“While geographic barriers these days don’t present much of an obstacle for global companies that wish to do business with each other, cultural barriers may be another matter.

Sure, there is periodic concern when differences in what is considered “”ethical”" among trade partners result in unwelcome media attention. Remember the heat that Wal-Mart and Kathie Lee Gifford took when a flurry of stories emerged concerning the dismal working conditions in overseas factories where Gifford-branded clothing was produced?

Yet corporate ethics remains largely an abstract “”big picture”" concept that gets short shrift in contract negotiations – and in ongoing management of supplier relationships. This disconnect is coming keenly into focus with the growing unease over numerous product recalls involving goods produced in China – from pet food to children’s toys to tires to toothpaste.

China’s offshoring star continues to rise – despite a problem that the author of a fascinating Knowledge@Wharton article calls “”quality fade:”" Chinese manufacturers’ deliberate dilution of quality in the name of boosting their profit margins.

Quality fade is enabled by several key dynamics, notes the author, a businessman with 15 years of experience in China. And suppliers and their customers share the blame.

Some U.S. customers appear more willing to risk poor quality – or even dangerous – products than the more immediate loss of competitive advantage they could suffer by cracking down on suppliers. “”The chance of a product failure is usually remote, but the penalty for late delivery is an almost certain loss of business,”" writes the author.

In an effort to keep the best suppliers to themselves, customers don’t share details about their experiences – good or bad – with other customers, which makes it fairly easy for unscrupulous suppliers to evade detection.

Fearing intervention from the Communist government and/or outside groups like the World Trade Organization, Chinese suppliers are eager to profit before the boom goes bust – even if that means scamming customers.

China has a long record of looking the other way, although that may be changing. The government is adopting a tough stance on enforcing product quality guidelines, dramatically illustrated by its recent execution of the head of its food and drug safety agency.

And Western companies are pushing reform to help protect their business interests in China, the EVP of IT services firm DarwinSuzsoft told IT Business Edge in a May interview, Western Influence Boosts Outsourcing Opportunities in China.

Though his remarks specifically address the issue of intellectual property in software development, it seems to us they could also apply to other ethical concerns:

The multi-nationals have come in and really cracked down on the government in terms of protecting their investments in China. And the WTO and other spotlights on China have helped guide China’s position. Last year, they had the highest judicial claims on record for infringement. So that means they are now actually prosecuting cases.

Recently, while in my Bangor, ME office I asked a fellow business person why they didn’t include a fairly common Internet solution offered by almost everyone in the current business environment. The answer was striking. He said, “Because that’s the way we do things in Maine.” As if to say, Maine business held a special exemption, due to its regional uniqueness, from providing customers with basic services that most other businesses offer as a matter of course.

As someone born and raised in the state of Maine, I was frankly shocked. The Internet, CNN, fiber optic cable and international cell phone coverage, to name just a few technologies, flattens not only our experience of the world, but the experience of our customers. When people talk about a “flattened” world what is meant is a world that is now much more transparent. Anyone or anything can be Googled. Any process or technology is available on line for all to see whether in Bangor or Bangalore. In short, everything is visible to everyone.

Since transparency is the rule of the day, business is impacted in new ways. Not only is process visible, but most processes become commoditized. In other words, few will find any particular edge in the platform or process itself. In my business of pensions and 401K plans, as just one example, there is almost no difference in platform from one 401K provider to the next. The only difference now is me. Globalization creates a transparency and commoditization that creates very little differentiation in basic products and services.

This means business needs to rethink its approach. The approach that matters in this new environment is refocusing on “how” we do business. In other words, if everyone now sees what everyone else is doing and can offer what everyone else offers, then the distinguishing feature of our business is the “how” of our particular approach. Character is going to count again. Honesty, integrity and placing the customers needs above our own is what will rule this new global day.

There is no longer the “Bangor way of doing things” or the “Bangalore way of doing things.” Now, there is one very transparent way of doing things that the whole world can see. What does Bangor have to do with Bangalore? A lot! The new standard of business is a global standard. No one is safe in their small, parochial world. Business cannot be accomplished well if uninformed, much less if delivered in a sloppy or unprofessional way, all in the name of “regional style.” Further, business people will no longer be their own arbiter and judge as to whether or not they are uninformed or unprofessional. The standard will be the definition adopted by their customers as those customers become shaped by the global standards that are delivered to each customer as they sit looking at their laptop. Bangor and Bangalore are very close indeed.

For further information concerning retirement please visit Stephen O Meidahl’s website or read Steve’s well regarded book, “Lessons OF A Real Life Investment Advisor.”

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Tags: business, ethics, global, institute, marketing

Fortunately, there is an increasing desire for ethical dealing in business, and as far as I can see, this desire reaches the very summit of the network marketing industry.

“In a new era of business, CEOs face a new mandate. Glamour and glitz are out. Transparency – in terms of ethics, values, and goals – is in.”
This statement made about traditional business is an exciting detour from the past 40 years of “situation ethics.”
We are the CEOs of our own corporations, and even though these corporations are managed from our homes, they are multimillion dollar opportunities and thus should reflect the highest ethical standards.
It’s good to know that there is a desire for change regarding ethics in our culture. The bad news is that most people don’t know how to make that transition.
Checkout a comment from a corporate president, “…changes in corporate values or strategies are often reflected in what our clients tell us they now seek in candidates…Yes, they still want key executives who can make the company money, are willing to make tough decisions, and fit the management team, but now there is a stronger concern for integrity, not playing it quite so close to the edge, and taking a somewhat longer view in strategies and the setting of more realistic, more conservative goals.”
It’s nice to see that integrity of an individual is moving up the ladder from last place!
The situation can be summed up in the following parable.
Consider this parable: About two hours into a transatlantic flight, passengers heard a voice over the loudspeaker saying, “This is your pilot. We are currently cruising at 35,000 feet at an air speed of 700 knots. We have some bad news and some good news. The bad news is we’re lost. The good news is we’re making excellent time.”
My next article entitled “How the Global Marketplace is Attempting to Resolve this Ethical Dilemma will examine what the marketplace is really doing.
See you on the Beaches of the World,
Kevin McNabb
Kevin McNabb is the author of The Responsible Network Marketer Series. Chief Executive Officer of Toronto-based . He is a network marketer, author, freelance writer, and offers seminars, and Internet training programs on personal development for the network marketing industry. For more information on the topic of this article, please see at Here

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Tags: ethical, ethics, business, global, market

If you look at what’s happening in the marketplace, you’ll see that even though we desire honesty and plain dealing, we’re still not winning the battle of ethics. Take a look at how people in our culture are currently trying to address the problem. They are:

* Asking Others to take on the Responsibility of Instructing Our Organizations about Ethics “It’s about evading punishment. Under US federal guidelines, companies that have ethics programs are eligible for reduced fines if convicted of wrongdoing.”
* Turning a Blind Eye to the Problem, or Insufficiently Reprimanding the Individual for Unacceptable Behavior Another approach is to “treat” ethical offenders when caught. If the environment – the systems and goals – of an organization encourages and rewards unethical behavior, then merely addressing individual employees’ actions will not improve the situation.
* Depending on the Laws of the Municipality, State, or Country to Address the Problem Some companies have given up entirely on trying to decide what’s ethical and instead are using what’s legal as their standard for decision-making. The result is moral bankruptcy.

Let’s apply these “solutions” to the network marketing industry. How do you think these solutions would be received within our global community?

* Would you really want to hand over to an “unknown” source how your business should be run and how your downline should be treated? I hope your answer is no. If you’re unsure of this answer, you may want to think about a career change.
* How about waiting until someone gets caught, even though you know that they’re doing something wrong. Is that the way you would want your business to be run, or to have your downline run their business? Once again, I hope your answer is no.
* Would you like to rely on the law to manage your business? Since most network marketing businesses represent global opportunities, relying on the law becomes next to impossible, if not reprehensible.

What do I mean by that? The last place a network marketer or the industry of network marketing, wants to leave their destiny is in the hands of any government.

The area of network marketing is the last bastion of free enterprise. It has broken down more walls and opened up more freedom opportunities to people on this globe than any other single business related idea to hit this planet. I implore you to fully understand the area of free enterprise, and once you do, you’ll fully understand the power of network marketing.

My next article entitled “Why it is Important as a Network Marketer to Make it Personal”will examine the concept of starting to make changes within the “home office.”

See you on the Beaches of the World,

Kevin McNabb

Kevin McNabb is the author of The Responsible Network Marketer Series. Chief Executive Officer of Toronto-based http://www.Global-Networking-Online.com He is a network marketer, author, freelance writer, and offers seminars, and Internet training programs on personal development for the network marketing industry. For more information on the topic of this article, please see at Here

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Tags: global, market, business, ethics, ethical, organization

Our business ancestors believed they had to hurt people to get ahead. To them, kindness was a luxury.

