If you have a personal code of ethics that is centered on the Bible you’ll try to do what is right in all situations. As an employee, this could be illustrated this way. A customer may give you money to pay their bill. They may say here’s $30.00 keep the change. As you look down you realize that instead of a twenty and a ten they gave you two twenties. You could keep it and they might not notice.

Your personal code of ethics will not let you keep the money. Sure it was their mistake, and you may need the money, but it simply wouldn’t be right.

Business owners must grapple with ethics in the workplace as well. They could change your time card and cheat you out of your just wages, but they know it’s wrong, as well.

Have you worked for a boss who cheats the customer? It may require you to change jobs just to keep a clear conscience. A builder could have the steel for a concrete slab on site and then only install half the required amount. He may get by for years, until something breaks.

A restaurant could advertise a product as being one way, and simply cut back on ingredients, to make it cheaper. They may think, they’re getting one over on the customer, but their thievery will be evident as product quality suffers.

Customers aren’t stupid. The Japanese proved this by making their cars a little better every year. During the same period American cars were not improving as much. The Cani Principal of the Japanese let to their cars taking a huge chunk of the worldwide automotive market.

Ethics in the workplace starts at the top with management. if they are committed to excellence and can communicate this the organization will be ethical. If management chooses to mistreat and cheat employees, they can expect that to be reflected back to them and to their customers.

The personal code of ethics of one company founder can influence thousands of businesses, managers and employees. A good example of this is Truett Cathy, founder of ChicfilA. His company refuses to open on Sunday even though they could do more business.

I am sure their employees appreciate the day off to go to church and enjoy their families. Truett allows people to become a store partner with a simple $5,000.00 deposit. ChicfilA spends all the money to open the restaurant. The operator pays a franchise fee and profits are split with corporate. Probably the best opportunity I know of in a traditional business.

All business owners could take a ethics lesson from Truett Cathy.

The company’s corporate purpose statement says that the business exists “to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with ChickfilA.”

Jay Vandenhoff has been a small business owner and entrepreneur most of his life. His network marketing career started 12 years ago. As the internet has evolved he has been evolving too. You can visit Jay’s blog here Check out his web site Work From Home

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Tags: ethics, place, time, position, result

Determining what should be your business practices and how you set policies is something that we need be very careful of. We should approach our research and advice we follow with a little extra caution and with an objective eye.

As we look at what is happening in the global economy, we can only come to conclusion that something went wrong with government and corporate policies. Oh and let’s not forget personal responsibility and some unwise decisions made at the kitchen tables – globally.

Here is what Carolyn Y. Woo, Dean of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business in Indiana, USA, had to say:

“I believe that our current crisis is caused by a failure of values fueled by perverse incentives, which trumped sound judgment and overwhelmed regulatory enforcements,”… “Having noted the above, this is definitely an opportunity for business schools to do more to make ethical thinking part of the fabric of their curriculum.”
- BBC News

As business schools commence their quest in investigating the failures of financial institutions, they have thus far discovered in a 2006 study about cheating among US graduates, published in the journal Academy of Management Learning & Education, that 56% of all MBA students cheated regularly – more than in any other discipline.

The study also suggested that business students are also more likely to find out about a test from a fellow student who had taken it.
Both Yale and Notre Dame business schools say they initiated change long before the current crisis unfolded, by incorporating ethics in the core as well as driving ethics discussion across the curricula.
- BBC News

Given the above study, isn’t it interesting how we hold educated people in such high regard. We have no idea how they acquired their degree. We would hope that the degree is evidence of their hard work and determination to achieve their goal graduating with that degree. Now, I am not suggesting that all graduates that hold a collegiate degree gain that degree in an unethical manner. On the contrary, the majority of university graduates acquired their degree the old fashioned way – they earned it with hard work.

Let us therefore not only consider the advice of professionals, however, we are to use God’s word as a filter that we may walk away with truth and understanding as we apply the wisdom we glean from seeking first the kingdom and His righteousness.

The historical and global importance of religious views on business ethics is sometimes underestimated in standard introductions to business ethics. Particularly in Asia and the Middle East, religious and cultural perspectives have a strong influence on the conduct of business and the creation of business values.
-Wikipedia.com

God’s word is clear in letting us know the reward of good business practices and diligence. Proverbs states that a man that is diligent in business, shall stand before kings (cf. Prov 22:29).

