We all welcomed the campaign to address poverty in Africa and Tony Blair’s commitment to it. When it was launched, the emphasis was on reducing debt and increasing aid from the rich Western nations. The priorities stated were to tackle disease, especially aids, and to generate economic activity.

At the time Blair retired, after 10 years as prime minister, progress in terms of contributions from the West had been extremely disappointing. The debt issue has been addressed in only 25% of the countries where relief is needed, and the aid contribution (separate from debt relief) from the rich Western nations to African countries has actually fallen.

Today, much more is being done by China, while India is becoming increasingly involved. A key factor is that, unlike Western finance, the aid from China comes without strings. Because the Chinese are happy enough with the trade which flows from their involvement, they make little effort to impose their culture on the recipient countries.

Self-Defeating Conditions

Apart from its inadequate volume, aid from the Europe and the USA has limited impact because of the conditions imposed with grants; notable by the USA and the UK. An obvious absurdity is the ‘no abortion’ condition imposed by the Bush administration on grants to tackle aids. (Fortunately, this condition is not applied to some of the grants from the USA non government sector – for example, the Gates Foundation.)

A second restriction, more generally applied – especially by the UK – is the insistence on privatisation. The failure, in terms of value for money for the public, of Thatcher, Major and Blair governments’ private finance initiatives (PFIs) does not appear to have dampened the enthusiasm for applying them to other countries.

In some African countries this has resulted in people becoming worse off than before the aid was granted. An obvious example is an increase in the cost of water as a result of privatisation. As with most privatisation, what appeared to be a short-term benefit has been more than wiped out by longer-term disadvantage.

What Must Change?

So the first change must be to remove the privatisation requirement. It is recognised, of course, that private firms which have succeeded in developing countries have valuable expertise. However, this should be used in the context of public control; control on behalf of indigenous people by leaders democratically elected to represent them. Although it has to be accepted that private firms exist to act in their own interests, as their obligations to shareholders require, they must recognise that their interests are not the priority with grant-aided projects. The most they should expect is a reasonable, commercially calculated, return.

Second, steps must be taken to ensure that a much smaller proportion of aid is devoured by consultants in the donor countries. These consultants are often involved in negotiating the grants: some are paid more for a week’s work than an African’s annual income. And, too often, the focus is on the trade benefits to the donor nations, rather than on the needs of the recipients.

Unless radical, and urgent, changes are made, the West will continue to lose influence in Africa. Europe and the USA will not be able to compete with China and India, or other emerging powers such as Venezuela, if they persists with trading agreements and arrangements which favour the rich nations.

A New Strategy

In terms of strategy, the most urgent change is to shift the emphasis to job creation; integrated with education and training. For the longer-term, literacy and social and political education is as necessary as training in the skills required by the jobs directly related to the projects. Too often the requirement (in the conditions imposed with the grants) to complete projects in a specified period ignores the issue of permanent benefit.

The key to bringing about real improvement for the poor is to ensure that investment is used to release the resources that the countries already have. The most important resource is the expertise that people have acquired from their life experiences. Millions of Africans have to be entrepreneurs to make enough money merely to survive: many who fail in this respect are no longer of this world.

Those who are still with us have gained valuable knowledge about the obstacles to success in their environments – and have devised strategies to overcome them. It is the habit of the West to seek to impose its own structures, rather than support the recipient countries’ own organisations. A typical example was when Blair set up his African Commission, instead of supporting an African initiative: the recently formed New Partnership for Africa’s Development.

Another valuable resource is, of course, the fund of knowledge accumulated by businesses which have figured out how to succeed in difficult trading circumstances. In being able to turn a profit, such enterprises have acquired valuable insights into the varying operation of markets in different countries.

Although private companies are entitled to a reasonable return for their contributions to projects, they must recognise that the projects are not run for their benefit. Thee needs of the recipients are paramount but, as the Chinese have recognised, benefits flow without the imposition of strict conditions.

In other words the focus must be on the longer-term benefits which can occur only with the involvement, on an equal basis, of the people themselves. Providing the approach is to integrate education and training with economic development, this can lead to the evolution of processes for democratic participation.

Ending Waste and Corruption

These changes would make a major contribution to ending waste and corruption. Although these are usually highlighted as problems in developing countries, they apply at least as much to agents operating on behalf of the donors. In how many cases have individuals and businesses from the donor countries become more prosperous as a result of their involvement, but have left the recipient countries poorer?

Paul Wolfowitz, the leader of the World Bank who is no longer with us, identified tackling corruption as his priority. His demise resulted from focusing on corruption in the developing world, while ignoring it closer, much closer, to home. From his words and actions, it could be concluded that he believed that the same standards should not be applied to the rich in the West as to the poor in developing countries.

The assumption in the West that the main, or in some circles entire, problem is with the developing countries is not sustainable. This is not to argue that they do not have problems of corruption, but to quote John Christenson (The Guardian 30/5/07):

‘For each dollar of aid that goes into Africa, at least

Five dollars flows out under the table.’

Keith Wymer

July 2007

As an Internet consultant and marketing trainer affiliated with multiple schools and professional associations, I have observed that there are two key contributors to success for business people. The same factors apply to any type of sales or consulting, whether related to product markets (weight loss, nutrition, auto parts, Websites, etc.) or services (health care, mechanics, personal trainers, search engine optimization, etc.) The first contributor is indisputably ethics, and a solid sense of above-board business practices. The second is continued, professional growth in the pursuit of expanding your knowledge base.

If your career involves consulting, advising, or otherwise providing solutions to other people in any capacity, whether it is to consumers who seek your expertise, or peers within your own specialty who stand to gain something from the information you can impart upon them, your personal sense of ethics is a premier point by which others will judge you. In fact, your entire professional reputation that takes years to build can be irreparably (or significantly) damaged by a single instance of poor business practices. If you have ever met people who are more preoccupied with their own achievements than with empowering others to succeed, their personal standards (ethics) become apparent when they downplay the achievements of others. Those same people feel entitled to personal recognition and typically have an insecure need to be the glorified center of attention, and they feel robbed or threatened by any recognition earned by others. Consequently, their own need for a personal spotlight governs their actions, creates an agenda, and affects their ethics.

You have undoubtedly crossed paths with people who are motivated like that, and at the mention of their names, their reputation is apparent with a knowing roll-of-the-eyes or casual comment such as, “Well, you know how they are,” with no further explanation necessary. Those types of people play office politics well and make fair-weather friends, so long as their purpose is served. Sometimes the materialism and shallow behavior of such people can confuse a new employee or team member, creating the impression that flashy one-upsmanship is what it takes to become a leader, but never forget the old expression that “the bigger they are, the harder they fall.”

In actuality, most truly successful, self-actualized leaders are unremarkably non-showy. They are comfortable with themselves, and do not need cheers from a crowd to feel like they’re somebody. They have a live-and-let live outlook, but will unselfishly assist others to empower others to enjoy success, rather than try to suppress others in an attempt to remain the center of attention. When you dig into what makes successful people respectable and admired rather than thought of as self-righteous, superficial, and arrogant, you will commonly find a fundamental difference in ethical motivation.

How do your ethics affect your success in your profession?

Ethics spans beyond honesty. Integrity involves the moral courage to adhere to high standards interdepartmentally within a company, and inter-corporately between businesses within the same industry. Take, for example, the competitive nature of retail sales. Most consumers have dealt with merchants that are mercenary against competing vendors at one point or another. If it has happened to you, then you know the bad impression it leaves when a salesperson in one store belittles or degrades what they perceive as the competition. Conversely, consumers tend to appreciate and value a vendor who is comfortable enough to refer business elsewhere. If a merchant is truly interested in the well being of his or her clients, he/she helps clients expand their horizons versus acting in a self-protective, self-interested way by trying to shield clients from any cross-market exposure.

In one such case, a clerk at a local computer store referred me to a computer mega-store to get a better selection for one particular part that I had been trying to find, knowing that the larger store had more selection. In doing so, the clerk was looking out for my best interests instead of his own profits, and he forever after earned my business. In the end, the consumer remembers the helpfulness of the referral and will typically become a repeat customer of the referring merchant. I have sent many friends and associates to that small computer store, knowing they will be treated fairly.

