NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY

PATNA

ASSIGNMENT ON
PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

Course: Master of Fashion Management

Session: 2019-21
Subject: Professional Ethics and Values

Submitted to: Mr. Ashok Kumar

Submitted by: Karishma Raj, Priyanka Kumari, Ruchi Ratan
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to express our deepest appreciation to all those who provided us the
possibility to complete this assignment.
A special gratitude we give to our professor, Mr. Ashok Kumar, whose contribution in
stimulating suggestions and encouragement, helped us to coordinate our assignment.
We would also like to thank the people for investing their full efforts in guiding the
team in achieving the goal.
The completion of this undertaking could not have been possible without the
participation and assistance of so many people whose names may not all be
enumerated. Their contributions are deeply appreciated and gratefully acknowledged.
PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

PERSONAL ETHICS
Personal ethics refers to the ethics that a person identifies with in respect to people
and situations that they deal with in everyday life.
Personal ethics is a category of philosophy that determines what an individual
believes about morality and right and wrong. This is usually distinguished from
business ethics or legal ethics. These branches of ethics come from outside
organizations or governments, not the individual's conscience.

The features of personal ethics are

1. Personal survival
2. Moral responsibility
3. Self-interested concern
4. Compensatory fairness

1. Personal survival involves the continuation of the same experiencing subject.

2. Moral responsibility requires that the experiencing subject who commits a

crime be the one to experience the punishment,

3. Self-interested concern requires that the person having an experience in the

future be the one who anticipates it.

4. Compensatory fairness demands that the same experiencing subject who

suffers a sacrifice and enjoy the later benefits.

Personal values are the conception of what an individual or a group regards as

desirable. Personal ethics refer to the application of these values in everything one
does. Since they reflect general expectations of any person in any society, acting in
any capacity. These are the principles we try to instil in our children, and expect of
one another without needing to articulate the expectation or formalize it in any way.
The principles of personal ethics are:

1. Concern and respect for the autonomy of others.

2. Honesty and the willingness to comply with the law.

3. Fairness and the ability not to take undue advantage of others.

4. Benevolence and preventing harm to any creature.

Personal ethics is the code of ethical guidelines that guide you in your personal and
professional life. They often develop from your core values and work ethic into
actionable goals used in a variety of challenging situations. Your personal ethics can,
and likely will, contain common ethical guidelines that other people share, but they
will vary in their level of importance and how to maintain them.

Some common personal ethics include:

 Integrity
 Selflessness
 Honesty
 Loyalty
 Equality and fairness
 Empathy and respect
 Self-respect

Acting ethically as an individual is good personal practice and it helps you to build
strong relationships and sleep soundly at night. Personal ethical systems can be
categorical, or geared towards doing well for its own sake. Personal ethical systems
can also be utilitarian, or geared towards doing well for the sake of creating
outcomes that improve quality of life for as many people as possible. Treating
friends and neighbors with kindness can be the basis of a personal ethical system.
Telling the truth is a personal ethical value as well, as is refraining from theft.
PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

Professional ethics refers to the ethics that a person must adhere to in respect of their
interactions and business dealings in their professional life.
Professional ethics are principles that govern the behavior of a person or group in a
business environment. Like values, professional ethics provide rules on how a person
should act towards other people and institutions in such an environment.

Features of professional ethics:

1. Openness
2. Transparency
3. Privacy
4. Impartial
5. Practical and un-biased
6. Loyal
7. Co-operative

Acting ethically as a professional is good business practice. Most businesses are

built on long term relationships and carefully built reputations, if your business
dealings are fair and transparent, your customers and vendors will want to continue
doing business with you, and they're likely to refer their friends and associates. For
the typical small business person, it makes more sense to simply do good work and
build your company by earning the respect and trust of your clients and business
associates. Deliver the quantity and quality specified in your contract. Honor the
terms of your agreements, even if you haven't put them in writing. Treat your
employees with dignity and respect, and pay them fairly.

In some cases, personal and professional ethics may clash and cause a moral
conflict. For example:

 A police officer may personally believe that a law that he is required to

enforce is wrong. However, under the Code of Conduct for the New Zealand
Police, he is required to obey all lawful and reasonable instructions to enforce
that law unless there is good and sufficient cause to do otherwise.
 A doctor may not personally believe that the course of medical treatment
chosen by a patient is the right one. However, under the Code of Ethics for the
New Zealand Medical Association, she must respect the rights, autonomy and
freedom of choice of the patient.
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONL
ETHICS

Personal Ethics

 These involve our morals and values.

