harm the body, but facing mental challenges that could harm one’s reputation, emotional well-being, self-esteem or other. The first step in regaining high moral ground is to recognize moral courage which is like the string which ties a strand of pearls together and includes honesty, respect, responsibility, fairness, and compassion. A second step is recognizing what “”moral courage”" is not: which is the exact opposite or in other words the easy wrong, rather than the hard right. Step three would be to engage in acts of moral courage, because with every experience lived, we can engage in the next without as much fear. The danger lies in refusing to face the fear, by not daring to come to grips with it.

Conclusion

Codes of conduct, pledges of morality and other ethical charters have been with us from the beginning of time, yet there are humans who adopt lives by these codes knowing full well that others may
not. That my good friends is the genesis of the APEX code of conduct which applies to our
growing community. Least we lose ourselves and our morality, please do not use the excuse that “”others are
not following”" to do anything other ourselves than to lift each person up who honestly and compassionately tries to “”live the code.”" And who may be found wanting, will witness the “”moral courage”" of
a friend to bring each back into fellowship.

P.S. To err is human; to forgive is divine

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Oprah made a mistake. She came forth and took responsibility for it in her admission of error. She apologized. She, and her adoring audience, moved on. There is a huge lesson for all of us here.

Everyone, from the most powerful leaders and opinion makers, companies large and small, to three-year old children, make mistakes. It is probably human nature that, when an error is discovered, many of us immediately attempt to cover it up. We deny it, blame someone else or something outside our control (the dog ate my homework), we launch a smokescreen to avoid admitting our humanity and the fear of our inability to be perfect. The cover-up gets bigger and bigger, often becoming much larger than the original mistake. While many get away with the deception, some get caught and are destroyed by it.

Oprah triumphed because of her honesty and her integrity. For days after her admission of error the news media ran lead stories about the incident and the manner in which she faced this potentially career destroying event. This big flap will be over and done with in short order; probably by the time this column is published. Her audience will forgive and forget but her brand will glow, not because she is immune to error, but because she admits her human fallibility and didn’t attempt to hide it. With most people she has risen in stature because of her integrity and respect for her audience. Contrast the long term effect of this incident to that of political, religious, business, scientific, and athletic icons who made errors, denied them, attempted to cover them up, and got discovered in the deception. Not a pretty comparison.

This Oprah incident is a lesson for all of us. We all should remember it whenever we err. We can use this lesson to review our stand on personal and business ethics, to consider how we will react when we make a mistake. Once we know how we want to react, instill the Oprah ethos to the staff so we all can learn a lesson from Oprah.

Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, “Front Lines with Larry Galler” Sign up for his free newsletter here

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The National Business Ethics Survey (NBES) provides an overview of ethics in the workplace and the 2005 version indicates that ethical misconduct is increasing. And this is after Enron, et al. The NBES included more than 3,000 American workers and their survey showed that more than half of American workers have observed at least one type of ethical misconduct in the workplace. Yet, employee reporting of the misconduct they observe is down by 10%. This is cause for alarm, in my opinion, and more businesses need to be aware of what is happening with ethics at work today.

The NBES defines misconduct as “any behavior that violates the law or organizational ethics standards.” And the two most common types of misconduct observed by employees are abusive or intimidating behavior towards employees and lying to employees, customers, vendors, or the public. The 2005 survey shows that types of misconduct most observed by employees include:

21% observed abusive or intimidating behavior towards employees

19% observed lying to employees, customers, vendors, or the public.

18% observed a situation that places employee interests over organizational interests.

16% observed violations of safety regulations.

12% observed discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender, age or similar categories.

11% observed stealing or theft.

9% observed sexual harassment.

It is interesting to view these results knowing that there has been regulation and other actions put in place since Enron and other corporate scandals. Ad although there has been an increased or renewed emphasis on corporate ethics, there is not solid evidence of a positive direct impact on ethical behavior in the workplace. Organizations have received yet another “wake-up call” about ethics and need to evaluate what they are doing and look at the ethics culture within their companies. The bottom line is to find out what formal program will work for them.