There is simply no room for back-biting or subversive behavior in a successful career path, whether it is inside an organizational environment or between companies. To ignore this guidance is to earn the distrust of co-workers, competitors, upper management, and, yes, your customers as well. A simple downplay of your other associates or competitors is quickly seen for what it is: thinking of yourself instead of your client. Instead, focus on how your product or service can add value to your customers’ quality of life, rather than how someone else’s product or service is unnecessary.

Think about the ongoing presidential candidate political debates, for example, and how candidates within each party are often less intent on critical issues, and more intent on degrading the other candidates within their own party. How does it affect the way you think of them? They are each trying to be the best, be the winner, be the favorite, and win the vote, so much so that they lose sight of the issues. Would politics be more respectable if personal agendas gave way to focusing on the well being of the voters and the country? In the mind of the politician, the risk of embracing another candidate could mean losing the vote, but in the minds of the voters a tactful, refocusing reply to the mud slinging (rather than a counter-attack) would score a more favorable public opinion. Therefore, although they’ve succeeded to get on stage or behind the podium, politicians have the general reputation of being big talkers and small thinkers. “Politics” has a bad name. Do you know any politicians in your company? Is that how you want people to think of you in your business?

Whether you are a sales person or a consultant, remember the significance that 1) referring business and 2) keeping the customer central to your focus will yield better results than “bashing” other businesses within your same profession. In the end those who spew negativity towards specific people or companies are seen as small-minded and insecure. It’s gossip. It’s small. And it is so transparently evident to those who are witness to it. Do not fall into that trap!

When a potential customer approaches you with a question, of course you want to make the sale. That’s natural. And if you are ethical, you ought to strongly believe in (and personally endorse) the product or service you are selling. The sales term, “become a product of your product,” means that you believe in what you sell and therefore use it yourself. Sometimes a customer’s question can force you to compare or defend your own product or service to explain how it stands up to your competition’s. You have a choice on how to do so, and the way you decide to answer the question will reveal your personal ethics.

Example:

Suppose the question you are asked is “How does your product compare to XYZ’s similar product?”

There are a number of potential responses, but only two basic paths to take in your reply.

1) XYZ’s product is a great product, too! It has features A, B, and C and I’ve heard a lot of customers who are happy with it. In comparison, ours also does D, E, and F. The price difference isn’t appreciable, but tell me, how will you be using the product? Let’s figure out which one best fits your needs.

or

2) Oh, you don’t need XYZ’s product. It does A, B, and C, but it doesn’t do D, E, and F like ours does. Plus theirs costs a little more. If you want that kind of a product, I have just the right one for you.

Notice the emphasis in number one is on the customer, not personal gain for the salesperson.

In order to maintain your profitable edge over your competition, one of the best things any professional can do is to stay abreast of the latest marketplace trends, technology, and so forth. How would either sales person (in number 1 or number 2 above) be able to answer the question comparing the two products unless they were educated on the different options available in the marketplace? Some career fields actually force this concept by mandating continuing education credits (sometimes called CECs) within their professions, usually in those disciplines that are fast-changing and that have significant impact on consumers: medical, legal, real estate, insurance, etc.

Whether or not your specialty requires CECs, as an ethical business person, you owe it to your customers, patrons, or clients to become the best you can be at what you do. Read relevant information, attend trainings and certification events whenever possible to stay in tune with the latest developments in your field, listen and watch pre-recorded presentations that expand your horizons, and participate in seminars or Webinars to enhance your professional knowledge. Acquiring the knowledge to become more successful in your field is predicated on having the right attitude to pursue that knowledge.

Anyone who would advise you not to enhance your professional growth and development is advocating ignorance, probably working under some hidden personal agenda, and certainly not looking out for your best interests. Take ownership of your success and be the best at what you do. In the process, remember that your moral courage and character are not defined by what you do while people are watching you; they are defined by what you do when no one is looking.

—————

Tom Elliott is the author of Website 411: Business Survival in an Internet Economy (available here). He is a Board of Directors member of the Central North Carolina Better Business Bureau, and has been the president of a Business Networking International (BNI) chapter. He His undergraduate degree is from Purdue University, and his Masters in Information Systems is from Florida Institute of Technology.

He served 13 years as a Naval Officer, followed by two and half years as the Director of Internet Training for a large marketing company, simultaneously building his own business. He also serves on the bachelor degree advisory board for a technical college, and is a keynote speaker.

For articles, books, and seminars essential to building your knowledge of online business and your business’s future success, please visit this site for more information on Websites, search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing (SEM), and ecommerce.

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Tags: behaviour, ethical, issues, practice, work

Management is the process of planning, organizing, directing, coordinating and controlling. Pig management is the management which follows the same managerial process and has a comparison with lower management. It is impossible that a Pig can look at the sky. It only looks down and runs with other pigs without aiming.

A Few Indian Management (Industry or Institution) follows Pig Management. The nature of the management only gains the profit not providing quality. They have a comparison with lower industries and Institutions. They don’t like to see the sky and assent for quality management. They are happy about their profit. In case, they are not able to get Profit, they fire on their employees without searching for solution.
If they reach profit, they praise themselves.

The pig management needs the people those who are always praising the management without any reason and recognizes the person one who acts as smart without having any knowledge.

The rules which are created by Pig management are being destroyed by them and their followers. Rules are for others not for them. This is the mantra of Pig management.

Pig won’t provide any benefits to others and can find in the dirty place. Pig management won’t execute benefits but put blame on others.

Pig management gives more works to others and recognizes one who is not in the role.

How to avoid pig management:

The organization is succeeded, only if employees are encouraged to give new ideas and ask “W-H” questions. There should be informal meeting among quality circle to bring forth new concepts when they are free.

If pig is alone, it is so aggressive. Likewise, if management takes decision without allowing other pigs to enter, then they can be more aggressive.

Extolling is the dangerous poison for an organization. Encouragement, appreciation and recognition of the people pave the way to lead in a right path. Eulogizing always others or oneself affects the management. So that wisdom worker (Smart + Hard work) can not be identified.

The management should have round a clock with employees. Based on their contribution towards work, they should be recognized. The management should avoid the people who always praises and their followers.

The management should try to find out who are all cunning in nature and they should be penalized.

The management should encourage adaptive program for Women and Relationship building for all. Once in a month, they could arrange program for their family members.

Before closing my pen, Friends, Just think of yourself and identify your concern whether you follow pig management or not. If it is, it is red signal for your organization to eat poison by yourself. Open your eye and change the methodology of your concern from Pig to Ant management.

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There was this company that was called Ecoenergizer, that started up shortly after the Texas Attorney General shut down Bioperformance (Bioper. in my option was one of the better products on the market at that time that worked really well) because the Attorney General claimed that the product was nothing but moth balls. This in my opinion is BS because I used it in my truck for 15,000 miles and got good gas mileage with that fuel Saver product. It worked well with gasoline and better with diesel fuel. The reason I mention BP is most of the people that were in BP moved over to Eco as founders. This should have been a red light right there about the company itself.

Eco claimed to have a product that worked first time every time, and maybe they did but they wound up with a product that didn’t work at all. It was a fuel saver additive that was to work with gasoline or diesel fuels giving you great fuel savings. For me it did nothing at all to save fuel or saving money

Some how this company named GZ got hold of personal information from Ecoenergizer and GZ started taking double draws for auto shipments from the distributors checking account, myself being one of these people. After calling Eco and complaining, we were told that GZ had glitches in their software and the problem was being fixed and the extra draw of funds would be returned. I was told by the phone operator the company GZ is short for Green Zap, I called GZ and they verified that was correct that I should fax them my information and they would correct the problem and give me a quick refund. If you call today you will not even get a human to answer any of their phones.

After Ecoenergizer was forced to close its doors, GZ continued robbing my account for 2 months forcing me to close my account at the bank. I was one of the lucky ones as several of my friends 3 to be exact got their accounts robbed from January to May. But the real kicker is they just didn’t take one draw a month but two or three draws a month. Each draw was around 65.00 dollars for a total of $ 195.00 a month to a company that is out of business.