 They are instilled generally, during childhood, by our parents, family, and
friends.
 They relate to our deep-rooted principles, and how religiously we follow them
determines the kind of person we are.
 The nature of our personal ethics depend on whether our principles have an
optimistic effect on the people surrounding us, i.e., our strict adherence to our
principles must not spoil someone else’s life, a negative impact on society due
to our principles violates the very reason we are following them.

Examples

1. We should always speak the truth.

This is something that we would have been taught by our parents and teachers
since the time we first began to understand the world. By the time we grow up,
this thought would have been ingrained in our system. Following this principle
will make us feel satisfied and happy, and in case we face a dilemma wherein
we need to compromise on our honesty, the result might make us feel sick and
remorseful.

2. We should respect all those who are elder to us.

Following this will invariably make us a patient and dutiful human being, yet,
we might have to compromise on it if someone is taking advantage of our
sincerity and humility.

3. We should never hurt anyone purposely.

This will help us the way we speak and behave with our family and friends.
We will think twice before unnecessarily hurting someone with either our
words or actions. If we do so, we will not hesitate to apologize thereafter.
Following this principle will make us humble, which is an essential quality
that we need in our lives.

4. We should maintain a caring attitude towards everyone.

This will evoke our compassion. It might sometimes be difficult to care for
people who have been rude to us in the past, but if we start reacting in the
same way, just to be vengeful, what is the use of us laying down this principle
 for ourselves? Thus, this ethic is a stringent test of our patience. Our caring
attitude even towards our opponents will win them over one day.

Professional Ethics

 These involve a strict code of conduct laid down at the workplace.

 Your ethics here involve adherence to rules and regulations.
 Non-compliance to such rules may risk your reputation, as your behavior will
immediately be reported as brash and unprofessional.
 Your personal views and concerns about any topic will not be of much help in
a corporate setting, how well you follow the protocol of the company is what
will matter here.

Examples
since this is something the organization will lay out, the principles vary from one
another. Some generalized examples can be essayed as follows:

1. Punctuality
No company will tolerate employees who aren’t punctual―as regards to
arriving at work, submitting your work, meeting deadlines, etc. One cannot
enter and leave as he wish, he need to comply to the rules. This is one quality
that can be included as a personal ethic too, and people who follow this in
their personal lives will find it convenient to follow at the workplace too.

2. Time Management
do not whine if you are assigned extra work, time management is crucial for
rising up the corporate ladder. Learn the art of managing work in less time,
and you will be a shining example for your colleagues. Your capability will be
determined by the quality of work, not the quantity. Before calling it a day,
plan for the next day. Learn efficient time management techniques.

3. No Gossip
this is an important rule that all must follow. The workplace is not a place to
gossip, especially about your boss or colleagues or even ex-colleagues. If you
are caught doing the same, it will reflect very badly on your personality. None
of your past goodwill will be taken into account, you will immediately be
branded as a gossip-monger or a maverick who can’t keep his/her mouth shut.
Learn to communicate appropriately and effectively, one small mistake can
take you down the drain, and if you work in a highly regulated organization,
you might as well be cleaning out your desk.
 4. Safeguard Company Privacy
some companies even ask their prospective employees sign a legal document
preventing them from discussing work outside the company premises. So,
preferably, maintain this policy, do not discuss your projects or contracts
outside the office, and if you do, make sure you have prior permission, and do
not reveal too much in any case. This rule is even more stringent with lawyers
and psychiatrists, since they are not supposed to discuss or divulge any details
about their clients.

Points of Difference

Personal Ethics Professional Ethics

They are developed over a They are also shaped over

period of time. They can be
instilled during your
childhood by your parents and
people close to you, they can
be developed through
Grooming
life-altering experiences, or
even meeting certain people in
life and exchanging ideas with
them. Some values can also be
inherited, or can be developed
after a spiritual experience.
time, but depend a great deal
on the company or
organization that you work
for. They can be developed as
you undergo experiences
related to business, education,
law, politics, or any other
professional setting. They can
be developed through
corporate deals, contracts,
workshops, etc.

They satisfy your personal

needs; they only influence
They satisfy your corporate
your behavior with people you
needs. Your professional
know personally. They define
career is influenced by these
who you are and help you take
rules, and the more
decisions, and hence, control
stringently you follow them,
your attitude towards the
Satisfaction the better professional you
people you care about.
will be. These values help
Whenever you take any
satisfy the need to feel
decision keeping these values
capable of making fair
in mind, you invariable think
decisions regarding your
of how it is going to affect
position in your workplace.
you, your behavior, or your
family and friends.