It is very important that we aspire to be men and women of God that:

• Apply Godly principles in the way we do business – As a whole
• Exude integrity in marketing & advertising our products and services
• Care for our employees – promoting an atmosphere of fairness and respect in the workplace. This encourages loyalty
• When setting policies, we seek insight from God’s word for wisdom & guidance
• Produce products and deliver our services with the quality we promised our customers

Should we keep these principle in play when we do business and carry out our objectives in the workplace, we will continually experience God’s favor in ways we could not imagine.

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Bobby E. Miller – EzineArticles Expert Author

Tags: decision, ethics, person, source, time

As the world entered the New Year of 2010, many were hopeful that the New Year would not be like the last with the United States of America experiencing its worst market since the great depression. The optimism may be credited to the end of the Bush era or to the hope injected by president Barack Obama. In his inaugural speech President Obama announced his vision for a new America “Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.” As I replay presidents Obama’s speech I realize that there is a simple answer to all his questions and concerns. There is an answer to our weakened economy, an answer to greed and irresponsibility an answer to the hard choices of lost homes, an answer to the costly health care and failing schools. The answer is for every student, business owner, consumer, and government official to be required to take classes in International Business Ethics offered at Ohio Wesleyan University.

In the international business ethics classes, president Obama would have received answers to his tough questions from any one of the 16 debates argued in class. Students passionate and convincing arguments against dumping abroad would show President Obama that America has a responsibility to the rest of the world by not treating humans as a means to an end. Eminent domain would have encouraged Obama to rewrite eminent domain laws with the help of Rawl’s principles that states that “each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive total system of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar system of liberty for all” and “social and economic inequalities to be attached to positions and offices open to all under conditions of fair equality of opportunity and they are to be the greatest expected benefit of the least advantage members of society. If president Obama does not drop out of the class after his disappointing first exam grade he would read arguments against capitalism that he could use as a weapon when he is trying to convince the republicans that competition is not really what its cracked up to be.

As a business owner, I am repeatedly faced with decisions that affect my business, employees and communities. International business teaches that for every decision there is an ethical reasoning required. We cannot life in this would and assume that our actions do not affect those around us. International business will give people the opportunity and tool to analyze their behavior and decisions. While we do not have answers to every ethical question out there, it is more important for us to raise these ethical questions rather than pretend that ethics and business are not related. I did get a chance to take international business ethics at Ohio Wesleyan University. The class influenced me to raised questions about eazzyclean and its impact on the communities it does business. We have added a philanthropy division to the eaZZyclean called eaZZyhelp. eaZZyhelp program donates 8% of eaZZyclean profits to the community, 2% to health, 2% to Environment, 2% to Learning and 2% to people.

Learn more about eaZZyclean and eaZZyhelp program at Here

Farooq A. Busari is currently a Jr at Ohio Wesleyan University and serves as President and CEO of eaZZyclean LLC a company he founded as a sophomore in college. eaZZyclean is a professional laundry, dry cleaning room and carpet cleaning service that provides its clients with reliable and convenient services of high quality and excellent customer service.

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Tags: business, work, ethics, time, person

Not long ago a young entrepreneur asked his mentor and business coach how many times to I have to take the high-road? And maybe you have heard this tale, it’s in a rather poplar business book. The business coach told him, however many roads it takes you to get to your destination. Well, today, I am here to tell you that sometimes there is no mountain pass and sometimes you have to go through hell to get to where you are going, just remember what Winston Churchill once said:

“If you have to go through hell to get to where you are going, Don’t Stop!”

Indeed, I guess if I ever wrote my story it would be very similar to that of Ray Kroc and in his memoirs and famous book “Grinding it Out” he tells of his long journey to build the greatest franchise of all times. Along the way you see all his former friends, associates, and partners try to steal what he’d built.

The reality is that there are barriers along the way, tar pits, and other nuisances that have to be dealt with for all entrepreneurs. Sometimes you cannot go around them, sometimes they stand between you and the goal line, often there is another way, but not always. Just always remember; It’s okay to win.

It is not always easy to win when your opponent plays by different rules, uses steroids, or uses associations, regulators and others as a wedge point to hide their lack of integrity. You are right to stay on your game, just ratchet it up a couple of notches; and that friend turned competitor and then traitor, well, he’ll leave the market once he realizes the heat is too hot, they always do.

You see, lazy people cheat the most, and they often choose the path of least resistance, and generally it isn’t the high road, but often they pretend to be on that road, yet nowhere to be found! Then when they find no easy road to take, they go and do something else. This is why the strong survive. Let me ask you something are you weak or strong? (Clue: weakness is not a noble trait).