GZ also has another company called GM and it alternates these draws using first the one name and then takes another draw out using the second name. Oh by the way I mentioned earlier that I was smart enough to close my checking account and open another one so they could not make any more withdraws from it. Well that worked for about 2 months and some how these crooks got my new account numbers and withdrew 65.00 out of that account on the 15th of May. On the back of the forged check the name was Mazumah-EcoPay.
They are using GZ, GM and now Mazumah to steal money from checking accounts. If you are one of these people being robbed you need to go to your bank and file fraud charges so these people will be brought to justice. I checked out the information and believe they are located in California, so you need to contact the Attorney General and better business bureau and file a complaint.

If you are interested in saving fuel you can find some good fuel saver additives on the market. They really do work, some work better on saving fuel more the others. They treat gasoline and some treat diesel fuel. They not only fuel savers but can clean you engine, lube the upper end, and reduce emissions. One of the better fuel saver products that I have had the best success with is the All IN 1 product found in this site or here. So do not hesitate in putting this fuel saver in you gasoline it will not damage you vehicle.

Discover a New Easy to use Product with Proven Results to Save You Money, that comes with a Guarantee and does what it claims to do. Check this site for more information.

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Tags: ethics, company, policy, work, issues

Achieving focus is perhaps one of the hardest things to accomplish. From time to time, work distractions crop out. There is really nothing wrong in entertaining some activities. After all, the demands of the work are really stressful and having a time-out is indeed necessary. But sometimes, certain interruptions emanate from our very own working habits. Here are some of the commonly habituated work distractions:

Net surfing – The internet offers different information. Most of the time, we use the web for research purposes. But sometimes, we become too engrossed with all the facts and data that we acquire. Instant amnesia occurs and before you know it, three hours have already lapsed and you have not started anything. Yes it is nice to know the 10 most expensive cuisines. But it is much better to be aware that it is hard to come up with high quality work within 10 minutes.

Deleting spams – Spams are here, there and everywhere. You open your email and you are bombarded with spams. You ask yourself which of these messages are legitimate or not. As the organized person that you are, you delete all those unwanted mails. You carefully read each mail to avoid deleting the legitimate ones. Several hours later, the assignments that you need to finish within the day, pile up like spams. Get an effective anti-spam program to minimize those unwanted messages. Or you can create a new email account and immediately inform all your contacts.

Playing Games – Solitaire, Counter Strike and even that classic Super Mario Brothers are really addicting yet they are good stress relievers. You take a couple of minutes and decided to unwind. But you can’t just let the computer beat you. It would be such a shame on your part to let a machine outlast you. However, it is more embarrassing to ask for yet another extension to finish a project that has been given to you for several days.

Watching videos – True enough, David Cook is hot! Angelina Jolie is tempting and you just can’t get enough of Prison Break. All of a sudden you realize that your boss or one of your clients is already watching in intense rage as they wait for you to submit that report. The worst case scenario is you might end up in prison because of your irresponsible actions.

Chatting – You are so busy at work and you hardly have the time to enjoy the company of your friends. Chatting enables you to reconnect. Unfortunately, because of too much delay, the company is placed in uncompromising situations. Soon you transform into a professional bum and now you have all the time to chat with your friends. That is the only thing you can do as for the moment for you can hardly afford that occasional party night-outs.

Responding to phone calls and mobile messages – You cannot possibly ignore these things, most especially in life-threatening scenarios. But oftentimes, the calls and messages you receive are from your sweetie checking on you. Obviously, you cannot disregard the concerns of these people. You tell them that you’re fine and the romantic conversation continues. You hang up the phone when suddenly; your supervisor checks your assignments. You feel the pressure and to give assurance, you resort to making up stories and lies. Yes you beat the deadline, but the result is a mediocre one. Your client or superior is not satisfied and you have to start all over again. But here’s the rub, you have to finish it within a shorter time frame. Say hello to your sweetie and don’t be afraid to tell that you’re quite busy. Promise him or her to give a return call right after working hours. Complete your assignment first then fulfill that promise. The client is happy and your sweetie loves you even more because you still have the time for him or her despite of your hectic schedule.

Distractions are inevitable. But one should always remember that time is gold. At the end of the day, be sure that you finish everything rather than bring those works at home. Also, accomplishing something within a day provides a feeling of satisfaction and contentment. You can enjoy your personal activities without having to worry about your pending assignments.

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Tags: ethical, ethics, work, issues, information

As business owners, we have a responsibility to pay our debts. Whether it’s paying our bills, finalizing payment for a service provided, or paying our employees we are the ones who are accountable to ensure that all business expenses get paid in a timely manner.

Withholding payments from any person or company will only hurt your business in the long run. I will go into more detail at a later date but for now here are my reasons why:

1. You will lose trust in the person you are withholding payments from. Losing trust in employees and clients will rapidly push your business over the cliff – you’ll be committing corporate suicide.
2. It will be difficult to attain recurring business. Who wants to do business with someone who doesn’t pay them? I sure don’t.
3. If you’re trying to play hardball to get something in return, well you’re playing the wrong game. When it comes to withholding money from someone it will only make them livid and will not do any good for your business.
4. Referrals? Yeah right! Who would refer a business that doesn’t pay?
5. It will hurt your reputation. If you’re a company that has a reputable name, then you will quickly diminish all reputability when you make it tough on people to receive their payments – word will quickly spread.

If you’re a business that doesn’t pay your debts then rethink what you’re doing and change this immediately – your business will improve tenfold.

At Hudson Horizons, we provide website design, development, content management, e-commerce integration, RSS content distribution, search engine optimization, e-marketing services and the development of custom applications such as blogs, newsletter systems, online payment solutions and any other Web application that may be needed to help simplify your business.

Hudson Horizons is an e-business product, solution and marketing company specializing in creating highly sophisticated customized websites, web-based software applications and providing e-marketing and SEO services for small and mid-sized businesses.

Our vision and ultimate ambition as a company is to always strive to be “The New Light for e-Business.” By offering new, innovative and extremely competitive products and solutions to our clients, we provide better ways to run and operate a business online.

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Tags: ethics, business, work, behaviour, code

A common complaint bill collectors hear from debtors is that no one cares about us, or our finances or our situation. Just like someone with a negative attitude, many times debtors place the blame on everyone else but themselves, this includes the bill collector that is trying to collect the debt they owe their creditor. The bill collector, even if they are as nice as they can be, is immediately considered the evil enemy, just because they are what they are, a bill collector.

Not all bill collectors are evil and break the law but with the stories that have been in the news lately that is the continued perception our media is portraying. I have not seen one story yet that states not all bill collectors are violating federal and state laws, being unethical or helping a debtor. You only hear recordings of debt collectors that are breaking the law, swearing at debtors, calling at unusual hours that are not allowed and ex-debt collectors stating that they did break the law; they did try to ruin people’s day or do whatever it took to collect the money.

You don’t hear about the associations that have been trying to change this negative perception of bill collectors or the agencies and collectors that follow the law, help people and do things ethically. Yes, they do exist!

Based on this, expect consumer complaints about collection agencies to rise to extreme proportions. Obviously some agencies operate unlawfully and unethically, this has been going on for many years. In the last 10 years I know for a fact that there are more associations, more education, more books, magazines and networking going on in the debt collection industry to help educate not only debt collectors but consumers who become delinquent with their bills.

If the media would tell the “whole story” or at least “both sides” of the story, not meaning the bill collector and the debtor, but the bill collector and the bill collector. For every debt collection agency that has collectors that break the law there is an agency that follows the law and collects debts successfully while acting ethically, morally and in accordance to the FDCPA.

Another very important point to remember that has not been mentioned is that these collection agencies, whether they are breaking the law or not, are hired by someone to collect a debt. In my opinion when a creditor or business owner hires a debt collection agency to collect on any past due debts for them, the agency they choose is a reflection of that company. So if you are being harassed and called at work when you ask not to be, or getting calls at 3am, this is the agency your creditor chose and wants to represent them. Who is your creditor? Are they aware that their agency is breaking the law and thus giving them a negative representation?

If you have a bill collector calling you and breaking the law to try and collect on your past due phone bill, car loan or a credit card debt, look at the creditor. What kind of business hires someone like that? What kind of business wants to be associated with an agency that treats its customers that way?

