Ethics: Personal & Professional Information gathered by Lucy Campanis Revised by Mikki Meadows EIU School of Family & Consumer Sciences

Terminology Morality Ethics Moral Issue Moral Agent Ethical Decision

Principles of Personal Ethics Concern for the well-being of others Respect for the autonomy of others Trustworthiness and honesty Benevolence

Willing compliance with the law With the exception of civil disobedience Basic justice Refusing to take unfair advantage Preventing harm

Principles of Professional Ethics Impartiality; objectivity Openness; full disclosure Due diligence/duty of care Fidelity to professional responsibilities Avoiding potential or apparent conflict of interest

Principles of Global Ethics Global justice (as reflected in international laws) Environmental stewardship Interdependence and responsibility for the “whole’ Reverence for place

Questions for Solving Ethical Problems What benefits and what harms will each course of action produce and which alternative will lead to the best overall consequence? What moral rights do the affected parties have, and which course of action best respects those rights?

Which course of action treats everyone the same, except where there is amorally justifiable reason not to, and does not show favoritism or discrimination? Which course of action advances the common good? Which course of action develops moral virtues

Discussion Questions Describe an ethical dilemma you experienced or observed: What were the issues involved? What did you (or the individual concerned0 consider in making a decision about how to handle this dilemma? What was the decision? Was the decision appropriate? Why? Why not?

Ethics Culture Within the Workplace A National Benchmark Study on Business Ethics

Aspects of the Study The Walker Information National Study large and medium-sized firms United States The study reflects opinions of employees in industries such as: Manufacturing Public administration Retail Health care Finance Real estate

Findings of the Study Business cultures in the US range across the spectrum A focus on compliance and ethics to ignoring both altogether Many employees are aware of violations Don’t feel comfortable reporting Sexual harassment tops the list of violations

When workers have higher opinions of their employer’s ethics, they are more committed People rate their own ethical conduct better than others’ conduct The higher the level of management, the more favorable the perception of ethics Senior leaders are better at communicating ethics than “walking the talk”

Senior leaders may obey laws and support the community better than they handle internal issues and commitments Employees rate the integrity of the organization higher when they have program resources Public employees were by far the most likely of all industry groups to know of an ethical or legal violation in their organization