All the while, others who observed this behavior taught kindness. When I was a kid in Baptist Sunday School, I learned that Jesus was “harmless as a dove.” I didn’t know why this was important. It was only later, after observing people and doing some living, harming and being harmed, that I understood the significance of being harmless.

The ones who stayed poor said that money, or the love of money, was the root of all evil. Yet I know plenty of ethical people who have money and like money. Even in the past, it was surely the honest businessman who lasted and who bequeathed a sustainable prosperity to his heirs. The ruthless ones were just making trouble that would kick back on themselves. Many a business venture would have succeeded even better with higher ethics.

For example, suppose the early manufacturers of automobiles and trucks had recognized that there was a place in transportation for railway services. Suppose they had not seen trains as a threat and taken steps to undermine these older businesses. We could still move freight, even to small stations, by train. I would love to be able to buy food and furniture at my local stores without having to drive my pipsqueak of a car among huge trucks on roads better suited to cars. I don’t believe car sales would have suffer one bit. With a little cooperation, Ford and General Motors and the trains could have worked out a win-win solution. When you force someone to lose so you can win, you create losses around you that will cost you.

Ethics are not laws or rules so much as those principles we all know in our hearts, especially the principle of not doing harm. You don’t have to carry this to extremes and walk on raised shoes, which some have done to avoid harming bugs. You only need to ensure you are doing more good than harm in your life and business.

In my contacts with internet business, I’ve seen a consistent feature: the integration of business with life and spirit and, with that, a very high ethical standard. Sure, there are scoundrels anywhere, but you don’t have to get involved with them. It’s a new world in cyber space, one where people are free of the weeds our ancestors sowed. Anyone can join in the game and experience the freedom to be kind AND make money.

Article by Patricia Lapidus, author of the memoir SWEET POTATO SUPPERS: A Yankee Woman Finds Salvation in a Hippie Village. Patricia is a writer, editor, teacher, and an encourager. Up coming books include SWAMP WALKING WOMAN, a mythic fairy tale about women’s strength, and GIDEON’S RIVER, a novel dedicated to all who live with a temper, their own or someone else’s. Note: SWEET POTATO SUPPERS is due out soon in a second edition. This memoir is for those interested in communities, in spiritual hippies, and in the personal journey of discovery.

Patricia has read widely in social theory and lived several models personally.

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Tags: business, ethic, cases, global, china

With fierce global competition, organizations need to change. Global values (GV) may be the key term for the millennium. Building on similar values will be crucial for multi-national organizations. Let’s explore this thought closer. Twenty-first century organizations can no longer create values independent of others without any market input. Why should today’s leaders be concerned with organizational values? Conflicts in values between leaders and followers can have a dramatic impact on the bottom-line of an organization. Hamel, author of ,i>Leading the Revolution, maintains that these turbulent times are forcing organizations to adapt.

Creating shared valued with the customer is a remarkable concept in today’s competitive climate. Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2004) argue that an individual-centered co-creation of value between the customer and company is being generated. Clearly, a check and balance system is needed because powerful people don’t always do what is right. Thieme explains, “The future is a social construction of reality.…Those possibilities will be defined by our horizons and our horizons are in turn defined by the breadth of our understanding of complex societal changes.” While fewer organizations are embracing co-creation of values in hypercompetitive environments, can any organization afford to be left behind?

© 2007 by Daryl D. Green

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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The Locksmith Industry Suffers From Fraudulent Companies Across the Country

The locksmith industry is an industry based on trust. A home owner or business relies on that trust when they move into a new home or change employees. Recently, the sanctity of this trust is being broken. Companies across the country are charging outrageous prices to people who are in situations where they have no choice but to pay.

Most often, a locksmith services are needed when the situation is delicate. Someone is locked out or going through a divorce and these fraudulent companies are preying on the emotions that are involved in those situations. To take advantage of this is appalling to say the least. Stories of people paying up to $1,700 to get back into their home are broadcast on the internet and news, but the problem persists.

So what steps are being made to help rectify the situation? If a customer uses Google to search for local locksmiths in their area, there are numerous results. Yet, the locations of these locksmiths do not even exist. This means if someone calls for service, has the work done, and needs to speak to someone at an actual location, they will never be able to do so.

Also, chances are that the technician that did the work will not answer phone calls or offer any help after payment. Yet web searches continue to list these locations. In my opinion there is one simple solution to this problem. These search engines should be sending some kind of verification form to the locations via standard postal services. If they could just verify the addresses, some of this madness could end. It will never completely solve the problem. There is always going to be people claiming to be locksmiths who are completely unqualified, but it will help. And until there is licensing for this trade, the problem will never completely end, but until then steps need to be made to stop this scam.

I wrote this article because I am a third generation locksmith at The Flying Locksmiths in Randolph, Massachusetts and we spend a lot of time fixing what these so-called “locksmiths” have done. I see this problem on a daily basis, and it’s just not morally right. Something needs to be done and for now all I can do is spread the word. Buyers beware! Find a trustworthy locksmith before you actually need one. It might save you from suffering locksmith fraud.

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Tags: ethics, communication, information, global, business

Once upon a time, businesses would brag about their charity work and involvement with community programs, but Green issues are now top of the agenda. Whether it was the impact of Al Gore’s incredible documentary An Inconvenient Truth or the sudden realization that our planet is running out of fossil fuels, companies are racing to prove that they are ecologically friendly.

For many it is because they genuinely care and for some it is because they realize that it can be good for the marketing drive. Either way, the results are the same and the planet benefits (as do our great-great grandchildren). It’s a question we’ve been pondering at Ask Lilach for some time now – how can we make our businesses more eco-compliant? Here are some ideas…

1. Share your journey This is an easy one. It makes sense in times of soaring petrol costs, let alone the ever-growing hole in the Ozone. If you have a regular drive to work, is there any way you can share the journeys in with one of your colleagues? Sure, it can be a bit of a hassle from time to time – you might want to leave work earlier or get in later, but it shouldn’t be difficult with a little co-ordination and forward planning. And it will give you some time to do a bit of reading or extra sleeping on the days when you aren’t driving. A friend of mine started doing this last year and it’s worked out a treat. He car-shares twice a week – which is a lot better than nothing at all – and his wife is happier because as a result of agreeing to a fixed time with the car-share buddy, he never stays too late in the office!

2. Move your office One way to really reduce the commute to work is to base yourself at home. Even if you did it for a day a week you could suddenly find that you’ve ‘bought’ yourself a few extra hours and you could double the green benefits by doing some gardening and planting a few seeds during that time! Or you could stay in bed for a few more minutes. Either way, a zero-distance journey is better for the planet and you’ll save a few pounds along the way.

3. Let your cup runneth over Some firms are getting brave about this one; banning foam cups. The same goes for plastic cups. Try doing a count one day – how many times do you go to the water cooler, pick up a fresh cup and put it in the bin again? What about a disposable cup from the coffee machine? This eco-gesture is pretty simple and you’ll need the following items to cultivate a ‘green’ drinking habit; one plastic bottle, one thermos cup, two labels and one marker pen. You’ve got it; write your name on the stickers, put them on the side of the containers, and from this day on try to drink from the reuseable cups as much as possible.

4. Monitor your usage Do you even want to know how much energy is wasted by hundreds of thousands of computer monitors being left on overnight? I mean, there are huge amounts of energy wasted when people leave home televisions on standby when they leave the house, so can you imagine what it must be like for computer monitors? It’s been estimated that in the USA, £7.5 million worth of energy is wasted from leaving computers switched on. Oops. When you go home, turn it off.

5. Big Green Feet: know your footprint Some people say that ignorance is bliss. Whilst it’s certainly an easy way to live, it isn’t necessarily the best policy. A carbon footprint is defined as follows; the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses emitted by a product during it’s full lifestyle. Defra, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, explain that there is a primary and secondary footprint. Our primary one is the measure of fossil fuels we burn directly (ie from driving, flying, or heating our offices) and the secondary footprint is the amount of fuels burned during the various stages from the manufacture to the disposal of the products we use. We can think twice before buying a pint of milk that’s packaged in plastic and transported in from the other side of the country – milk in a glass bottle from a local dairy has to travel a shorter distance and is in a container that can be easily recycled. Easy stuff.

6. Fair trade Fair trade is about improving working conditions for laborers, sustaining the businesses who create the products, sustaining communities and establishing fairer prices for all. The movement is about protecting smaller producers who have traditionally been in a very weak position; by establishing a fixed market rate for their product it means that they have a guaranteed income and greater control of their destiny. But there’s something in it for us as well – we get to consumer our products with a clean conscience and know that we’re doing our bit to help the people who are contributing to our lifestyle. So if you haven’t yet switched your office to Fair trade, now’s the time to start!