Should any of us do business with that type of company? I think not. Let creditors also take responsibility for their actions and the agencies they hire to represent them, their company and their ethics.

Michelle Dunn, author of an award winning book has spent the last 18 years stepping into dangerous debt collection potholes. She shares her hard-won expertise on debt collection with the titles in her “Collecting Money Series.” She is the founder and president of Never Dunn Publishing, LLC and her 10 year old Credit & Collections Association with over 1025 members. She is a writer, teacher, and consultant that has a contagious passion for her work. Michelle started and ran M.A.D. Collection Agency for 8 years.

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Tags: ethical, decisions, social, work, behaviour

While most companies frown on office romances, the bottom line is that it’s a common practice. Polls asking couples where they met their mate reveal that one of the top answers is “at work.” According to a CNN survey, 40% of participants have had an office romance, and a surprising 66% didn’t feel the relationship needed to be kept secret.

While most people don’t find a problem with letting their coworkers know about the love blossoming between the cubicle walls, the fine print of many a company contract says a little something about office romances. Usually, this fine print is a warning of some kind, so it’s often a good idea to conceal your passionate office romp.

While it’s not recommended to indulge in an office romance, sometimes emotions — and hormones — get the best of you. So, in case you’ve had some trouble controlling the urge to hit on the receptionist, we offer you a set of guidelines on how to conceal an office romance. For the sake of your job, pay attention.

Don’t change your routine

The best way to conceal an office romance and cast a protective shell around your new relationship is to maintain your schedule throughout the work day. Nothing should change. People always notice significant changes in routine, especially if they’re the gossipy office types, so avoid doing anything out of the ordinary. This means no lunches with your new partner — especially if you’ve never been known to socialize with this person on a friendly basis before. However, it also means no purposely avoiding this person; doing so will raise an equally visible red flag.

Keep it to yourself

You may have a few close friends at work with whom you really want to share the events of your recent hookup, but you can’t give in to this urge. This is a very crucial rule to follow when you want to conceal an office romance. Don’t brag to them in your office and send them away with a vow never to tell anyone. They’ll nod and swear to God, and a week later that guy in Accounting will be shooting you a sly smile from across the room.

It’s acceptable to tell friends or family who don’t work in the office, but you better make damn sure they have no possible connection to your workplace. If you play your cards right, nobody will ever guess that you two are counting the minutes until quitting time just so you can spend some time together. Click here to read more.

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Dapsea Ajayi – EzineArticles Expert Author

Tags: ethical, ethics, work, business, company

As a business, your competitors are just that: competitors. However, the way you treat your competitors may affect how your customers and the media perceive your business, your ethics, and your friendliness. For those reasons, and more, it’s important that you carefully consider how you act with your competitors. It is possible to have a good relationship with competing businesses while limiting the impact they will have on your business success. When customers see you treating your competitors fairly, they will have more respect for you.

Congratulate Their Success

When a competing business does something well, you should be prepared to say so. If for example, a competing business has managed to gain greater traction than you, then you should point out that they have done really well, and are a good business, while also pointing out the advantages your business is able to offer that your competitors cannot. This is a good demonstration of the strong beliefs you have for your business, and will certainly leave a positive impression. At the same time look at ways of overtaking your competitor in all areas!

Recommend Business Their Way

If you and your competitors are able to cater for different categories of customers, then why not recommend them when you can’t offer the required service to a certain customer? This will make you look good in both your customers and competitors eyes, and they might also be able to do the same for you in return. In the end, both of you will hopefully end up with more business as a result.

Sales & Marketing Strategies

When it comes to sales and marketing, it can be tempting to point out the negative aspects of your competitors. And, in some cases, it may be an essential part of closing the sale. However, rather than criticising your competitor, why not mention both positive and negative points of their service? Such as: “Yes, you are correct, Company A is able to offer lower pricing than we can. For customers that are more price sensitive, and that 100% up-time isn’t essential, they can be a great solution. We cater for more IT-dependant organisations and employ 3 times as many engineers per customer. Company A also use an overseas call-centre, which is a great way to keep costs down, and provide a more efficient service, but we prefer to assign each customer a dedicated account manager to provide better service.”

However, on some occasions your competitors may not provide a good service. In this case, you should be as polite and tactful about your competitors as possible. Rather than voicing your own opinions, you should cite sources, such as articles and media coverage that make your point for you. After pointing out any negative issues, you might also wish to explain how your company responds to the same problems. This will show a certain level of objectivity on your part and will demonstrate that your business has strong ethics and is willing to appreciate your competitors’ problems.

Don’t Bite

When a competitor speaks negatively about your business, it can be hard to know what to do. Especially when you want to ensure your business appears to be friendly and considerate of others. Although it’s important to respond to any issues in an articulate way, you should avoid getting involved in any tit-for-tat. This will help your business stand out from the crowd.

Naz Daud is the founder of CityLocal. This Franchise Opportunity is for people who would like to work from home and be their own boss.

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Tags: work, business, ethics, ethical, management

Machiavelli said that “The first opinion which one forms of a prince, and of his understanding, is by observing the men he has around him; and when they are capable and faithful he may always be considered wise”.

Similarly the selection of the employees in the modern organization is critical as they are the most valuable assets of the organization. Machiavelli proposed that those should be hired who believe in the grandness of the task and greatness of the leader rather than who are simply driven by other factors like money and reputation (Knowledge@Wharton, 2003). As per him the people looking for money and reputation will leave the moment they will get it better somewhere else.

Secondly all the employees and subjects should be armed as the power of prince will considerably increase with their number. This can be easily translated into providing more opportunities to employees in the work place. This will not only prepare them for bigger task but also improve their loyalty toward the organization.

End Justify the Means

The word ‘Machiavellian’ in English is now widely referred as ‘the political doctrine of Machiavelli: any means (however unscrupulous) can be used by a ruler in order to create and maintain his autocratic government’. The book time and time again mentions that it is prudent for a ruler to use cunning and necessary evil activities, either to instigate fear among his opponents or to protect his kingdom.

The philosophy today is as outdated today as media plays an increasing role in public life and people have zero tolerance toward unscrupulousness. Even in the business world anything unethical is looked down upon and there are strict regulations against it.

Time and time again we have witnessed how the companies which adhere to unscrupulous methods to justify the means are punished not only by authorities but also by the stakeholders. Nike has seen customer protest and product boycott against employment of child labor in its vendors factories in South Asia. Wal-Mart is criticized for not allowing its employees to form labor union and making illegal workers clean stores to cut costs.

The biggest of all is the rigorous punishment to CEO’s of Enron and WorldCom who were found guilty in manipulating accounting practices and fattening profits of the company.

Anand Mann writes Marketing and Business Management articles, journal and columns for Knowledge Weekly.

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Tags:ethical, work, issues, behaviour, practice

One of the more misunderstood aspects of California’s Sexual Harassment Training Law (AB-1825) is who exactly it applies to when a company has operations outside of California. For a company whose business is entirely California-based, the law is pretty clear. If it has 50 or more employees (or subcontractors), then it must provide sexual harassment training all supervisory employees.

But what if most of the company’s operations are located outside California? What if, for example, you have over 50 employees outside California, and a small number of employees inside California? Do you still need to provide sexual harassment training for your supervisors? If so, which ones? All of your supervisors? Or just the ones supervising California employees?

The AB-1825 law is pretty vague in this respect. Here’s the relevant portion of the law:

For purposes of this section only, “employer” means any person regularly employing 50 or more persons or regularly receiving the services of 50 or more persons providing services pursuant to a contract, or any person acting as an agent of an employer, directly or indirectly, the state, or any political or civil subdivision of the state, and cities.

One of SexualHarassmentClass.com’s clients had just such a problem. This company was located in Denver and had a few hundred employees there. It also had several outside sales people based in California. They wanted to know who should be trained, if anybody?

Our opinion was that since there is no clear case law or legal precedent in this area, the best move was to be conservative as possible. Since the company had employees located in California and it was complying with California regulations (minimum wage law, having California withholding, etc), it’s a safe bet that this company fell within AB-1825 regulations. Nowhere in the law does it say that the supervisors or the 50 employee limit was for California employees, which further reinforces that this company needed to comply with the law.