Lance Winslow – Lance Winslow’s Bio. Lance Winslow is also Founder of the Detail Guys, a cool little Franchise Company; Click Here.

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Tags: business, work, ethics, time, results

In global marketplace there continues to be much discussion about business ethics and values. With the recent behavior of individuals such as Mr. Madoff, the Enron executives to local business and community leaders who are facing felony indictments, being ethical appears for many to be a here one day and gone the next.

What is also so strange is for some who profess to have strong positive core values, they are willing to abandon and sacrifice these supposedly non-negotiable behaviors just to demonstrate that they have them. What is wrong with this picture?

Where did these here one day and gone the next behaviors come from? For many, the answer is society and specifically public schools. When schools removed key foundational beliefs to keep everyone happy, they made only a few happy – those without positive core values.

We can see the results of this here today and gone tomorrow through research. Recent surveys indicate young people believe cheating is OK and then considered themselves to be highly ethical.

Another survey of graduate students suggested that the most unethical were lawyers followed closely by teachers. What does this say about those constructing the laws and those educating others about the laws and society? And isn’t it ironic how many times lawyers many who are politicians are the ones challenging the ethics of the business world?

How many times do sales professionals to corporate executives engage in what they know to be questionable behavior just to secure the order, to have some policy or expense account approved? Yet, these same individuals want everyone else to behave above board as the expression goes.

Having a written and well communicated values statement along with the policies for ensuring that behaviors are in alignment with the written guidelines is the first step to avoid the here one day gone the next. Consistent enforcement is the next step. For the most part people do know what is right and wrong. However, people will stretch the rules and use the behaviors of others as their justification for breaking the rules.

For me as an ethical business professional, values are not here one day and gone the next. Ethical behaviors are part of my daily actions. They have helped me stand out as the Red Jacket in the crowd of gray behaviors.

Chicago Sales Coach Leanne Hoagland Smith helps with management development to sales skills.

Read about Leanne’s new book on sales coaching book. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, the Keys to Unlocking Sales Success.

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Tags: business, work, ethics, mean, time

Ethical clothing addresses a broad range of problems and concerns that have been around about as long as the clothing industry itself. Some of the major concerns with clothing that is not ethical are that the clothing is produced by workers in factories or sweat shops where wages are an amount so low that workers cannot make a reasonable living to support themselves or their families.

The unfortunate reality is that there are many designs on the racks in your local stores that have been made by these workers. This is true from major retail chains to exclusive shops where high-end clothing is made available for purchase.

The methodology behind ethical clothing and the options being made available today is that workers should be paid what their labor is worth. Ethical clothing also mandates that the workers be give benefits such as maternity leave and insurance options. Ethical type clothing also requires employers to ensure that their workers have safe, clean working environments.

In the past, ethical clothing options have been regarded as unappealing and unattractive. This has resulted in many people feeling as though wearing them would be less than desirable. Today, thanks to the continued investment of some of the top designers, clothing has risen to a new level of fashion. Many styles are coming to the light and many people are surprised to learn that these highly fashionable and good looking designs are actually ethical clothing.

For women, appearance in clothing is very important. Dressing in stylish clothes is a fashion statement. Many ethical styles in shirts and tops are trendy, made from colorful fabrics and aren’t very expensive. This means that you can choose to purchase items to add to your wardrobe that are sensitive to the earth and to other people in foreign countries that work very hard to earn a small amount of money.

Most major retail chains have ethical type clothing on the racks. If you are concerned that a particular manufacturer may be practicing unethical procedures to manufacture their clothing lines, take the time to do a little background research on the company. Much information is required to be made available to the public. With just a small investment of your time, you may find that the brand you like is actually an ethical clothing manufacturer or is working to improve working conditions and make their facilities ethical.

Clothing options include outer wear such as pants, shorts, shirts, t-shirts and blouses. Many creative designers are coming out with ethical type clothing that is suitable to wear to semi-formal and formal events as well. The Internet is a great way to find out what ethical clothing stores are in your local community. You can also locate ethical clothing manufacturers that have websites which advertise the clothing they currently have for sale.

Buying ethical clothing can not only make you feel good about your purchase but it can help you to feel good about doing something for the earth to help preserve it as well.

This article was written by Lee Lazarus. He writes on behalf of Wombat Clothing, an organic clothing company. Wombat Clothing are a leading adventure clothing designer.