7. A grassroots green-board There is no shortage of ideas for making your office more green. It might be switching your lightbulbs to energy-saving ones, turning down the heating by a couple of degrees and encouraging people to wear jumpers, using a ‘freecycle’ website for getting rid of old office furniture (freecycle is a website where you post details of things you want to get rid of and people can take them for free if they’re prepared to collect), or changing your office’s energy supplier to an eco-conscious provider. Better still, keep the whole thing grassroots and why not put up a noticeboard for people to write their own ideas down?

Organizations often have a lot more inherent wisdom than they take credit for and it’s worth giving your colleagues the opportunity to share their own ideas; this way they’ll have more ownership over them, feel even more committed, and there’s a greater chance of having a positive impact on the planet.

And if you come up with any world-changing ideas, let us know!

Here are some websites to help you along with greening your business;

Green shopping – http://www.greenrewards.co.uk
Carbon footprint calculator: http://www.carbonfootprint.com/

Lilach Bullock, Managing Director of asklilach Ltd was a Finalist in Mumpreneur of the Year Award 2008, the award ceremony of which was held at Downing Street. In less than 6 months of setting up her business she was shortlisted for VA of the Year. Lilach has had a wealth of media coverage including TV, radio and consumer and business press.

Lilach has more than 17 years of experience in PA, secretarial and training roles including working as a bi-lingual legal secretary. She also holds a number of secretarial qualifications. asklilach Ltd is a member of the Institute of Qualified Professional Secretaries, the Federation of Small Businesses and the Watford and West Herts Chamber of Commerce. asklilach Ltd holds memberships with: Alliance of UK Virtual Assistants; The International Association of Virtual Office Assistants; The Society of Virtual Assistants; and International Association of Virtual Assistants.

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Tags: corporate, thing, global, ethics, business

The internet presents an enormous diversity of people. There are so many different people from different backgrounds, countries, religions, etc. it’s astounding. All in one place called the World Wide Web.

With those differences comes something else that we will never escape. Since the fall of Adam in Eden, man has struggled with the forces of good and evil. And with that comes the difficulty to define the line that separates the two.

Where do we draw the line when it comes to ethical uses of technology, programming and marketing… Where do we draw the line when making a decision if manipulating something or using a resource to bend the rules is wrong.

To pin point it directly: People are selfish creatures. Many of us think of our selves before anyone else… some of us take into consideration others… some of us don’t at all.

You want money and will do anything to get it.

Pursuing online opportunities can sometimes seem like a solitaire journey with not many people being effected by your efforts. I think that is very much opposite of the truth. The truth is the World Wide Web is spun tight and one flick of a thread can shake the whole web and cause effects… like a ripple in a pond.

Let’s expand this thought of the internet as a web. A place where everybody is an example for each other. We learn from each other – the amount of inspiration across the internet is enormous. You are responsible for your actions and ways of doing things, and if your website is at all exposed I bet your ideas and ways of doing things will be duplicated – for good or bad.

All in all the internet is a culture building phenomenon – a society beyond societies, countries, ethnic groups, time and place. The cultures of the individuals give impression to the internet cultures and the cultures that build up in the internet give impression to the cultures we are living.

Many people just think of themselves. And that I guess is understandable. The internet draws people that are looking to make a fortune, to make a quick buck, to do whatever it takes to bring in the dough. These people have vision I’m sure, but it is directed in a very narrow path with blinders and does not take into consideration the ripple it is causing…

I’m a believer that one needs to have this sort of vision to a degree. That’s how we reach our goals. To have a burning desire and to focus all our energy to attain it… BUT we cannot lose site of the entire web…

When you run into something that seems like it might be a little spammy or just doesn’t sound ethical or right, you should ask yourself some questions:

1) Can I live with myself… or don’t I care because I just want the money? What about my integrity?

2) How does this effect my neighbors online? (everyone is your neighbor; one click away).

3) Is this something that promotes the good of the internet and will create an environment that promotes a better web? Does this have a negative impact?

4) Do I understand what the internet is and where my place in it is? You may not… figure it out. It is a web. It is a place to hold & find information, to buy products and services, to communicate – to imitate and build up culture. Will I disrupt that purpose?

5) Will this short term gain be worth the long term price? Am I building for today or for my future? Will doing what I’m doing now actually destroy opportunities to make money elsewhere down the road?

You see… let’s take search engines for instance. You have to admit they play a vital role online… What if we do something that makes that piece of the puzzle problematic? Do you not think that will have an impact…

I always try and think of myself as the surfer (and that’s not to hard, because I am one… what would I want?)
Let us be part of the solution… Let’s not work against the system and instead help it… Let’s make decisions that are good for the public & business online…

…Won’t it provide you MORE opportunity?

Ethics will be ignored because the internet is populated by humans. And there will always be humans that will want to do things the hard way, manipulate and cheat the system…

At the same time, maybe if enough of us cared… We could make the internet a better place for us all and in the long run create better technology and more opportunity!

Imagine what the Search Engines could do if they took all the energy they use fighting unethical webmasters to create a better engine and experience for us!

I want to make money too. But I also have sight. I see the potential if we all work together for the common good.

Will I walk that fine line myself. To my very best knowledge… And I will ask myself those questions…I am not alone in the internet. I am responsible to myself, to my fellow surfers and siteowners and to God in Heaven.

Please give it a thought….

Lars Krogholt is an online entrepreneur from Denmark. Visit her here.

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Tags: ethics, internet, morality, global, good

Business ethics have never been more important than they are today – from a social standpoint. Business decisions made each day have profound effects on the environment, the economy, on our health, on our safety, and on our future as a whole. What are your social responsibilities from a business and ethical point of view?

First and foremost, you must consider your fellow humans. How do your business practices affect your customers, your employees, your community, your country, and the global community as a whole? If you fail to consider the human side of your business and the effects of your business, you are not only acting in a socially responsible way, you are also setting your business up for failure, because you will eventually do some harm that puts you out of business, and at the very least, you will not garner any public support, because of a poor public image, which does indeed have a profound effect on your bottom line.

Some people do not distinguish between the effect of business decisions on human life and the effects on the environment. Activists believe that one is as important as the next, but others agree that human life is more important than the environment. Logic, of course, says that human life is more important, but if a business has a negative effect on the environment, at some point in time, that damage to the environment has an effect on human life. Do your business decisions negatively affect either?

Do businesses have more of a social responsibility than individuals have? Some believe that they do, while others do not think so. Others believe that individuals and businesses are equally responsible for society. This, however, is not your debate as a business owner, because everyone does indeed agree that businesses do have some level of social responsibility, and that this social responsibility is more important than the bottom line. Even the Government believes this.

For example, recently there were congressional hearings with executives of the top five oil companies. Congress essentially wanted to know what these companies were doing to reduce fuel costs, and also wanted to know that with $40 billion dollar profits annually, why these companies were only investing about $100 million back into research for renewable energy resources.

Those, of course, were tough questions for these executives who do not have trouble paying for their gasoline and of great interest to those of us who do, in fact, have to be very careful when driving our cars or heating our homes, because we can’t afford today’s fuel prices. These oil companies have a social responsibility that they have been essentially ignoring for years, and now want to open up drilling in areas where it was banned to preserve the environment or wildlife. Obviously, these are not ethical business decisions or practices, and they do indeed have a profound effect on the economy, the environment, and eventually on human life as a whole.

So, when you make business decisions, remember that ethics must play a role in those decisions – because whether you realize it or not, those decisions do have a social effect at some point in time, in some way – great or small.

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: business, ethics, result, thing, global

In just about any dictionary published, the definition of ethics is essentially “a set of principles concerning proper conduct.” Unfortunately, for many people, this does not define the word ethics clearly enough for them to be able to operate a business – or live their lives – in an ethical manner. So, what does the word ‘ethics’ really mean?

The chances are good that you live your life, and operate your business, based on your own moral code. You may do this without even realizing that you have your own moral code – but everyone does. Even the worst people in the world have a moral code that they live by. It comes down to what you are and are not willing to do in order to achieve or obtain that which you want. So much for the definition of ethics, huh.

For example, there are some people in the world who are willing to kill other human beings in order to obtain things that they want, but this is something that you would not even consider. There are those who would not go as far as taking a life to achieve what they want, but would not be opposed to ruining someone else’s life. Again, you may not be willing to go that far. There are those who are perfectly willing to cause others pain or inconvenience in an attempt to get what they want, even though that pain or inconvenience would not ruin a life, but again, you may not even be willing to do that if you have a strong moral code.

Your moral code is essentially your sense of what is right and what is wrong, or what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. There are those that think that this moral code should be the same for everyone – but it simply cannot be, because we all think differently, and we all have different upbringings, backgrounds, and experiences.