A recommended formal ethics and compliance program, suggested by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations, includes six (6) elements. Those elements are:

1. Written standards of conduct

2. Training on ethics

3. Mechanisms to seek ethics advice or information

4. Means to report misconduct anonymously

5. Discipline of employees who violate ethical standards

6. Evaluation of employee’s performance based on ethical conduct

Ownership and senior management must recognize the problem and the risk factors and then develop and implement a strong ethics program within the organization. A strong ethical environment must be a top priority and the owners and senior management must lead by example and create a strong ethical culture throughout the company. Good corporate ethics needs to be what is happening in your workplace.

If you are interested in learning more about the importance of business ethics and incorporating business ethics more deeply into your company culture, please contact Glenn Ebersole through his website.

Glenn Ebersole, Jr. is a multi-faceted professional, who is recognized as a visionary, guide and facilitator in the fields of business coaching, marketing, public relations, management, strategic planning and engineering. Glenn is the Founder and Chief Executive of two Lancaster, PA based consulting practices: The Renaissance Group, a creative marketing, public relations, strategic planning and business development consulting firm and J. G. Ebersole Associates, an independent professional engineering, marketing, and management consulting firm. He is a Certified Facilitator and serves as a business coach and a strategic planning facilitator and consultant to a diverse list of clients. Glenn is also the author of a monthly newsletter, “Glenn’s Guiding Lines – Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach” and has published more than 225 articles on business.

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Tags: business, ethics, training, issues, code

Maybe it was a barely perceptible inner voice that said: “I don’t trust this person!”

Do you wonder where it comes from? This judgment, that we’re in the presence of someone who is going to let us down, or perhaps has already secretly decided to take advantage?

This only happens to me rarely, but when it does, my first response is to give whatever proposal I’m considering at least a little more time. If someone is trying to con you, generally that’s one thing he’ll avoid, because he wants you to act impulsively, to overcome your natural inhibitions and self-protective instincts.

But creating a time buffer isn’t always sufficient, because some people are perpetrating “the long con.” This, by definition, is a scheme that takes place over time. It’s a big stakes game, requiring deeper and deeper trust on the part of the victim, the mark.

In fact, in a long con, the perpetrator may challenge the mark to take his time, showing what appears to be nonchalance and all of the patience in the world. The mark is induced to feel that he sets the pace. Nobody is pressuring him, no sir!

I believe there are some telltale signs that we’re dealing with someone we shouldn’t trust:

(1) Explicit Contradictions

Do they tell you one thing on a certain occasion, and then the story seems noticeably out of alignment a short time later?

For instance, a person who claims to be a fitness nut over the phone, but who steps outside for frequent smoking breaks when you meet, in person, is conning himself.

How can he be straight with you?

(2) Implicit Contradictions

A person who claims to be financially well off but who drives a car with vintage body damage is either eccentric or it’s more likely that he used the insurance proceeds from the crash to pay other pressing bills. Holes in the shoes and poor or ragged haircuts tell a similar story.

I realize that there are frugal people who are millionaires, and one famous billionaire, Warren Buffett, is known to drive modest cars and to still live in the house he occupied when he was just starting his career. Still, he may not be my definition of dapper, but he’s presentable.

(3) His Supporting Cast: Are They Supportive?

Few of us operate all by ourselves. We have cohorts around us. How do they perform? Are they at ease, attending to their own business, or are they showing signs that they’re monitoring your interaction with the guy you suspect of being untrustworthy? If they pay too much attention to how he’s doing with you, whether you’re falling under the spell, or if they seem hostile toward him, that’s a tip-off all is not well.

(4) Are You In The Presence of A Predator?

We all have a sixth sense for danger, though I believe we’ve been talked out of tuning into it. But animals still have it. Watch them, and you’ll start to get yours back.

For instance, a number of years ago I assisted an elderly relative to market a property she owned in a rough, gang occupied part of town. It wasn’t pleasant. I took Blue with me, my lumbering, but very quiet and gentle Doberman.