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Tags: ethics, dress, person, time, path

The major corporate climate debate of the moment is whether business should be solely answerable to stockholders or whether much broader stakeholder responsibilities must be brought into play. In this article I discuss “Business Ethics” and how old-fashioned views of stockholders alone are broadening out into a wider conception of value creation.

I have avoided Twitter for some time. My reluctance stemmed from the fear of another social networking site tearing chunks of time out of my day. However, I’ve surrendered, and despite my first inclination to only follow the likes of Stephen Fry and other celebs I’ve actually found it rather thought provoking. Of course, there are many mundane tweets which don’t put a spark in my day (such as trips to the dentists or school runs) – but there are others which have made me stop and think about some of the bigger business questions of our day.

A recent Tweet was ‘Business ethics is an oxymoron’ – a well used phrase but one which never fails to get my goat. My initial reaction was to reply saying, “Why is it that we feel we must accept an outdated view of business as ‘dog-eat-dog, each bastard for themselves’? Can’t we instead embrace the social collaboration of value creation that modern capitalism can be if only we all try?” – but that was more than 140 characters. So I thought perhaps I’d try to explain my view in a bit more fully.

A successful business is obviously one who seeks and achieves economic growth. Milton Friedman’s famous assertion that “A business’s only responsibility is to its shareholders” is often quoted as the ethical foundation of capitalism. In seeking to act responsibly to anyone other than the stockholders of the business, owners and managers are actually behaving unethically. But does this argument really hold much water?

If a successful business is one which seeks and achieves (sustainable) economic growth, how does it do this? It is likely to be working with suppliers who understand its needs and works innovatively to provide it with the best product or service. It is likely to provide value-rich products or services for its customers. It will be complying with legislation and working in all ways to act justly. In short, it will be taking into account multiple stakeholders to achieve the best possible return for each.

This much broader view of responsibilities – Stakeholder Theory – has been around for quite some time and owes much to the work of R. Edward Freeman. In his words, “For any business to be successful it has to create value for customers, suppliers, employees, communities and financiers (shareholders, banks, the people with the money).”

The interests of all the stakeholders must be considered and best integrated in a broad-fronted quest for value creation. In finding the common ground of these stakeholders – rather than seeking only to mitigate against conflict and searching for trade-offs – businesses are better able to create value for all.

Business cannot be values-free or ethics-free simply because it is not people-free. Customers, suppliers, financiers, employees and communities are all made up of humans with names and faces. The co-creation of value for all of these stakeholders relies heavily on collaboration.

Is “Business Ethics” an oxymoron?. No – in fact the phrase itself is actually more of an irrelevance than an oxymoron. Good ethics in all parts of our lives actually come back to common sense.

Now I just need to shrink that down to 140 characters.

Madeleine Jarvis is a founding partner of The Cultureship Practice, which researches and implements superior corporate culture and develops bespoke and strategic business ethics for organizations of all sizes.

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Tags: business, work, ethics, time, person

Up until the past several years, companies including Enron, Worldcom, Arthur Andersen and now more recently Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, AIG and to a lesser degree GM and Chrysler did not understand how completely devastating betrayal of trust can be. Ironically and sadly, they only realized it when they were devastated in return. Deception compounded by elaborate schemes to cover up and prevent detection ravage the emotional trust at the core of investors, shareholders, employees and ultimately erode public confidence and faith.

There is a way to repair the damage wrought by corporate transgressions. Be forewarned. This solution is not for the faint of heart or the uncommitted.

THE FOUR H’S: THE FALLOUT OF IMPROPRIETY & DECEIT

When a company, CEO or Board of Directors commits an unethical, if not immoral act, it triggers Four H’s in investors, shareholders, employees, and the public at large:

* HURT
* HATE
* HESITATION TO TRUST
* HOLDING ON TO RESENTMENT

When a company commits or is perceived to commit an unethical action, stakeholders feel Hurt. Their emotional trust is betrayed.

They Hate the company and its leadership for taking away that trust.

Trust is the key factor and the most important element for feeling safe and secure. They worry over what else the leadership may be lying about. Furthermore they are now leery, skeptical and Hesitant to trust anyone or anything associated with the maligned company. If they trust again, they risk being betrayed again. Many investors and employees who have been betrayed in this fashion think that even if they make it through one such deception, they’ll be unable to make it through another.

Finally, these people are going to Hold on to resentment. With the passage of time most grudges will subside. Many however may feel powerless to let it go. Consider the investors in and employees of Enron, how they feel and what they currently are enduring. Their struggles and perceptions epitomize the Four H’s.