Because we all do have different views, there is a set of basic behaviors that most people adhere to. Some of those behaviors have been made into law. For example, it is not only ethically wrong to kill someone or to steal, but it is also against the law, which means that if you are caught, you must pay the consequences of your actions. You won’t just be told that such actions are unethical, or have people look at you with disgust or disappointment – there is an actual price to pay, which in most cases is financial restitution, time in prison, and depending on the crime – or unethical behavior – death in states where the death penalty plays in.

So, as you can see, while there is a standard definition of the word ‘ethics’ for everyone, your own definition of ethics may be different from others. The key to living an ethical life and running an ethical business is to not do anything that will cause you not to be able to be proud of what you have done, as well as not doing anything that will disappoint the people that matter most to you in the world.

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: define, mean, ethics, person, global

In 1987 there was a movie that featured a lead character by the name of Gordon Gecko. You might have heard of this movie, it’s called “Wall Street”. This lead character is known for the infamous line “Greed is Good”. Gordon Gecko was a Wall Street Investment Banker that pursued wealth at all cost. Ethics for him was an option not an obligation and duty. When this movie was released it was a big hit in the theaters. I need not say, for those of us that remember, that the 80′s was some interesting times. The atmosphere in the financial industry was one of great competitiveness and filled with young traders that were eager to make “big bucks”.

Ethics is a topic that most people would prefer not talking about. Let’s take some time to examine this word and see what this word really means and whether we need to hold to the truth of this word in various parts of our lives – namely in the field of business.

The dictionary gives the following meaning of the word – Ethics:
1. a system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture.
2. the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.: medical ethics; Christian ethics.
3. moral principles, as of an individual: His ethics forbade betrayal of a confidence.
4. that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.

Listen, I know that it is not an easy thing to live a God-fearing life in the world of business, given the daily temptations and the pressure to perform at an optimum level to achieve corporate success. However, we as people of God are called to a higher standard in Christ.

God’s Word declares:

[He] gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and father. (cf. Gal. 1:4).

Until we die, or until Christ returns to establish his kingdom, we live in “the present evil age.” Therefore, when the Bible says that Christ gave himself “to deliver us from the present evil age,” it does not mean that he will take us out of this world, but that he will deliver us from the power of the evil in it. Jesus prayed for us like this: “I do not ask that you take them out of this world, but that you keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15).

The resounding cry of the Bible is, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Rom 12:2). In other words, be free, as you are in Christ. Don’t be duped by the gurus of this age. They are here today and gone tomorrow.

We must insist on and pursue a character that models after that of Christ, as we seek to honor God in our pursuits.

See more articles like this: Christian Business Ethics

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Bobby E. Miller – EzineArticles Expert Author

Tags: question, mean, person, global, ethics

Ethics, according to Bottorff (2004) is defined as: “a body of principles or standards of human conduct that govern the behavior of individuals and groups. Ethics arise not simply from man’s creation but from human nature itself making it a natural body of laws from which man’s laws follow”(p. 3).

Ethics plays important roles in the organization. Bottorff (2004) gives both good and bad examples of what happens when organizations have positive or negative ethics. Poor quality ethics are described here as “damaging organizational performance” productivity is lowered, group dynamics suffer, communication becomes more elusive and complex and a declining organizational environment is the result.

Good ethics; however, can have positive effects on organizations and their results. Productivity increases, group dynamics and communication increase and risk in the organization, decreases.

Ethics need to be high on the list for organizations because it will lessen total negativity within the organization and uplift and encourage reasoning and performance from both the managers and employees.

Ethics can be understood as relative to the individual because the individual’s reputation is on the line, and from this ongoing positive reputation, success and personal satisfaction will be the net results. In the business world of yesterday and today, it is vital to acquire and maintain and a good reputation; for if one’s words or handshake is worth nothing, then the final result will be failure, low productivity and negativity.

I believe there can be and already is hope of promoting business ethics in a business culture. Trevino, Nelson (2005) site several reasons that this is true.

First, businesses, economically speaking, need to use “power responsibly or risk losing it.” Secondly, businesses have a responsibility, both legally and ethically to stakeholders; this includes justice and stakeholder rights. Lastly, when ethical responsibility and economic responsibility have conflicting agendas, then the corporation has a huge social responsibility challenge that must be met.

Copyright Ann Star 2009

Ann is a freelance writer/author of more than twenty-five years, with six self-published books and scores of articles to her credit. She loves to write and is currently working on her seventh book, a book dealing with sociopath behavior and its affect on those close to this individual.

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Tags: question, result, ethics, global, position

Don’t answer too quickly. It’s not as outlandish a question as you might think.

It is widely recognized that there are many cult-like organizations all around us, largely operating under the radar. And contrary to what many believe, a group doesn’t have to be religious to use cult-like methods.

This article was written in the interest of public awareness; to draw attention to a problem of which not many people are aware. The cult-like methods some groups employ are very powerful and are even used by some secular businesses in the interest of increasing their bottom line and controlling their associates.

“An estimated 5,000 economic, political, and religious groups operate in the United States alone at any given time, with 2.5 million members. Over the last ten years, cults have used tactics of coercive mind control to negatively impact an estimated 20 million victims in the last ten years. Worldwide figures are even greater.”

-Dr. Margaret Singer, “Cults in Our Midst”

Indoctrination

Cult experts often refer to the analogy of a ‘frog in boiling water’. It is said that if you try to boil a frog by placing it in boiling water, it will just hop out. But if you place it in lukewarm water and slowly increase the heat, it will not try to escape. The frog will stay still until the water is boiling around it and it is cooked.

Similarly, cult-like manipulation takes place incrementally and over time. New entrants to the cult are shown only the most acceptable and positive aspects of the business or practice when they first join. After the initial emotional or spiritual ‘bonding’ that takes place within the group, the intimidation, coercion, and control can begin.

Businesses as Cults

As Dr. Margaret Singer points out in her book, “Cults In Our Midst”, many cults operate as businesses, with their tactics focused around financial success instead of religion or spirituality. Charges of cult-like methods have been aimed at Amway and many other multi-level marketing organizations for years. (“Amway: The Cult of Free Enterprise” is a great book by a former top seller of Amway, and I highly recommend it. Also, Dr. Singer’s book offers some great examples.)

It is also possible to combine spiritual and business elements together. This combination can make for an extremely effective indoctrination, as the leader of the cult can appeal to both the need for financial success and the need for spirituality of their targets.

Cult-Like Methods

There are many ‘weapons’ that cult leaders use when targeting their audience. I’ve listed 5 major ones below, but there are many more that psychological manipulators have at their command.

Targeting the Vulnerable

Jennifer Burrows was a 24-year-old 3rd year dental student in 2002, enrolled in a school in North Carolina. At this point in her life, she was deeply in debt from 6 years of student loans, and worried about her career prospects once she graduated.

At a school function, she met Bryan Landers, a 35-year-old author and dentist, and leader of a group called Enriched Dentistry. Landers seemed very successful, and ran social and networking groups that Jennifer thought would be very helpful to her career. Some of these social groups met at long, weekend retreats in the rural part of the state, and they were very social, fun events. Looking back, Jennifer recognizes that it was her financial vulnerability and fear of instability that led her to stay with Landers and Enriched Dentistry even once things started taking a more ominous turn.

“No one plans to join a cult,” says Lorna Goldberg, a New Jersey therapist who helps clients with cult-like experiences. “Cults target people in transition – college students away from home for the first time, people who have moved to new cities for jobs, those who have just been divorced or widowed.”

Claims of ‘Special Knowledge’

Jennifer was a Christian, as were Landers and his ‘students’, and this made for a good fit. Jennifer discovered that Enriched Dentistry acted as a kind of business network for dentists and dental students on the East Coast, and it made sense to Jennifer that people in the same profession, with the same beliefs, would want to help each other.

Jennifer quickly bonded with the group, and over the course of the next few months she found herself spending much more time with them, being invited to more and more religious retreats and late-night get-togethers. Landers had self-published books on the role of Christianity in medicine and health, and he would hold sessions at his house that would stretch long into the night. Dialogue was discouraged; it was Landers who held sway at the meetings, speaking about his ‘knowledge of God’s will’ and the ‘correct way to live’.

He also appealed to the financial concerns of his students. “He told us that by being involved with him, we were part of something very special, that we would be successful if we stayed close to him,” Jennifer says. “He was doing very well for himself, and he was very clear about his beliefs. It made sense that we all wanted to be like him in one way or another.”

Jennifer described that first year as “the most exciting period of my life. I respected and loved everyone in the group.”

Distancing From Family and Friends

As time went on and Jennifer neared her graduation and her entry into the wider world, her personal life was being narrowed. In her last year of school, she was much more involved with Landers and the group, and she spent large amounts of time volunteering at Enriched Dentistry events.

