Monday, June 9, 2008

5 Ways to Ethically Consider Situations

From Ethics Articles maintained by George S. May International Company as a resource to help people find ethical guidelines when running a business.

1. Embrace Racial, Cultural and Creative Diversity.
Many of the benefits society enjoys have come from a very diverse group of people from throughout the world. For an example, we all enjoy technological advances that we all enjoy were developed by weird creative types who also were different. Diversity is something to be embraced. It is a great strength and competitive business advantage.

2. Take What Isn't Yours ... Don't Accept What You haven't Earned.
This is self-explanatory. It applies to everything from office supplies to "the credit" for work done by others.

3. Maintain Confidentiality.
If you agree to confidentiality, honor your agreement. If you can't or won't agree to keeping a confidence, make that clear before you accept the information.

4. Spread The "Straight Scoop."
Don't try to BS your way through an explanation or a sale. The short-term hassle you might save by doing that can come back to bite both you and your organization. And it's just plain unfair to the people you deal with. Don't know an answer? Tell the person you'll get back with them. Then, do the necessary research. Pride yourself on being able to say that every answer you give is as correct as it can be. Ethics is about being and doing right, not sounding right.

5. "Means" Are Just As Important As "Ends"
Be extremely cautious of the old "The end justifies the means" argument. Don't work through a task only to find that the result has been tainted by the less-than-ethical way you chose to get there. Means are as important as ends and need to be treated as such.

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