A realtor met us at the property with his assistant, and he started criticizing the property, referring to the gang problem, continuing vandalism, and the like. Then, he made an offer to buy it.

At that moment, Blue started growling at him!

It was a first! Never before had I heard this sound coming from my four-legged buddy.

The realtor lost it. “Is he growling at me?”

What could I say? I don’t see anybody else around here!

Anyway, Blue tipped me off, and sure enough, about a month later, I lined up a genuine buyer who offered twice as much for the place.

To this day, I’m convinced Blue knew exactly what kind of predator we were facing.

I have declined to do business on strictly financial grounds, and a few of those decisions I’ve come to regret. I admit that.

But I’ve never regretted walking away from a deal because of a lack of trust. To me, trust is essential, and it’s simply not negotiable.

When you feel you can’t trust someone, you probably can trust yourself on that!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman © 2006

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC’s Annenberg School, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He is headquartered in Glendale, California.

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Recently, a Phoenix area buyer ran into a spot of bother with his Realtor. Obviously, the reporting named no names, so this anonymous story could occur to anyone, and is a tale worth re-telling.

Briefly, the buyers found their dream home and instructed their Realtor to prepare a full price offer in order to increase their chances of buying the home. The Realtor said he would do so, but only if they signed an agreement that stated should they ever re-sell the home, he would get the listing. The buyers said “No way!”. However, after due consideration, they decided that they wanted the house so badly, that they acquiesced, signing the agreement. After the closing, they filed an ethics complaint with the local board. Good for them.

The Realtor lost. The board found that he was placing his own financial gain over his fiduciary responsibility to his clients. The “pre-listing” was cancelled and the Realtor presumably received some form of punishment. This can range from a warning letter, to additional education requirements, and sometimes revocation of licence; unlikely in this case.

The buyers in this instance did the right thing, and the Realtor behaved despicably, and is the type of person I would like to see run out of the industry. To that end, I would have taken it one step beyond, were I the buyers.

I would have contacted a strong, experienced agent and had him/her write the offer, after having fully explained the situation. The deal would then close, as it had done previously. Then, in all likelihood, the spurned Realtor would probably haul the second Realtor before the board demanding a commission as the “procuring cause” in the transaction.

If I were that second Realtor, I would then argue strenuously that the vagabond had abdicated his fiduciary responsibility to the buyers, who justifiably no longer felt he was acting in their best interests. I believe I would win that argument. The buyer would still have their house, but the rogue Realtor would not receive a commission. After a while, folks like that go back to their “real job”. Good riddance.

Gary Kiernan is a broker in both Arizona and California. He specializes in the Greater Phoenix area concentrating on Cave Creek, Carefree, Scottsdale, Phoenix and including Desert Hills, Anthem, Paradise Valley, Gilbert, Mesa and Chandler. To learn more about Gary and Cave Creek, Arizona and the surrounding communities please visit his website at Here.
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Tags: code, ethics, market, property, business

Don’t get me wrong. Having a Values Statement is a very good thing. It is a starting point to building a respected, ethical company; a company that treats its’ customers, staff, and vendors with respect but it can be much more than that. It can be the basis for selecting new staff when adding to the workforce. It can make the training period easier and less stressful because, if new hires understand the core values, they will understand that those values are the basis for policy. It can make relationships with customers and vendors more cordial and less adversarial. It can even be used as a marketing message if the company actually follows (and can show they follow) their Values Statement – giving foundational depth to the whole Customer Service issue.

Few companies have a written Values Statement and many of those that do have one, never use it so see if your company actually has one. If you do then ask yourself whether it is a living document – one the company and the people within the company adhere to. If you find you don’t have one, start the process of crafting one by asking, “what core values should be the foundation for this company and how should we implement them?”

Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, “Front Lines with Larry Galler” Sign up for his free newsletter at this site.

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Tags: ethics, code, policy, corporate, company

DUE PROCESS

Africans, especially Nigerians are stereotyped on the internet and offline in foreign countries as corrupt, cheats and thieves.