She recalls one of her early friends in dentistry school expressing concern that Jennifer might be being taken advantage of. She also heard similar concerns from her family. She was not in a position to appreciate what they were saying at that time.

“It just made me angry,” said Jennifer. “I thought that no one could understand the great things Landers was doing. No one knew the bond our group had. No one bashing him knew the great things he was doing in the world.”

When people brought up the comments of outsiders in their group meetings, Landers’ laughed about the “judgments of nonbelievers”. Jennifer was encouraged by Landers and the group to cut ties with the negative influences in her life; these were the people holding her back from true success.

Financial Manipulation

Jennifer learned that Landers was offering a sort-of franchise operation to his ‘friends’ and ‘associates’. These businesses were set up in a six-state area in the Southeast. The dentists or soon-to-be dentists of Landers’ group would incorporate their businesses with Landers being a main partner. The range of services provided by Landers included ‘business consulting’, ‘website design’, ‘brand sharing’ (with Enriched Dentistry), and ‘client referral’.

Virtually everyone in Enriched Dentistry was signing up for this partnership; it seemed a no-brainer to Jennifer and to many others. Landers and his associates were obviously successful; sometimes Landers’ partners would speak to the group about their practices and their current success.

Before graduating, Jennifer signed a contract with Landers making Landers a quarter partner in Jennifer’s first practice. The fine print, which, admittedly, Jennifer should have read more carefully, ensured that Landers would receive, at the very least, $20,000 from each of Jennifer’s first four years in business. It was the bond she felt with Landers and her trust that he was a spiritual man that made Jennifer not as cautious as she should have been.

“Members may be asked to make phenomenal contributions of money to the group,” says Frank Schneider of the non-profit group Cult Watch. “Besides making the leader and the group rich, this money ties the member ever more deeply to the group.”

Intimidation

In addition to his psychological manipulation skills, Landers was a very physically imposing man. He spent many hours every day in his personal gym, and told his group that physical fitness was very important in doing God’s work.

“Many cult leaders are insecure and are making up for early feelings of inferiority,” says Mary Miller, a California psychotherapist. “This can be manifested as intellectual or physical overcompensation. Sometimes a leader will stress their extreme intellectual capabilities; other times they will stress their physical capabilities; other times they will stress their spiritual capabilities. Sometimes you will see someone overcompensating so strongly that they rely on all three.”

Later, Landers would use his physicality when negotiating with Jennifer and other Enriched Dentistry members. He would stand close to his ‘students’ and go from his soft style of speaking to a hard, demeaning approach. Landers would emphasize how difficult a time his group members would have in the real world without his help, and how they would most likely fail miserably if they were to go it alone.

He also used guilt, which is one of the strongest weapons for cults. He would reference the past bonds and good feelings that they shared, and use those feelings against his ‘friends’, manipulating them into seeking his favor again.

“It was like a complete change of face for him,” said Jennifer. “Before the contracts were signed, he was like a father figure. It was all about trust and doing the right thing. After he got what he wanted, he really treated us like we were very far below him.”

Epilogue

Over the next 4 years, as Jennifer established her own practice, she incurred a debt to Enriched Dentistry of over $100,000. As of this writing, Jennifer has been free of the group’s influence for 3 years and is currently in litigation with the group. She realizes now how naïve she was in trusting someone like Landers implicitly.

“I should have known to ask questions,” Jennifer says now. “It was my fault in the end. I was too trusting. I’d like to help others not make this same mistake… I had the highest opinion of him. In the end it was all an illusion.”

These kinds of manipulations are common in today’s new-age business cults. Leaders like Landers initially use trust, good will, and their own self-proclaimed spirituality to create strong personal bonds. Later comes intimidation and fear, but by then it is too late for the many who have already signed elaborate and deceptive legal contracts, or given away large amounts of their money.

Warning Signs

You shouldn’t have to be afraid of falling into a situation as horrible as Jennifer’s. The large majority of organizations are benevolent groups that have their members’ best interests at heart. All that is required to be safe is to ask questions and keep an eye out for some key warning signs.

Hostile Relationships

Find people who have been associated with the group for some time. See how they are doing financially as well as psychologically. If the group is turning on past members and there is evidence of major ill will and aggression, that is a warning sign that things are not what they seem to be.

Pressure to Donate Time and Money

Many groups will try to recruit you to donate your time or money to their cause. Many will do it under the guise of helping society or serving God. Many groups are truly non-profit, but a red flag should go up for you once it is requested of you. Study any document very, very closely before you sign it. Ask specific questions of the group or individual about any contract you are considering.

Pressure to Not Ask Questions

This is by far the most important warning sign. If you feel pressured not to ask questions, and if you are made to feel unwelcome just for being curious about how the group operates, that is a sure sign you are in a bad situation.

If any of the above scenario sounds remotely similar to your situation, or to the situation of a friend or family member, I would recommend doing more research on the group in question. Asking questions about the groups and the people around you will serve to keep you safe from any possible psychological and financial manipulation.

Dana Mitchell holds a Masters in Psychology and is currently a researcher in the field of Psychological Trauma. Having a friend become involved in a cult several years ago has made Dana more aware of the hidden nature of the problem. The names in this article, and some inconsequential details, were changed for legal reasons.

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Tags: ethics, admire, person, global, business

With many internet users already clued up to the tricks of internet scammers and phishers (i.e. pretending to be from an official website such as eBay or PayPal to get you to reveal your password or other login information). Many internet scammers are now turning to ingenuous methods to get their victims to reveal their financial information.

One of these is pretending to offer employment which they place ads on various frequently visited online classifieds.

Recently, you replied to our job for a online Office Assistants. If you are in receipt of this email from us then it means you need more information. We are currently seeking a online Office Assistants who will serve as Customer Service Representatives for our Real Estate Firm. We manage various Real Estate Agencies and Management Companies throughout the World. As there were two listings posted which needed to be filled, this particular position is for a Customer Service Rep (CSR). Responsibilities will include posting new listings, taking occasional phone calls and routing them to the proper agents. Agents will take and schedule maintenance calls and occasionally deal with tenant Emergencies (leaks, major repairs, etc)

Candidates should have average to above average office skills, good comprehension, and should be able to type at a reasonable speed in order to take messages effectively. Your pay will be $16.25 per hour and you should be able to work a minimum of 15 hours each week with the maximum being 40 hours. Payments are made weekly via check or direct deposit. Calls will be routed to the phone number of your choice (this must be a valid phone number) during the time you are signed into our system. This will not prohibit you from taking personal calls as your screen will indicate when it is a call being routed from us. If calls are

not answered after 4 rings they will simply be rerouted to the next available agent.

All applicants need to have an account mandatory for web based work where you will be shown each aspect of the job in detail, and how to have any questions answered. Please set aside few minutes to complete this, after having an account to online software, a 3 page test will be emailed to you, which will serve to gauge your comprehension. All Documents, tests and orientation will need to be Completed no later than <25/04/2009>.

To the access to software you must have a free account to download the software

Please visit our website at:

(Removed to protect the vulnerable)

Simply create a username that consists of 1 your email 2 People in your Team: just type 1000 and next field 3 what do you want to use Central Desktop for? Type here for business purpose. If this is unavailable please make a comparable name. After we have received your username we will send you some manuals to look over, and a file containing fully functional copies of all necessary software that you will need to have installed and ready before orientation. It is NOT necessary for you to purchase any software or programs for this job. Please Note:

You are not guaranteed employment until you receive an email from us entitled “Welcome Aboard”. Prior to this, all tests,

orientation and paperwork must be completed, and the results of this will determine your eligibility for employment with us. Please let me know if there is anything I can

Help you with.

Warm Regards,

…

Human Resources Manager.

One of the many things about this email that should send alarm bells about this “Online Virtual Assistant” the mechanical and bad grammar (as if copied from a template) aside, is the sudden change to an “Office Assistant”, and regardless of where the job is advertised; curiously the pay is always in dollars. The website created for this specific purpose, is always just a few weeks if not a few days old, and ofcourse there is no phone number, just a free email address anyone can obtain, which a real business to be honest would steer clear as it is synonymous with scams.

If the potential victim is eager and gullible enough at this stage to visit the website, instead of what was advertised; a test to guage their suitability, they are instead met with a trial service that demands a credit card to possibly verify their identity.

Ofcourse this is the entire point of this elaborate scam as once these details are filled in, there is no need to communicate with the victim any longer.

Mr D Stevens is a reviewer at Email scams

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Tags: ethics, global, information, systems, person

It was when I was out for an early morning run, or more a jog nowadays, that the following thoughts came to me for a letter, or even a brief short concise article.

The Royal Bank of Scotland had just announced massive losses, and we were being informed of long established Banks and Financial Institutions crumbling and collapsing across the world.