Results Following these ethics result The results are more

 in a clear conscience, positive
attitude, and a contented
spirit. This is because you are
following them for yourself
and your loved ones. If you
fail to follow these principles
that you yourself have laid
out, you will end up feeling
guilty, remorseful, with a
sense of failure, and lack
self-esteem. These
consequences may vary from
individual to individual.
predictable, common, and
obvious in this scenario.
Following these ethics may
result in you being honored
as a diligent employee and
sincere worker. Not following
them may result in being
blacklisted in the
organization, attract legal
issues, loss of money and
reputation, etc. These are
followed more for the sake of
your colleagues, bosses, and
society.

They rely on the

They rely only on the
individual. They are designed
by the person himself, to
Reliability
make his life more orderly and
disciplined, and he depends on
them to define his life.
organization. They are
formulated and laid down by
the organization, and they
need to be upheld by whoever
works there, irrespective of
his designation or salary. The
same rules need not be
applied outside the
workplace, they are confined
within the company, and they
need to follow with utmost
decorum.

The above difference can be better understood if you have been through certain
experiences yourself. This subject is highly perceptive, since every individual has a
different perspective. However, what is more important is that you learn to follow
these ethics in your personal as well as professional life. You cannot state that one is
better than the other, or one can be followed and the other need not be. Following
both is essential, for this is what makes us a better human being―for ourselves as
well as the society.
LEARNING THE WAYS TO COLLABORATE PERSONAL AND
PROFESSIONAL ETHICS CHALLENGES

The term “ethics” is a complicated word to define but the appropriate definition is
both a code to follow and a thinking process. Professional ethics are a set code that
professionals in a variety of fields follow to meet certain industry standards. Personal
ethics are based on thinking processes that determine right from wrong according to a
personal standard or morality. Balancing and collaborate the two types of ethics is
usually challenging. For solving such issues most personal ethics will follow similar
professional codes.
There are several ways to collaborate personal and professional ethics challenges
 Find the area of conflict between personal and professional ethics. This differs
depending on the specific job. For example, a social worker's problem might
arise when she sets boundaries for clients she meets outside of work. For a
business professional, the problems may occur when personal morals conflict
with the needs of the company.

 Look for options to solve the problem without involving others if possible. In
some situations, the problems might be easily solved, such as avoiding a group
meeting that a client attends. In other situations, reorganizing or revaluating
personal ethics might be necessary and require personal changes. For
example, professional ethics requires diversity in the workplace, but some
individual’s personal ethics might make a person uncomfortable with disabled
individuals or minority groups. In this situation, adapting or changing personal
ethics is a necessity.

 Focus on duties and responsibilities. In the professional world, an individual's

focus is on the duties and responsibilities she must follow. Put the focus on
responsibilities rather than personal opinions.

 Get others involved. Sometimes, balancing professional and personal ethics

requires getting others involved in the situation. For example, a business
professional might ask an employer to rearrange job duties when her personal
ethics conflict with the business code of ethics in a particular situation. Other
professionals, such as social workers or psychologists, might need to make
arrangements with clients, schools or other groups when personal and
professional lives collide.
  Laban’s four-step strategy for resolving questions of role morality

In order to follow a professional rule that conflicts with personal ethics, an individual
would have to be able to:

1. justify the relevant societal institution, based on the moral good it does;
2. justify the professional's role, based on the structure of the institution;
3. justify the particular role obligation in question, by showing that the behaviour
required is essential to that role; and
4. Justify the act demanded by the role, by showing that the role obligations
require the action.

This four-step strategy is not an algorithm that invariably leads to the right solution,
but rather a heuristic framework that allows professionals and others to critique
professional rules. The four-step evaluation process is formulated to assist with
collaborate professional and personal ethics challenges.

EXAMPLE

Assume that a charitable organization has the goal of getting food to countries suffering
from famine. The organization hires people to fulfil different roles to get the food
delivered, including an employee with the job of securing trucks inside a country that
will transport the food from a warehouse to people in the country who need it. The
trucks available to make this delivery in the country are held by an unscrupulous
individual, understood to be involved in various kinds of illegal activity such as
extortion. The employee is fairly certain that the money provided by the organization
for the food delivery will be used by the truck owner for illegal purposes, some of
which are likely to result in threats or actual injury to people. But trucks are needed for
the delivery and there is no other available transport, so if the employee does not use the
truck owner, the food will not get to the people who need it.

The employee is in a dilemma, because pursuant to personal ethics the employee would
normally not give business to a criminal or even indirectly support criminal activities.
The employee, however, can resolve the dilemma by evaluating the good done by the
institution and the links between the institution and the employee's action. The act of
giving business to the truck owner is required by the employee's role obligation (getting
trucks to deliver food), which in turn is required in order to perform the institution's task
(getting food to the persons who need it), which finally is required by the institution's
positive moral good, that of saving the lives of people dying of starvation. Taken
together, the employee could determine that the role requirement outweighs the
personal ethics of not giving business to a known criminal.