Remember, it’s a employer law. Not a law for individual supervisors. The company must be in compliance.

So our opinion is that at a minimum, all supervisors who supervised the California employees should receive AB-1825 compliant sexual harassment training.

What about the rest of the supervisors? Those who didn’t work in California and didn’t supervise California employees? One might argue that these people shouldn’t be trained. But again, it’s a California employer requirement. Nowhere does the law limit itself to train California supervisors or supervisors of California employees.

So again, trying to be conservative, our recommendation was to have all the company’s supervisors trained. This would guarantee meeting California’s AB-1825 requirements under all possible circumstances for the relatively small cost of the online sexual harassment class training.

Plus, most importantly, all that training will pay off in the long run by reducing the company’s likelihood of sexual harassment problems in the future.

For more information visit our Website

Ari Novick, Ph.D. has several online class programs that cover areas such as sexual harassment, anger management, workplace anger programs, stress management and parenting.

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Tags: work, workplace, sexual, ethics, ethical

We hear a lot about business ethics issues in the United States and yet our businessmen and women are some of the most ethical business practitioners anywhere in the world. The transparency, integrity and accountability in American business is not found anywhere else in the world. With all the disclosure, over regulation, lawsuits and government forms it would be difficult to call any American businessperson unethical. Yet, we find that the mass media hysteria, incited by folks who do not understand commerce has cheated the positive American opinion about business ethics.

The truth of the matter is that ethics in business, the military, sports, government or even the nonprofit sector in the United States is a reflection of the overall ethics of the average human in our civilization. For someone to say that people are less ethical in business than let’s say it law-enforcement; this would be a failure to adequately observe the reality of the situation.

Many people believe that our court systems and lawyers are of the highest ethical standards, but it simply is not so. Even the fine folks in government who are regulating the business community have to draw from this same population base. This is why the ethics in Government are no better than those in business; perhaps Government ethics are worse because there is less oversight. Is this good or bad? It is neither, it just is.

For us to discuss business ethics properly we must be honest with ourselves, we cannot simply label all business people as crooks, shysters or con men. Unfortunately it seems that many people in our society are pointing fingers at the business community, when in actuality they should be looking in their mirrors. In this book we will discuss and contemplate the reality of human psychology and ethics and look into the abuses of power in government, government regulators and how over regulation to prevent criminality in business is a self-fulfilling prophecy and how we are making criminals out of hard-working men and women and our brightest entrepreneurs.

As a businessperson and a Franchisor, I have been critical of over regulation at every level; Associations, City, County, State, Federal and International and more often than not government agencies, Trade Organizations and Associations are used by companies to attack their competitors. In fact, that in itself is unethical and once again proves that you cannot regulate morality and if you allow those who will point fingers to assist in the abusing of power you will undermine the inherent integrity of free-markets between buyers and sellers. I hope you will enjoy this discussion and the thoughts on business ethics and I thank you for reading this article, as it is one of my first on this subject. Perhaps this topic is of interest to propel thought in 2007?

Do you believe in the universal principle of “What goes around comes around?” Some even say “What you give, you get back ten times over.” Well I certainly do and I try to live by that principle everyday. I apply it in both my private and business life.

Once you begin to deal with the public a lot as a Mobile Notary, you will begin to notice that everyone doesn’t live by this same principle. In fact I’ve seen where some people live by the antithesis of it in their business dealings.

In an industry like the one we have chosen to take part in, namely the mortgage industry, there are many people who are downright greedy! After all, hundreds of thousands of dollars cross desks everyday in this industry. In my personal experience, loan officers rank amongst the top of this category. They have the biggest greed glands of all.

I may get some flack on this, but I am only talking about my experiences. I am sure there are loan officers out there somewhere that have scruples and do business in a fair way without hurting others, I just haven’t met any yet.

I recall one instance in particular about a year ago. I was sent to conduct a closing for a Hispanic family that barely spoke English. After going through the HUD1 settlement statement with the borrowers, I noticed that they were being charged an outlandish amount in fees. If I remember correctly the loan was for approximately $300k and the loan officer was set to scalp these poor unsuspecting people for nearly $18k.

I felt bad for them to say the least, because the broker was actually earning more money off the deal than the borrowers were set to get back. I could have bit my lip and let these people get taken advantage of, and I suspect that many Mobile Notaries would have, but, I just couldn’t do it. So I explained to them the best I could using the little Spanish I remembered from high school that they needed to possibly rework the deal with their loan officer. I also remembered to ask them not to use my name when and if they spoke with their loan officer.

These people were not stupid. They suspected that somehow they were being taken advantage of. They told me they felt uneasy with the loan officer anyway and that they planned to get advice from a family member who was fluent in English during the rescission period.

They really thanked me and I could tell it was sincere. I ultimately discovered that the borrowers told their broker that they decided to cancel the loan unless the numbers changed dramatically.

In short, the loan was cancelled. However, I was reassigned to the same borrowers a week later. This time the borrowers were saving an additional $10k. They were so happy that they invited me and my wife to dinner to express their gratitude. We ultimately declined the dinner, but I got my reward from the feeling I got by helping these people.

A word of caution however; helping customers to save money isn’t really our job. We are supposed to simply go in and get the documents signed and initialed where appropriate and get out. Interfering with the process could mean the loss of a valuable customer for you. If you are going to do it, be sure the customer understands what is going on and that they aren’t to use you as the reason for their change of heart.

Kevin Cobb is a fulltime Licensed Maryland Notary and Title Producer. In the last two years he has conducted more than 500 signings. He soon developed his own special way of marketing and increased his income dramatically. Kevin tells all and shares his inside secrets in his books and home study course:

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Tags: ethics, training, business, employee, work

I wonder if that is why there had been and still is such a push in the independent contractor and independently owned small business in this country over the last 5-8 years?

I lived in Hamilton ohio, one of the main sources of income there many years ago used to be the Paper Mills, that industry shrank immensely back in the late 70′s and never truly recovered in that area. It wasn’t the fact that there was a bad economy so much as there was a shift in industry and standards that caused major changes and the loss of a great deal of jobs.

Back in the 1980′s Scientific Atlanta layed off an entire section of their manufacturing. This was during an upswing in the economy. It was the change and growth of the industry that was causing major changes I think.

I’m not saying that the economy is never the reason that factories close, or that people lose their jobs, quite the contrary. I do propose that many times that a company changes how it does things, has to lay off employees etc, it is often related to other things, mismanagement of the company and it’s finances. Labor disputes have been the downfall of companies many times, it is very difficult for a company to fully recover from a strike, especially a prolonged strike.

Many companies are forced to close due to environmental reasons. Environmentalists lobby for stricter standards, forcing higher costs, revamping of equipment and causing those that have done the job for a long time to become obsolete in their position. U.S. Sugar is closing down in Florida in the next couple of years, you would think that with the current demand of Ethanol and things of that sort they would be booming. The reality of it is that environmentalists are pushing strongly to reestablish the everglades and facts are that U.S. Sugar owns and plants much of the land they want for that project. At the same time their polluting of the main water source for the surrounding area doesn’t help. Then there is the competitive facts, it is very difficult to stay competitive with sugar companies coming from other countries. I know everyone always talks about the tax breaks and that being the main reason companies produce in countries such as Mexico, India, and the like. But it is actually the fact that there are not many of the mandated regulations and requirements that increase the production costs, then when mixed with the fact of employee wages for the area they are in mixed with the lower tax rates, what do you expect a company to do? Unpatriotic it may sound or even be, but the facts are facts, if the absence of mandated regulation save not only production time but 30-60% of production costs, and then you mix this with a lower payroll without loss in product quality, and then you have lower tax rates. Even with the highest of Tariff’s it’s still economically sound to do your manufacturing elsewhere is it not?

The only way to combat this I think would to be bringing every country in the world to the same level of environmental restrictions and cost of living rates, and that I don’t see ever happening. Not to different if you stop and think about it really, than a company moving facilities from Ohio to say Montana because the cost of living is lower in the area of Montana, and they give them tax breaks to come, then of course there are less manufacturing regulations in a less populated and less industrialized areas.