It is not so much a financial collapse as the disappearance of morality and Christian foundations on which many of these banks and institutions were originally founded. The consequences of greed and mismanagement and corruption, and misleading people to take on more debt than they could ever repay, has led us into a crisis from which we will take years to recover and some may never recover.

There are those who are carrying such a burden of guilt that the only way out for some may be to commit suicide, which is really self-murder.

If you know of anyone who, if only for a brief moment contemplates suicide, do whatever you can to help or get help to that individual. Help is available and suicide is never the answer, no matter how enormous the problem or how heavy the burden.

What was the nature of the words that came to me? Let me get back to that letter, because it deals with the root cause of the current crisis: SIN! This picture demands a different type of leadership to emerge.

Imagine the scenario in some financial boardroom. My thoughts were centred on the Royal Bank of Scotland, and I have been a customer with that bank for over forty years.

Come, let us build a tower. Let us build the biggest tower that has ever been built. We will get bricks from other places. We will acquire other banks so that our bank will be the biggest and tallest in the world.

Our tower will be taller than anyone else’s and we will make a name for ourselves.

What will we call our tower? What about calling it Babel? No, that has been done before.

I know. We will take away these three strong words and call it RBS! We will put these letters everywhere: on rugby pitches and race tracks and tennis courts and everyone will recognise our tower.

But what if it becomes too tall and it topples upon people! People? What are people?

Our concern is the tower.

Sandy Shaw

Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children’s Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.

He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org entitled “Word from Scotland” on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.

His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly to maintain a level of physical fitness.

Sandy Shaw

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Tags: business, work, ethics, create, global

The media is full of stories of vast financial corruption from Bernie Madoff to the Corporate Executives, Bankers, Investment Houses, and Government officials that have literally scooped hundreds of billions of dollars of the American net worth right out of our pockets. Billions is sent out of this country to rebuild and subsidize other countries while our own people are ending up homeless by the hundreds every day. People are complaining and yet, doing nothing. These folks are still in positions of running the companies, banks and our government. Why do Americans continue to pay taxes to fund the government irresponsibility and corruption and do business with these institutions?

People worship money and the people who have it. People seem to some how feel important if they know someone who is wealthy. Worse yet, they brag about the person they know as if it some how elevates them to some higher status. Regardless of how some one of wealth may have acquired it, it seems folks are in awe of them. They allow behaviors of rudeness, condescending remarks, and tyrant like actions and say nothing.

People seem to gauge their self worth and their “success” by how much they make, how much they have, who they know who may appear to have money and “success”. Albeit, if they put the “successful people” that are revered under a polygraph test, it is certain at some point they have lied, cheated, betrayed themselves, their own integrity, their values in the chase for the almighty dollar.

As Carolyn Myss said in a conference, “Our self-betrayal creates our suffering. When we ignore that interior voice that says – Don’t you dare do that…Don’t you dare say yes when you mean no”

Many people will instantly be quiet, speechless or worse, not stand up to a supposed person of “Power”, I have heard countless stories of those that will compromise themselves in the presence of a person of wealth or “status”. So they compromise their personal integrity to appease these people. These acts of self-betrayal create internal suffering, which in turn leads to a whole host of problems. (Emotional physical, psychological). I see people and hear stories about countless folks that will bow to the one who has the money.

Have we really become a society that betrays our own values, our families and our consciences in exchange for our personal gains, or to raise our perception of our selves and our standing in society? What does it really mean if someone has millions in the bank and lots of things, if they have no compassion or worse yet, they stole, lied, cheated or stepped on countless others to achieve it? Is this, what we as a society hold up as something to be impressed with or to define as “successful people”? We can change this as a nation. Much like our forefathers did when they left to set out to create a new life here.

We have, and continue to give the power away to a system that awards thieves and corruption. People say that is the way of the world. Yet, that is not the way of my world. I, personally, have been around lots of wealth and worked in several industries – I have seen the corruption first hand. And for me, I left those places as I was taught that integrity and honesty are the keys to a truly happy life. I have seen the deceit and worse, the self-justification by these types of people. “Every man for himself and it is just how business is done”. So I ask, “Why?”

It seems to me, that the economic downturn is an opportunity. We have an opportunity to revisit how we think, what we hold valuable in our lives, who we really perceive as the “successful people”. We have an opportunity to reclaim our collective integrity and to stand for hard work, honesty, compassion and to redefine what we perceive as wealth or successful.

Power is perception. A person who walks through their lives, much like my parents did, and treats everyone equally and maintains their integrity in all areas of their lives are the ones to be revered. We learned that every person is valuable from the garbage man to the CEO. I have knows quite a few “influential” business men whose internal lives were a shambles. Yet, the community perception is these people have it all. Slowly but surely, we are witnessing the massive decay in our society. We revere narcissm and simply shake our heads to corruption. We complain, but do nothing. We are all responsible.

The days of my parents’ generation, they prided themselves on integrity, hard work and honesty. Some where along the line it seems we have sold out those values for the almighty buck. I personally don’t bow to the buck. I am fortunate, that I was taught some basics about what is really important in life. Money does not define me or the people that I revere and love.

I truly hope and pray that others begin to awaken to this …that they take this economic shake up as an opportunity to hold what is real and meaningful and important in life.

Terrie Crowley

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Terrie Crowley – EzineArticles Expert Author

Tags: ethics, thing, global, care, person

Rumours have been abounding all week that another major competitor has just bitten the dust spectacularly but, until it’s confirmed – and maybe even afterwards – I think it’s best to leave that alone.

All in all, though, not very good for the reputation of the recruitment industry which is never that good anyway. Even in a world where ridiculous surveys – like the analysis of Oxford which cost the City Council £15,000 which found that the city had “a good university” – are the in-thing, you wont come across any polls that put recruitment anywhere near the top of the most admired way to spend your working life. No-one ever grows up with a burning desire to be in it, most end up in it by accident and – like many professions – there’s more than the odd practitioner who’d be more honest if they turned up to present wearing a Stetson and spurs, rather than a suit.

So when a major national paper recently featured a recruitment professional in a “How I made it” column I had high expectations that this would elevate the industry’s status to a new high of street level. Boy, was I disappointed. Our hero started off on his own by secretly arranging a big bank loan and taking a lease on an office above a nightclub, before persuading several of his current employer’s clients to give business to his new company. So far so tacky, but it got worse – he resigned by leaving his car keys on the receptionist’s desk, saying “see you, I’m off” and walking out without even having the guts to tell his former boss he was going.

As a blue print for success, I didn’t much rate this so Schadenfreude came to mind when I read that one of the clients he nicked went bust, costing him several thousand pounds.

A few years later, he decided to expand. Organically? Sadly no. Instead he reverted to his old tricks by opening a second office, staffing it by hiring four people from a competitor and getting them to bring clients with them. This time he was sued by his rival and had to pay £40,000 compensation.

Now, at this stage, you might think our hero doesn’t come across as very nice. And you’d be largely right about that because when, despite all his ducking and diving, his firm got into trouble yet again, he hired a management consultant to analyse the problems.

In a shock development, they found that the biggest problem was him – his management style of shouting, putting people under intolerable pressure and encouraging a ruthless culture where success meant you stayed and failure quite the opposite was dragging the whole place down.

Rather sadly, if you are from the treat people OK and things tend to work out OK side of the tracks, Mr. X then went on a few courses and is now doing very well indeed. But I can’t help feeling that underneath, nothing much has changed. His advice on building a company is simply to give it a go as “starting up a business is like taking part in a boxing match”.

In his case with below the belt punches positively encouraged, I’d imagine.

In 1995, with Maria Manzo, he set up the UK office of BSA Advertising – a USA – owned agency – which he ran until deciding to set up Giraffe Advertising. Advertising Agency & Website Design Company London UK

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Where do I begin? It seems like more and more you hear people say today that “in order to really succeed in business, you have to lie. That couldn’t be any further from the truth. People lie for all kinds of reasons. Let’s look at some of them.

• People lie because they are insecure.
• People lie because they are hiding something.
• People lie because they are greedy and selfish.
• People lie out of fear.
• People lie because it’s “easy to lie.”
• People lie because that’s what they have always been taught to do.

Lying and dishonesty in business destroys all of that. Honesty, integrity, reputation and character. If people cant’s truth you, they will not do business with you.

Being honest in business is not only a good thing but it is the right thing. Whether you have a business online or offline, dishonesty will always come back and bite you later. (…and not in a good way either.) Let’s face it. Whether you like it or not, when you are in business, one of the greatest aspects of your business is your customers. Without them, you don’t have a business, you have a hobby.