THE FOUR R’S: DAMAGE CONTROL AND HEALING THE PAIN

* REMORSE
* RESTITUTION
* REHABILITATION
* REQUEST FORGIVENESS

The corrective responses to the Four H’s are the Four R’s: Remorse, Restitution, Rehabilitation and Request for Forgiveness. If you are the CEO or part of the team responsible for guiding your company or industry through such a crisis, these are the steps you will need to take, (You is used to describe an individual, management team or company).

In order to heal the hurt, the injured parties need to see and feel your genuine Remorse. This means looking stakeholders straight in the eye, seeing the damage you’ve done, having them see that you see it and telling them that you know what your action did to them. You can communicate this by saying to them: “When we (you and your company) did X, you felt disappointed, betrayed and hurt. And it’s going to take somewhere between a long time and never before you would trust us again, because of how devastated you felt because of what we did; isn’t that true?” After they concur, follow up by saying to them: “We were wrong and I’m sorry for what we did.” Your “I’m sorry” must be simple and clear and not followed by excuses or “but it wouldn’t have happened if only …” This is possibly the most difficult thing to do (President Clinton wasn’t able to get closer to this than finally saying after too long delay, “It was wrong.”). This may also be why news interviewers frequently ask victims of corporate exploitation if the company ever apologized directly to them. As much as each stakeholder’s hurt needs remorse in order to heal, his/her anger needs vengeance in order to be expunged.

Restitution starts when you provide a forum for the injured and aggrieved to verbally vent their outrage, revulsion, disgust, disappointment directly at you for the hurt and pain caused. They need to verbally “punch themselves out” and feel completely drained of all the negative feelings your betrayal engendered. This is the hard part. Picture yourself releasing the steam in a pressure cooker just moments prior to its explosion. If you try to stop the steam, you will get burned. Stand there and listen, empathize and acknowledge without defending yourself. This outpouring of emotion will help calm and quell people’s need for revenge. The temperature in the pressure cooker will drop to non-threatening level. With the anger expressed, each will now be open to a discussion of a tangible payback. This restitution will need to replace the chunk of their being they feel you took away through misdeed.

Even with restitution, most will remain hesitant to trust you. This is human nature. It is also human nature to forgive once earned. To overcome this, your stakeholders, partners, customers and peers must witness you actively Rehabilitating yourself. Prove you are sincere through action. Learn how to deal with all challenges to your business without resorting to any immoral or unethical actions. Make sure you’re strategies are sound (appear rational), feel right (sit right), and seem doable (realistic). Integrity, a virtuous attitude, consistency and delivered intent build character and overcome the weariness and wariness of those you’ve hurt in time. Character is what you do when you’re disappointed, angry, frightened, bored or swathed in temptation…and nobody’s looking.

Corporate culture will need to be addressed from the top down. As the leader, your actions will be scrutinized by all within the company. You must impress upon your team and those looking to you through your words, gestures and actions the new and improved way of handling issues rather than resorting to short cuts and trappings of deceit. Without this demonstrative leadership, stakeholders will believe that you are simply going through the motions to temporarily pacify them. And like an addict you will return to your usual ways when the crisis passes.

Delivering the 3 R’s of Remorse, Restitution and Rehabilitation may not prevent the injured from holding on to their resentment. If that’s the case, you will need to exercise the 4th R -to Request Forgiveness. Make this request only after you have demonstrated a track record of remorse, restitution and rehabilitation for at least six months (and perhaps even as long as the length of the transgression). Forgiveness, like trust is something that must be earned. One hopeful point to keep in mind: If you demonstrate a solid track record of Remorse, Restitution and Rehabilitation, and then Request Forgiveness and are not forgiven, it is not you that is unforgivable. Your investors, shareholders and employees are unforgiving. You cannot control other’s feelings. You can only be true to and control yourself.

Most unforgiving people have become that way after being deceived. Nevertheless most harbor a deep abiding ache to trust and have confidence again. They want to trust; but they need to trust without the fear of being betrayed or hurt again. Your ability to handle this crisis may be the lifesaver they’ve been reaching for, and the lift needed that will finally allow them to believe in you and more importantly to begin to believe in corporate America again.

Mark Goulston, M.D. is a best selling author of four books and the upcoming book, “Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone”. He is an executive advisor, business coach and cultural change agent. Visit him here

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Tags: ethics, business, work, time, person