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Tags: workplace, work, ethics, ethical, business

I was recently on a forum reading some questions posted by students. One student asked how do you clean a watermark? I was amazed at the question, but again this is an open and honest forum, even if the actual question is how to copy some thing that someone obviously does not want copied.

My answer, try asking the creator for a copy. You would be surprised as to the answers you can get, many times the answer is positive & does lead to a mutually beneficial result. You won’t know until you ask. It is amazing how many people go on line trying to cut corners and copy other peoples documents or graphic images. the time spent trying to copy other documents can be spent creating your own documents that may come out even better with more of your ideas & images. they are more personal and can reflect your ideas and in many cases your belief.

If you have an issue, try learning few programs that can help you create your own ideas or images. If you are successful in copying someone else’s idea now, what will you do for your second project, why not be a creator & not just a second class copier who thrives on other peoples imagination, ideas and belief. Thanks to the Internet and all available applications, there is massive amount of ideas to copy and many ways to create them yourself, all it takes is to want to become the creator of the ideas and not just a copies.

Shahin Samaei is President of an Online Printing business dedicated to their customers success and environment.

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Tags: ethics, policy, business, work, person

Ethics and morality used to be used interchangeable in business. I do not believe this can or should be the current practice. Many businesses, including the DSA – Direct Sales Association have defined a Code of Ethics. Those business ethics basically say be forthcoming and not deceptive, don’t use false claims, etc.; pretty cut and dry stuff.

Yet when it comes to morality in business, some would argue that definition to be a bit subjective. But is it? Shouldn’t we all have a general sense of right and wrong? Or is it a matter of what’s right to one independent sales consultant would be highly taboo to another? If it’s not exactly illegal by company policies and procedures, does that mean anything goes in independent sales?

It’s a dog eat dog world. Desperate times call for desperate measures. It’s a cut-throat economy out there. True or False? First let’s take a look at what is meant by “cut-throat sales”.

According to one responder on Yahoo Answers: “If you work in a “cut throat sales” environment, it means that the reps are all either starving, lazy or greedy. They will “cut your throat” by stealing your customers/prospects the minute you turn your back.” The same responder continued, “If you have the stomach for it, you can make great money. If you have morals and ethics, you may get ulcers and stress – I did.”

Headlines of a Nov. 26, 2008 Newspaper read: “The cut-throat Christmas: Stores in price-slash frenzy as battle for shoppers gets desperate.

Most of us would agree that Cut Throat Sales is much more than being keen and aggressive – it’s more about being desperate. But does it work?

Some Direct Sales companies have a policy about territories. It’s my understanding that Mary Kay Cosmetic independent consultants are required to ask potential customers if they already have a Mary Kay consultant. If so, they must back off. Other companies have a clause that reads something like: No Territory Restrictions – There are no exclusive territories granted to anyone.

Take this scenario for example: A Direct Sales company consultant has a display set up in a local business to generate leads. A consultant from the same company also happens to patronize this business; sees the display; and still tries to infiltrate the business and make those customers and employees her own customers. Assuming there are no territory restrictions, is this practice acceptable or no? What if the second consultant is from the same company but is on a different team? Is that free enterprise or is that an immoral business practice? Does your response change at all if both consultants are on the same team?

How do you feel about this second example: A consultant attends a family celebration and gives her direct sales products as a gift. Other guests admire the item; yet the consultant who gave the gift merely responds, “I’m glad you like it.” Then within the confines of this same conversation, another guest, who also happens to be a consultant with the same company, whips out catalogs and starts a sales pitch in the middle of the family celebration, declaring, “oh I sell that too!” Morally wrong or all is fair is business? Does it matter if both of these consultants are on the same team?

Here’s my feeling on both of these situations – take what you like and discard the rest: They’re both wrong, no matter if the consultants are on the same team or not, but it makes it even more immoral if they happen to be on the same team. In the first situation, if the second consultant didn’t think to request a display first, then she should move on to another business. There are plenty of leads to go around without needed to be cut throat about it.

In the second scenario, I’m shocked and disgusted that someone would even under cut the first consultant who quietly gave the item as a gift. The second consultant did nothing but create awkwardness and cause herself to look like a real buffoon. The second consultant will self-destruct with that kind of desperate cut throat sales tactics. It does not work and it’s just plain wrong.

Here’s the rub – anyone who doesn’t see these two above examples as immorality in business probably partakes in those kinds of activities. He or she likely sees cut throat sales as the only way to be successful. My wager is that if there are temporary sales successes in this type of behavior, it’s short lived and the perpetrators will continually need to move on from company to company once bridges are burned and the self-implosion is finalized.

To those folks – I wish you well; you’re going to need it. To those direct sales independent consultants who see something fundamentally wrong with this type of activity, try not to let the choices of others consume you and steal you of your joy. Keep running your business with authenticity and integrity – you’ll soar among eagles!

About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan and a Star Director with Scentsy Flameless Candles. She enjoys helping others start and maintain a candle business. You can find Laurie at her site

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With all of the political campaigning, a report released this fall by the Josephson Institute received very little attention and unfortunately should have been both front page news and the lead story for every major media outlet. This annual report of over 36,000 students revealed poor work ethics where 60% of American high school students in order to improve their performance cheated on a test with 28% said that they stole from a store.

What is even more incredible is the disconnect between these students’ behaviors and their personal beliefs. Ninety-two percent of these students believed that their personal characters were satisfactory with a whopping 74% agreeing to the statement: “”When it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know.”" From the sound of these findings, no wonder we have politicians who believe that their misleading to false ads are O.K. and that they did nothing wrong.

The results of this survey confirmed earlier surveys. In 2005, Donald McCabe at Rutgers University published a survey where more than 70% of students admitted to cheating at least once on a test. Cheating is not just reserved for highs school students. McCabe also surveyed graduate students and discovered cheating attitudes for:

The ramifications from this research are far reaching. For example, business ethics has been the talk of many with the Enron executives and various other business executives being indicted. With over 1 out of 2 believing that cheating is OK, can this be part of the reason? Capitalism does not make people unethical. People are unethical before they enter the business marketplace.

In education, more and more is written about how parents are responsible for the conduct of their children. Yet, when almost 1 out of every 2 teachers cheated at some time indicates that the issue of work ethics or what I call attitudes of performance is just as much about teachers as the parents.

And in our society where many of the laws are written by lawyers who have been elected to office, is it a wonder that there is an attitude of going around the law when almost 1 out of 2 have an acceptable attitude about cheating?

Ethics is critical to any society not only surviving, but thriving. These surveys indicate that the U.S. business, education and future are at risk. When young people to adult U.S. citizens can hear and see their leadership including:

Should we be surprised when 2 out of 3 young people feel that their behavior is better than everyone else’s even though almost 2 out of 3 young people have cheated on a test?

One quick question,if you could secure one new client or breakthrough that one roadbloack holding you back from success, what would that mean to you? Then, take a risk and give Leanne Hoagland-Smith a call at 219.759.5601 to experience incredible results.

Visit this site and explore everything from free articles to connecting with Leanne.

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Tags: work, ethics, article, work, good, business

I would like to tell everyone about a phenomenal person I met recently. Kevin Beshore. Kevin recently became part of a business venture that I am in. Of course, eventually you get to know everyone personally because we work so closely together. I’ve never met anyone so selfless and caring about others.

Kevin Beshore having grown up in South Central Pennsylvania has had a passion for helping people from a very young age. He became a Volunteer Firefighter and EMT in his teenage years becoming one of the first paid EMT’s in his hometown. He went on to become a Police Officer and stayed on the force for 15 years. After which, he worked in the safety divisions of several light industrial and construction companies, implementing his vast knowledge to help prevent injuries in the work place.

Once again, Kevin’s passion for helping others has taken a different turn when he went to work for a drug and alcohol treatment facility. This guy is truly amazing in his ability to just go where there is a need and apply himself to bettering others as well as society in general.

Even though personally Kevin has dealt with adversity all along, he never stopped seeing the bigger picture. Life is not about Kevin Beshore, it is about what he can do for others that brings meaning into his life. It is truly a humbling experience to meet and interact with someone as genuine and caring as this man is.

Kevin Beshore now spends his time cooking, teaching others what he has learned over the years in various ways including coaching via the internet. His outlook is that we can come through any adversity with the help and love of God. What an inspiration he is to everyone he meets.