Customers are the “life blood” of any business. With that comes the responsibility of taking care of them. Taking care of them you say? Oh yes, taking care of your customers is critical to whether your business grows and prospers, or fails and disappears into oblivion. One the easiest ways of securing that, is being honest with them

So how do you be honest? Quite simply, tell the truth, ALL THE TIME. When you do that, you begin to start develop trust. Trust (especially on the internet) is very important. Trust is the foundation and one of the building blocks of building a “relationship” with your customer base. You see, when you start building relationships, you will have what we all strive for in business, and that is the “customer for life.”

Establishing a good and solid relationship with your customers will almost guarantee that they will go out and tell all their friends that they need to shop and spend their money with you and not one of your competitors. Go so far as to tell the truth even when you mess up (no matter how bad.) Your customers will appreciate the fact that you were honest enough to admit your mistake. That speaks volumes to them. If you make a mistake whether it is on pricing or maybe delivery, always make concessions for it. Go the extra mile and give them something tangible besides the normal “sorry about that.”

That leads into something else. It’s called Integrity. Having integrity in your business is “kin” to being honest. When you say you are going to deliver something by a certain date or time, then do that. Make that a priority and do it for the right reasons. Some people use this “integrity” angle as a way of promoting a false front to their customers for the sole reason of deceiving them into thinking they are genuinely a “nice person”….(so they will spend more money.) Make having integrity part of your life and have it for real so that when people see you, they will believe it.

Another aspect of this is consistency. If you are not consistent, and only “wishy washy” at best, your reputation as a merchant will go right out the window. That is another very important thing you want to maintain in your business and that is your reputation. Your word should be your bond. Your word hangs right up there with your name…which if you are branding yourself…you will find very necessary to your success as well. It shows people you are a person of great character.

Some people say, “I only ticked off one customer…what do I care.” They say things like ” that won’t even put a dent in MY business.” Oh really? Let’s look at this a little deeper shall we. When you upset ONE customer, not only have you damaged and probably lost that customer for life, but you have lost every potential customer (or prospect) in the future that person may talk to or know. What if they are a very influential person in the community?

I think everyone in business knows that “word of mouth advertising is the best advertising in the world.” Who that person talks to could have very damaging effect on not only your business and its reputation but could also spill over into your personal life. What if (when you are not working) and someone sees you at the grocery store? They may think “hey, that’s the guy (or lady) that ripped off Joe (or Sue) you want to stay far away from them.

There are so many other aspects of this that could be dealt with but I hope you get the drift. If you start out by being honest and maintain that level of character, your business will only grow and spread like a wildfire in a strong wind. You will eventually have so much business you won’t know what to do. If you’ve started out dishonest, then start changing right now. It may take time to rebuild your reputation, but over time, people will warm up to you.

On the other hand, if you are dishonest, greedy, deceitful, unlikable, impatient, and just a “jerk”, and you maintain THAT level of character, the principle will work in the opposite way (just as well.) You will be sitting around all day begging to see one sale or one customer walk in your door and eventually that won’t even last and you’ll finding yourself “out of business” and looking for a job working for someone else. Probably, someone that will treat you, as “nice” as you treated others. You know the old saying, “what goes around, comes around.”

Ken McDougal Jr. is a Professional Nature Photographer, Full time eBay Seller and Entrepreneur. To make more money and get more money making tips, please visit Here

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Tags: ethics, result, integrity, thing, global

- Napoleon Bonaparte

Morale can be described as the common belief of a group of people in the purpose of their organization, be it a military, business or government organization. A strong morale creates cohesion and a willingness to cooperate to achieve the goals of the organization. The maintenance of Morale is fundamental for every organization. A Commander or a CEO should dedicate much of his energy to keep the morale (or Esprit de Corps) in his organization at a high level. It is a part of the effort to create strength at the strategic point when attacking or when one is defending oneself.

From our point of view Morale is so fundamental that we have dedicated a separate chapter to this element of Strategy. We begin with a case from the 16th century when a commander, by completely re-engineering his organization, restored morale in his army.

Complete re-engineering of the firm is nowadays a hot topic among many management gurus. However it is nothing new. In the field of the military the complete and successful(!) overhauling of an organization was for instance undertaken in the 16th century by Maurice of Nassau (of the Republic of the Holland), by Napoleon in the 19th century and by the Germans somewhat later.

It is striking, that all the measures and organizational innovations that were introduced by Maurice, Napoleon and the Germans formed a coherent whole; it was not just one isolated measure or rule, it was a set of interlocking measures based on an understanding of the psychology of the (mercenary) soldier, it was a re-engineering process avant la lettre!

In war numbers alone are of no advantage. Do not advance relying on sheer military power.

- Sun Tzu

Already the ancients recognized the importance of the human factor, that is to say the moral commitment of the members to their organization. Morale is the sum of a number of qualities such as courage, determination, and decisiveness. These qualities are encouraged when there exists mutual trust originating from solidarity and team spirit. If management is able to instil these qualities in the organization it can face with confidence any competitor.

Capable Commanders understood this and the manner in which they inspired their troops are well known; for them, Morale and Esprit de Corps, or belief in the goals to be achieved, the motivation and enthusiasm, where elements of strategic importance.

Good commanders not only understood the elementary psychological needs of the soldiers; they made themselves recognizable and thereto used all kinds of symbols. For example Patton always carried ivory handled pistols, Montgomery used the black beret of his tank troops and pinned on it the many insignias of the regiments he commanded, Mosje Dayan is well known for his black eye patch and General Ridgway always carried a live hand grenade on his left breast pocket.

For an effective organization which is able to carry out its chosen strategies successfully, intangible cultural aspects like morale, resulting in cooperation, team spirit, Esprit de Corps, enthusiasm, and motivation of its staff are just as essential as tangible elements such as factories, machinery, financial means and suitable accommodation. However, it takes a long time to build up intangible (cultural) elements like cooperation, in-group feeling, team spirit and the will to act together. A consistent leadership style based on a long term vision is fundamental to reach this goal.

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Tags: ethics, subject, object, person, global

How important are business ethics to being an effective leader? According to the American Management Association, it is an important characteristic of effective leaders today. In a survey of 462 executives who were asked, “What characteristics are needed to be an effective leader today?” 56% ranked ethical behavior as an important characteristic, followed by sound judgment (51%) and being adaptable/flexible (47%).

However, with all due respect to the AMA survey, I strongly believe it is much more than “important,” it is a “critical, essential and non-negotiable” characteristic of an effective leader. Strong business ethics is a pillar of my strategic planning and strategic thinking business coaching efforts each and every day. Clients are encouraged to develop a set of core values and guiding principles and publish them for their clients and stakeholders to know that this is the way they do business. And furthermore, the clients are continually reminded to make sure the core values are demonstrated in all that they do.

Examples of unethical behavior abound in business stories around the world. And individuals witness some form of unethical behavior in their workplace every day. Unethical behavior where people deliberately intend to harm themselves or others, develops from and is reinforced by, destructive states of mind, including fear, greed, anger and jealously. In contract, ethical behavior enhances the well-being of everyone because it ids developed from and reinforced by strong motives and emotions such as love, joy, generosity and compassion.

We need to ask these questions: “How ethically vulnerable is our company or organization?” “What are the core values and guiding principles of our company or organization?” “Are we committed to living and exhibiting our core values in everything we do?” The answers to these questions will define the state of ethics in our business.

Leadership in business must set the standard and “walk the talk” when it comes time to ethical behavior. There can be no compromise of ethics. There can be no “waiver of ethics.” A leader must constantly keep his or her actions above reproach. If leaders are committed to that high standard, there will be no more Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, and Adelphia ethical meltdowns.

Knowing what is right is very important to personal and business ethics. Doing what is right is absolutely critical to personal and business ethics. A strong unwavering commitment to your core values and guiding principles of your business or organization will lead to the right ethical decisions and actions. In the absence of these actions, all one has is good intentions and that simply is not enough for effective leadership.

J. 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: leadership, business, ethics, global, policing

Are you working as an employee for a corporation while possessing aspirations of eventually becoming one of the executives for the organization? Have you already been promoted to your organization’s executive level? Anyone who works as an executive should conduct his or her business with morality and ethics. You will learn some of the things executives should do to run their corporations while adhering to business and professional ethics.

The first thing you can do to exhibit business and professional ethics is to display a professional image of yourself at all times. Demonstrate that you do not put your personal interests above that of the corporation or your employees. Show that you care about the entire corporation and that you are not someone who is greedy and will do anything for a quick buck.

Avoid using a corporate jet for your transportation needs, especially during these tough economic times. Indulging in extravagances such as this tells your employees and society that you are irresponsible and unsympathetic toward those who are less fortunate that you. Executives who flew their corporate jets to seek bailout money in hearings held through the United States Congress in the last few months of 2008 did not make a good impression. Some members of Congress and people around the nation probably thought, “If these people can afford to come here in their private jets, they can probably maintain their businesses on their own. These people have a lot of nerve.”