Whenever I have to introduce myself to foreign contacts, whether online or offline, I must make visible effort to prove my contact wrong, because he or she instantly sees me as a scammer-419, another Nigerian cheat or thief.

This situation must be very disheartening to innocent Nigerians, who must be wondering why government seems unable to correct the awful situation. But should the question; why is our nation bedeviled with the scam scourge and corruption that rubbish us in the eyes of the international community not be asked?

The answer is: Our society is carbohydrate dependent and so poor brained, and government officials are products of this same carb-society. Just as over consumption of carbohydrate predisposes the awful degenerative disease known as diabetes, our country and continent progressively degenerate into poverty, corruption and scam scourge of international dimension.

Yes, that’s true!

The genesis of corruption is poverty. Both Continental and national poverty stem from lack of balanced diets that result stunted brain development.

Nigerian and indeed African diets are 90% carbohydrate and 10% of overcooked soups, with very little or no nutrients required by human brain to develop fully in order to be able to handle due process.

Because of this situation, cheating which begins right from school coupled with lopsided curricular taught by teachers, tutors and lecturers who are ill-equipped both intellectually and materially produce graduates whose main goal in life is consumption by all means, in a comatose economy of abject lack of honest means of livelihood.

The brain is the intelligent part of the body. It controls the rest of the body through the interpretation of sensory impulses that triggers the different functions of life. A brain that is carbohydrate dependent is incapable of due process, both within and without.

The highest function of life is thinking which takes place in the brain by the constant transfer of chemical signals between brain cells, up to one thousand limes a second.

To be able to do its work of coordination and control of life’s functions, the brain’s nutritional needs must be met for it to manufacture correct and adequate quantity of chemicals that it requires, diet must delivered correct and adequate quantity of nutrients into the blood stream and across the blood-brain barrier to provide constant nourishment, replenishment and both hormonal and chemical balances that will support brain’s mental ability for due process.

Just like other cells and organs of the body, the brain’s requirement and availability or non-availability of nutrients forestalls or predisposes stress, impairment or lack of vigour. Which leads to the brain devising shortcuts such as cheating and corruption instead of due process?

This is a heavy price for depending on diets that are devoid of both major and trace minerals, vitamins and protein.

Most Nigerian and indeed black African diets are 90% carbohydrate and 10% of useless overcooked vegetable soups. Fruits are eaten inconsistently, even though both vegetable and fruit’s nutrient contents are almost totally diluted by poor soil, hazardous agricultural practices and food processing methods that leave little or no nutrients for the brain to develop fully and be able to handle due process.

Nigeria, therefore, suffers from poverty occasioned by poverty of the mind due to poor nutrition, which results chronic corruption.

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Tags: bioethics, ethics, survey, code, policy

Why do I believe good PR and business ethics are inextricably linked? It comes down to definitions. Ethics is learning what is right and what is wrong and then doing the “right thing.” PR involves providing counsel on the “right thing” to do and then helping the organization get credit for it.

The business and political excess of the last 10 years have taken some PR practitioners to the dark side because they felt it was the only way for their company to profit. Although I personally believe doing right for right’s sake is enough, there are some who may not share this view. OK, here’s a reason that any good capitalist can embrace: research now shows that socially responsible behavior is good for the bottom line.

A recent analysis of overall financial performance of the 2001 list of 100 Best Corporate Citizens shows that this group of firms did significantly better than the remaining companies of the S&P 500. Professors at DePaul University found that the mean ranking of the 100 Best was more than 10 percentile higher than the other firms of the S&P 500.

Additionally, they had a significantly better reputation among corporate directors and security analysts based upon results of the Fortune Magazine survey of most admired companies.

So, you see, it really does pay to do the right thing.

Harry Hoover is a partner in My Creative Team. He has 30 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Bank of Commerce, The Bray Law Firm, Brent Dees Financial Planning, CruisingTheICW.com, Duke Energy, Focus Four, Levolor, North Carolina Tourism, TeamHeidi, Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, VELUX, and Verbatim.

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