Kevin Beshore is a man with a vision and I am blessed to know him as well.

Amy McFarland

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Amy McFarland – EzineArticles Expert Author

Tags: work, business, ethics, ethical, management

Pick up any newspaper, watch any television network, listen to any radio station or scan the Internet and you can learn a myriad of reasons about why the U.S. is in its current economic crisis. After hearing or reading hundreds of economists to political pundits, I have yet to hear the real problem why our economy is in its current fix.

As a business consultant and sales coach, I have witnessed this same issue in small to larger organizations and even within individuals. People still confuse symptoms with problems.

In 2008, I wrote a column for a local newspaper in Northwest IN about how I observed a local businessman who paid for one paper and took two. This is the problem. This is “800# gorilla” in the room that everyone continues to walk around and ignore. We continue to give the “Wink and a Nod” to business ethics and individual behaviors.

The writing has been on the wall for many years from declining work ethics to the increase in white-collar business crime. Even within the U.S. government, a bill starts as a few pages and ends up as 400 pages because of all the pork that has been added. Sure the pork may help one community, but overall, it does not help the country. In business it is no different. Executives add pork to the budget for their own personal greed and the company suffers. A prime example is insurance giant, AIG, that was given a bailout and then their executives received a golden parachute.

I believe that well over 95% of all adults know what is right and what is wrong. Yet, individuals in all roles in all types of organizations continue to engage in the “Wink and the Nod” behaviors knowing full well what they are doing is wrong.

During the last couple of decades in the U.S., we have experienced countless examples of what happens when positive core values and ethics are missing in the individuals involved in private and public organizations. Organizational examples include Arthur Anderson and Enron. Individual instances can be read any day of the week from fraudulent business people to politicians.

However, these behaviors can be reversed, but to be honest it is difficult. For individuals will have to be committed to doing what is right and not what is easy. In effective and authentic leadership, this is called making good choices and tough decisions. Watch the classic movie, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, to understand that being true to your core values, those non-negotiable behaviors, does challenge your head (thoughts), your heart (beliefs) and your hands (behaviors).

Take Action Business Ethics Coaching Tip: Sit down and revisit the Values Statement within your strategic business action plan. Be able to clearly describe the behaviors that you and your employees will demonstrate in all interactions with both internal and external customers. If you do not have a Values Statement, write one. Then read it each and every day. Be prepared to accept the consequences that may include turning down business because your know it is not right even if it is profitable.

Unlock more business results by standing out in your marketplace. Sign up to receive notification of Leanne’s forthcoming sales coaching book to help you be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits.

Chicago Sales Coach Leanne Hoagland Smith helps to achieve business goals because the real Issue is not “Do they (you) know it (business ethics), but “Do they (you) want to do it? (business attitudes)

If you would like to how leadership development and business ethics can help you increase your business results, you may wish to visit this site

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Tags: ethics, work, business, person, research

Ethics in business has become big news over the past several years. We read about the escapades of the executives at Enron, WorldCom and other major companies and shake our heads in astonishment thinking, “”How could that happen.”"We marvel at the unethical behavior of these leaders while at the same time never considering our own behavior.

The truth is that business leaders, regardless of the size of the company, are faced with ethical pressures everyday. The scale or impact of the ethical decision may not measure up to the likes of an Enron, but nevertheless, they do exist. How a business leader handles minor ethical issues is a precursor to how larger decision will be made as the business grows.

Many of the ethical issues we may face are not clearly black or white. In fact, two people faced with the same issue could quite possible make contrary decisions, while believing they each have made the best ethical decision. Why? Because ethical decisions are based upon one’s moral character. When it comes to moral behavior, we each march to the sound of different drummers and as such will make different decisions on similar issues.

As a business owner you must set the bar on ethical behavior. Make integrity a core value, be honest with your customers and employees, always follow the rules, never compromise your principles, and remember that the right thing is not always the opposite of the wrong thing. Do these things and your customers will respect you and your employees will remain loyal, essential ingredients to a successful business.

To Your Success -

Rick Stephens is a recognized business advisor and consultant. He specializes in working with small to mid-sized business owners to strengthen their business processes and ultimately grow their business. Rick has been accredited by the Institute for Independent Business, an International accrediting body for senior executives.

Rick holds an MBA from the LeTourneau University located in Longview, Texas.

Rick Stephens is the Principle Advisor of the Consulting firm RG Stephens & Associates located in Plano, Texas. Rick offers business owners the opportunity to meet confidentially to discuss any business issue they may be experiencing. His initial meeting is always free and without obligation.

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Tags: ethics, policy, business, work, person

Are you a small business owner, sales professional, C-Level executive or front line worker? What are your top major complaints as you travel the roads to greater business be it locally or globally?

Given how in touch we are between emails, voice mails and wireless connectivity, the most frequent and most frustrating complaint that I hear from business coaching or sales coaching clients, prospects and colleagues is the growing lack of professional courtesy. This complaint extends from business networking events to answering emails to actually returning phone calls. And even within my own business coaching training and consulting practice, I must agree that this is Complaint Number One.

Of course, most individuals engaged in business receive a lot of unsolicited contacts. However, the continued lack of professional courtesy is specifically directed to:

* Individuals who ask to be called back and then do not return phone calls
* Individuals who request information and then do not respond when contacted
* Individuals who make appointments and then do not show

Let’s accept the fact that everyone is busy. So being busy is not a justifiable excuse to be, simply speaking, rude!

Possibly, this lack of professional courtesy is because of the ongoing issue of wishy washy values or ethics. The Do as I say and not Say as I do belief stills appears to be very much alive. For example, small business owners to senior level executives demand that their sales to customer service people follow-up, yet they fail to model that same behavior.

Business building and sales research suggests that today’s uniqueness in the marketplace has much more to do with being reliable, doing what you promised in the time frame that you promised, than truly being different be it product, service or price. Reliability is a value, an ethic, a truly non-negotiable behavior that separates your business from everyone else.

Small Business Coaching Training Tip: To truly be that Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray suits, revisit your strategic business action plan and reread your ethics or values statements. Commit yourself to returning all phone calls, answering all emails and honoring all appointments. Who knows you may even realize increase sales in the process?

Chicago Sales Coach Leanne Hoagland-Smith helps to quickly increase profits & increase productivity for individuals & organizations involved in service industries of health care, real estate and regional railroads; distribution industry of new car sales and manufacturing. Process coaching and development works because my clients quickly double their results.

Sign up to read Leanne’s weekly business coaching training column. Visit Here to discover the value added articles, e-books and other tools.

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Tags: professional, ethics, code, conduct, work

With the growing economic problems of late, many corporations would be questioning whether it is prudent for businesses to still undertake corporate social responsibility initiatives, given that they should be starting to closely analyse their business operations looking for any and all opportunities to reduce unnecessary expenditure in an effort to batten down the hatches and weather the financial storm that may be set to continue for some years.

Naturally the first expenditures that come under the microscope are those viewed not to be directly related to the corporations core business, or considered a “luxury” item that the business doesn’t really need on a day-to-day basis. Many businesses may jump to the relatively new expenses they have started to incur, that of corporate social responsibility jobs and initiatives they have created and are funding. This may give relief in the short term but will it prove to be the wisest move in terms of the long term sustainability of the company?

Of course, if a company has the choice of spending a dollar in order to be an ongoing concern rather than on CSR jobs and activities, then naturally the choice is easy. Its obvious that if the company ceases to exist, any social benefits it can pass on become non-existent as well. Particularly for smaller companies, with smaller budgets, undertaking corporate social responsibility initiatives, it is much better to forgo investment in CSR now, in order to build a stronger company over the longer term. And once the company has starting earning well again it can re-institute efforts to develop CSR jobs and activities again, over the longer term.