Do not allow yourself to be paid a salary that is worth hundreds more than what your employees earn. This is very unfair to the workers who wonder how the executives can be so much worthier than them. After all, the employees are the ones who make a company’s success possible. If you cannot persuade the head honchos to give you a big pay cut or highly limit your compensation, give some of your excess pay to the employees and charities.

Do not “cook the books”, or claim to investors your corporation is making less money than it actually is. In addition to this being unethical and immoral, it is an illegal act that can send you to prison.

Do not lie to law enforcement officials or Congress under any circumstances. If you lie to Congress under oath, you could be charged with a misdemeanor; however, if you lie to law enforcement officials or withhold information that is crucial to their investigation, you could end up in a federal penitentiary for at least ten years for lying to law enforcement officials and obstruction of justice.

Take paying your taxes seriously. Do not underreport your taxes. Do not try to use offshore tax shelters. Do not try to take advantage of too many tax loopholes.

Invest in your employees where you are. Do not ship the jobs for any employees overseas just to save money on salaries.

Adhere to these suggestions to be an executive who operates with business and professional ethics!

Todd Hicks owns Skill Development Institute, an enterprise that provides a keyboard typing lesson and academic study guide. To become a great typist or student, visit Skill Development Institute

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Tags: ethics, rule, global, person, quality

I recently watched the movie, Doubt, starring Meryl Streep. As described in the movie reviews, the film takes place in 1964, and centers on a nun who confronts a priest after suspecting him of abusing a black student. He denies the charges, and much of the film’s quick-fire dialogue tackles themes of religion, morality, and authority.

I don’t want to spoil the story by giving away too much, but there is one scene that I thought was brilliant. The priest, played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, discusses the topic of gossip during his sermon to the congregation. He describes a woman who has gossiped about another and goes to her priest to confess her sin. He tells her to go to the top of her roof and gut a pillow, then return to him the following day. She does as instructed. Feathers from the pillow fly across the sky.

She returns the following day and reports what she has done. The priest next instructs her to go back and gather all the feathers and restuff the pillow. She tells him that she cannot perform this task as the feathers blew away. She can’t even guess how far they flew or where they went. He tells her that it is exactly the same thing with gossip.

When you talk disparagingly, or spread gossip, you have no idea how far the message will travel, where it will spread. Once you say something it is impossible to take it back. My friend Jackie, an educator and public speaker, has seen the devastating effects of gossip in personal relationships, as well as the workplace. This is what she has to say about the topic:

“Gossip is not only hurtful, it’s destructive. Criticism and gossip stops any work environment from being a positive, joyful, fun, fulfilling experience. We can be having a wonderful time at our jobs, then one negative or critical person walks in and everyone seems to follow the negativity feeding frenzy. It’s like inviting ants to a picnic. Unfortunately, what follows is the whole environment turns negative. We find ourselves agreeing with, and even adding to the gossip and criticism that is being tossed about. From there it spreads and fuels the fire of discord – often beyond repair.”

In addition to ruining people’s reputations, gossip in the workplace is bad for business. It results in loss of jobs, retraining costs and a serious decrease in morale and productivity.

Jackie offered this advice for turning the tide of gossip in the workplace.

“We each have an obligation to stop this vicious cycle of negativity and destruction. When we catch ourselves being critical or wanting to gossip, we need to stop and refuse to allow ourselves to fall into that trap. We may have to work on this for the rest of our lives as the programming is strong and society as a whole tends to be negative. We have to choose not to participate or associate with the people that seem to thrive on the negative side of life. We have to learn to say, “I’m sorry you feel the way you do, but I really can’t let your negative attitude interfere with my joy and happiness.” It may be hard at first, but when you hear gossip, you need to have the courage to stop it, or at the very least, learn to walk away.”

Although gossip may seem titillating, when we listen or participate in gossip and negativity, we allow the verbal negativity to grow and have more power. In order to lead a happier life, we must learn to focus on the positive people, places, and things we enjoy. By doing so, we not only become happier, we are able to defuse, or erase, the negativity in our environments. The old saying, If you can’t say something nice about someone don’t say anything at all, is more true than we realize.

Because we are bombarded with negative messages every day – particularly in the media – spreading bad news is becoming more common place than ever before. Gossip is just another evil way of creating more negativity and unhappiness in the world. One way to curb the practice is to think before speaking, or repeating information. Ask yourself, “Is what I’m about to say going to be hurtful in any way? What is my motivation for saying this? Is what I’m about to say coming from a place of love and respect, or a place anger and cruelty?” By asking ourselves a few questions before we speak, and trying to communicate from a compassionate viewpoint and not a critical one, we can save ourselves, and others, a lot of pain and grief.

Sally Marks
Coauthor of upcoming book, Erase Negativity and Embrace the Magic Within. Check out her blog at Here

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Tags: ethics, person, results, communication, global

From an individual point of view, the primary objective of a business firm is to earn profits. But the society point of view is different, according to the society business exists to supply goods and services to the people. One may expect that the individual goals of the firm would not be in conflict with the objectives of the society.

However, business enterprises are run by human beings whose decisions and actions may not always be in accordance with the expectations of the society. An enterprise may be good in terms of economic performance but poor in terms of social performance like supplying products at reasonable prices. This raises the question of what is wrong and what is right from the society’s point of view. The subject matter of ethics is concerned with establishing linkages between individual good and social good.

Concept of business ethics

The word ethic means character, norms, ideals, morals prevailing in a group or society. Ethics may be viewed as the entire body of moral values that society attaches to the actions of human beings. Ethical standards are often enacted as laws. But ethical behavior is just and fair conduct which goes beyond observing laws and government regulations. It means adhering to moral principles, being guided by particular values, and behaving in a way people ought to act.

The set of principles called ethics may be written or unwritten codes or principles governing a professional or human community. An ethically responsible enterprise develops a culture of caring for people and environment and commands a high degree of integrity in dealing with others.

business studies book

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Tags; business, work, ethics, person, global

Not everything that comes through the mail is valid. Most of the mail I receive–be it through US Post office or my e-mail–is just plain annoying. Still, there must be some people, even friends, who assume that I enjoy receiving so much garbage. They do not get it, even when I tell them, that the deletion of such stuff is an imposition on my time.

Why do they do it? I think, because someone else has sent it to them to be forwarded to a number of people, friends being the key word, and they don’t have the backbone to stop the chain. When this type of a chain e-mail comes from a friend, it is worse than getting it from a stranger, because I can’t block his e-mail since I want to keep my friends.

Chain letters, first in snail mail then in e-mails, started out as pranks or jokes or for circulating information, whether the receiver wanted to get such mail or not and whether he got the joke or the purpose of the mailer or not. In the beginning, I used to send the chain e-mail back to the sender to make him understand, but now I just delete it.

Then sometimes, I get another e-mail scolding me why I broke the chain. Some of the letters used to come with a warning such as: “If you break this chain and do not send this to seven other people, great misfortune will follow you and someone close to you will face adversity.” Nowadays, these types of warnings are passé. Still, the bulk mailing and chain letters remain as the preferred mode of communicating someone’s objectives that do not concern the receiver.

On the other hand, I enjoy receiving personal letters and e-mails from friends greatly and I love it when a friend e-mails me an article or a URL that he knows will interest me. I even like the bulk mail if the content is of concern to me and is sent by someone I know or work with in some capacity.

There are numerous kinds of unconstructive bulk mails and chain letters. A true list would fill volumes. A few examples to those are: addressing one’s soft side by imploring help to the poor, sick, missing, or dying people; political truths or falsehoods under the guise of news; matchmaking or meet-your-soulmate mail; online rumor against one institution, company or person; virus warning hoaxes; mail of advertisements with doctored photos or pictures; e-mail activist petitions that ask a person to add his name to a list; a prize for nothing frauds; and pyramid schemes hiding under false pretenses. Most of these are scams to get the receiver’s money, but even when they aren’t, they are just as leechlike because they take up your time and inbox space.

Although the Federal Trade Commission came up with a “Do Not Call List,” there are no laws I know of that forbid sending junk e-mail and chain letters, leaving spammers and swindlers free to gather e-mail addresses or personal information leading to identity theft and other harassments. FTC acts like a powerless waif against spamming and scamming mail and e-mail.

I believe, the best way to fight this trend is to not to forward any chain letter to anyone else, even when the content appeals to us and even if we think we know and trust a respectable company or business. Most scammers hide behind well-known names, associations and companies. The only weapon to fight this ill is to break the chain and just delete the e-mail from our inbox.

Joy Cagil is an author on a site for Writers. Her education is in foreign languages and linguistics. In her background are varied subjects such as psychology, humanities, and women’s issues. See her portfolio.

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