Having said that, before any business (big or small) makes a decision with regards to corporate social responsibility jobs and expenditure, it should seek to question exactly what CSR means and encompasses for their corporate entity. Many may have the simplistic view that it is simply about giving money to charities, or donating the time of employees with needed skills to the community. However, the very phrase “corporate social responsibility” seeks to establish the notion of a company as a citizen of society. A citizen responsible and accountable to all of its stakeholders, neighbours and all others in society at the same time. Any citizen of society needs to do much more than just give money or services to those in need. First and foremost, it should be undertaking to ensure that it’s very own day-to-day business and actions are being conducted in a responsible manner. Ensuring that it is not creating and injecting ‘wrong’ into society, that may or may not be corrected by one of society’s other citizens. That is, corporate social responsibility should not be about debits and credits. (I’m doing some ‘wrong’ over here which I will balance out by doing some ‘right’ over there.)

It’s an important notion to consider in light of recent world changing events. Take this thought: If companies selling sub-prime loans had a comprehensive CSR practice in place and were truly working with the notion of being a participating citizen of society, and doing no ‘wrong’, then this should have prevented them from knowingly giving out loans to people that had no chance of repaying them in a sensible manner. That is to say, it is possible that the central root cause of the current global financial crisis could have been avoided if more truly socially responsible practices had been in place.

In conclusion, companies should carefully consider their next moves, if they are thinking about cutting back on CSR jobs and initiatives. Although such action could lead to short term gains, much more severe long term losses for both the ongoing viability of the business itself and society at large could be at stake.

Ant K,

Corporate Social Responsibility Jobs

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Tags: behaviour, ethical, issues, practice, work

Poor work ethics can be heard from the boardroom to the shipping dock. Employees pointing the finger at their fellow employees who do not consistently demonstrate the same beliefs about working hard or even just working.

How to change these poor work ethics is a question that stymies the best leadership or management. What makes one employee hard working going the extra mile? Why do we have so many who are just here to earn a paycheck? And let us not forget the few who make a business work day a miserable experience for everyone around them.

Small Business Coaching Tip: Identify your explores (25%), vacationers (50%) and prisoners (25%). Then put together an action plan to convert more vacationers into explorers and terminate the prisoners.

First, there needs to be some clarity around what is a behavior and what is an ethic. A behavior is what someone does, a physical action that is observable from body language to actual performance. An ethic is a belief about what is important to that individual.

For example, an employee comes to work at clocks in at 8:50 am and is on the floor ready to begin a day’s work. Another employee comes to work clocks in at 8:59am and is still not on the floor. The behaviors of these two individuals demonstrate their work ethics.

Since an ethic is really a belief, then to change the behaviors begin by changing the beliefs. Unfortunately, most training only looks at the behaviors and fails to identify the beliefs.

Small Business Coaching Tip: Negative results are reflected through negative actions. However, negative beliefs drive negative actions.

Additionally, within the K-12 educational system, there has been several decades where hard work has not been rewarded consistently. Too many parents do not want their children to be considered failures or losers so rewarding the top two performers has been replaced. After all, it is not fair that the student who was just .5% behind number two students did not receive any recognition.

Conditioning also plays an important part in the development of work ethics. Remember being in class and how the other students treated the over-performers? Very few students wanted to be the “smart person” or the teacher’s pet. Staying unnoticed was a far better way to get recognition from your peers.

The lack of having a personal values statement can contribute to poor work ethics. In a society that now frowns on judging behavior, the wink and the nod belief takes over. What this belief suggests that “Sure I believe in honesty unless I get caught.”

Several months ago, I observed the wink and the nod behavior when I saw one business person pay for a newspaper from a vending machine and then give a second unpaid paper to his colleague. Both believed this was OK until I deposited $.50 and paid for the paper that was stolen. Then their behaviors changed because they were caught.

Businesses, as well as other organizations, also suffer from the wink and the nod belief. Executive management talks about conserving resources and then spends excessive profits on marketing junkets to the now famous golden parachutes.

To change poor work ethics requires a multidimensional approach that infuses the executive team leadership actions and beliefs identification through effective communication of current goals and strategies. When alignment of all behaviors is not present in any organization, one of the outcomes can be poor work ethics as demonstrated through poor work behaviors.

Chicago Sales Coach Leanne Hoagland-Smith helps to quickly increase profits & increase productivity for individuals & organizations involved in service industries of health care, real estate and regional railroads; distribution industry of new car sales and manufacturing. Process coaching and development works because my clients quickly double their results.

Sign up to read Leanne’s weekly business coaching training column. Visit to discover the value added articles, e books and other tools. Call me at 219.759.5601 to schedule a free coaching or business strategy session.

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Tags: work, ethics, article, workplace, social

An Arab businessman who was purchasing real estate in South Africa expressed amazement at the long time it takes to conclude a deal in this country. “In my country we just shake hands and the deal is done,” he said. He told me that if it became known that any person had reneged on an agreement sealed by a handshake, he would be ostracized and that nobody would do business with him again.

In South Africa it is standard business practice to shake hands at the beginning and end of meetings. But in the property arena the deal is not over until a host of legal hurdles have been crossed, the title deeds are registered and the money is in the bank. And even then, it is not uncommon for one of the parties to the deal to challenge its validity later on some legal pretext.

Early in my career in real estate, my partner and I introduced a buyer and seller who did a deal together but refused to pay us any commission. Armed with ample email evidence that showed that we had introduced the buyer to the property he bought, we consulted a lawyer, confident that the wrong against us would be righted. But the lawyer said our emails, handshakes and verbal agreements were worthless: we did not have a written mandate and therefore had no case.

So what does the handshake mean in our business culture? It seems that the origin of the handshake predates written history and so different stories are told about how and where this practice started. One tale is that medieval knights would show and grip each others’ hands to demonstrate that they were not concealing weapons and therefore meant each other no harm.

Our business handshakes seem to signal a willingness to interact but they may in fact conceal a hidden agenda. The handshake technique, perhaps is a bit revealing. The knuckle-cruncher wants you to know that he is a tough guy. The limp handshaker arouses your suspicions. The handshaker who adds twists and twirls to the ritual tells you something about his cultural, political or social identity. But sadly, except perhaps in my Arab friend’s world, the currency of our handshakes has devalued substantially.

Andre Viljoen is a registered estate agent who specializes in online property marketing. He is a partner in Skilpad.Com Property Portal, South Africa’s exiting new real estate portal and African Showcase Realtors (http://www.afshowcaseprop.com) which markets game farms and tourism property in South Africa. Before joining the real estate industry he was active for many years in the journalism, media and advertising fields.

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Tags: ethical, work, issues, behaviour, practice

A person who informs on someone engaged in an illicit activity is considered as a whistle blower. The concept of whistle blowing can be found in visible situations as well as unnoticed ones. Their job is to report a violation of law, rule, regulation and/or a direct threat to public interest, such as fraud, health/safety violations, corruption, and plenty of others. These whistle blowers are not always in favorable situations, and things could be worst if they are not supported by the managers. People are criticized and disliked for it, which makes it a tough job.

Whistle blowing is present in positive as well as in discouraging situations. In an organization when an employee seeks to claim, revealing of inappropriate act and bringing it in front of their managers, could be taken as whistle blowing in positive conditions. But in a situation where an employee leek out information to the general public or to the competitors, this act can be taken as negative whistle blowing in terms of the company.

When a person usually blows the whistle, it’s normally not a direct attack towards a person, rather it is simply that the illegal or unethical actions of that person to be stopped. All the employees are suppose to work as a team and no body would like to be seen as the person who turns their back on them. The person has to make a very strict and uncompromising choice to make, keeping in consideration that the loyalty to their fellow colleagues as well as towards the company.
I personally favor the whistle blowers as it is one act which could help save a thousand.

People usually consider it as “back biting” or “tattle-tale-ing”, however that is how plenty of jobs, our environment, the reputation of the company, or in some cases even lives. They don’t realize that it is ethically and morally, actually their job towards the company, people and money. For example if someone is stealing from the company and the action not accounted could result in a loss of money to the company, and further proceeding could even result in removal of jobs. Whistle blowing has many positive effects, and if carefully considered it can lead to the end of unethical practices in business. It is a method of informing the concerned authorities before it’s too late and lead to a disaster. Whistle blowing can be negative to some, but it is a needed action for today. A controversial factor could be that it makes people decide between right and wrong. And the easy way would be to stay out of it and let someone else take notice, but the right way would be to go forward and stop it.

Faraz Ali

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Faraz Ali – EzineArticles Expert Author

Tags: guidelines, ethics, code, work, conduct