The four-step evaluation can result in a finding that the professional requirement should
not be performed if the connection between any of the four steps breaks down. For
example, if other trucks were available, but it would be a small amount of additional
work for the employee to get them, then there is nothing wrong with steps 1-3, but the
employee cannot satisfy step 4, justifying the act by showing that the role obligations
require it. In that case, professional ethics do not outweigh personal ethics.

GETTING WHAT WE WANT IN LIFE ETHICALLY

ETHICS
Ethics is the word that refers to morals, values, and beliefs of the individuals, family
or the society. The word has several meanings. Basically it is an activity and process
of inquiry. Secondly, it is different from non-moral problems, when dealing with
issues and controversies. Thirdly, ethics refers to a particular set of beliefs, attitudes,
and habits of individuals or family or groups concerned with morals. Fourth, it is used
to mean ‘morally correct’.
The study on ethics helps to know the people’s beliefs, values, and morals, learn the
good and bad of them, and practice them to maximize their well-being and happiness.
It involves the inquiry on the existing situations, form judgments and resolve the
issues. In addition, ethics tells us how to live, to respond to issues, through the duties,
rights, responsibilities, and obligations. In religion, similar principles are included, but
the reasoning on procedures is limited. The principles and practices of religions have
varied from to time to time (history), region (geography, climatic conditions), religion,
society, language, caste and creed. But ethics has grown to a large extent beyond the
barriers listed above. In ethics, the focus is to study and apply the principles and
practices, universally.

We should follow ethics in our life based on following features

INTEGRITY
Integrity is defined as the unity of thought, word and deed (honesty) and open
mindedness. It includes the capacity to communicate the factual information so that
others can make well-informed decisions. It yields the person’s ‘peace of mind’, and
hence adds strength and consistency in character, decisions, and actions. This paves
way to one’s success. It is one of the self-direction virtues. It enthuse people not only
to execute a job well but to achieve excellence in performance. It helps them to own
the responsibility and earn self-respect and recognition by doing the job.

Moral integrity is defined as a virtue, which reflects a consistency of one’s attitudes,

emotions, and conduct in relation to justified moral values.

WORK ETHICS
Work ethics is defined as a set of attitudes concerned with the value of work, which
forms the motivational orientation. The ‘work ethics’ is aimed at ensuring the
economy (get job, create wealth, earn salary), productivity (wealth, profit), safety (in
workplace), health and hygiene (working conditions), privacy (raise family), security
(permanence against contractual, pension, and retirement benefits), cultural and social
development (leisure, hobby, and happiness), welfare (social work), environment
(anti-pollution activities), and offer opportunities for all, according to their abilities,
but without discrimination.

Many complex social problems exist in the industrial/business scenario, because:

1. The people desire to be recognized as individuals and treated with dignity, as living
human beings. Work is intrinsically valuable so far as it is enjoyable or meaningful in
allowing personal expression and self-fulfillment.

2. Economic independence: Work is the major instrumental good in life. It is the main
source of providing the income needed to avoid economic dependence on others, for
obtaining desired materials and services, and for achieving status and recognition
from others.

3. Pay as well as the pace of work should be in commensurate with the expertise
required, acquired, and utilized in the persons. Exploitation and bargained pay should
be discouraged.
4. Privacy (personal freedom) of the employee, including women, is to be protected.
At the same time, confidentiality of the employer is also to be protected. Mutual trust
and loyalty both ways play major roles in this aspect.
5. Security during job and upon retirement: This concept is being accepted only in
government jobs, public limited companies, and corporate organizations. The western
thought has influenced the Indian private industries and multinationals in a paradigm
shift from ‘lifelong employment’ to policies such as ‘merit only’, ‘hire and fire’, ‘pay
and use’ etc. This situation has no doubt created tension in the Indian scene.
VIRTUES
Virtues are positive and preferred values. Virtues are desirable attitudes or character
traits, motives and emotions that enable us to be successful and to act in ways that
develop our highest potential. They energize and enable us to pursue the ideals that
we have adopted. Honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, fidelity, integrity,
fairness, transparency, self-control, and prudence are all examples of virtues.
Virtues are tendencies which include, solving problems through peaceful and
constructive means and follow the path of the golden mean between the extremes of
‘excess and deficiency’. They are like habits, once acquired, they become
characteristics of a person. Moreover, a person who has developed virtues will
naturally act in ways consistent with moral principles. The virtuous person is the
ethical person.

Civic Virtues
Civic virtues are the moral duties and rights, as a citizen of the village or the country
or an integral part of the society and environment. An individual may exhibit civic
virtues by voting, volunteering, and organizing welfare groups and meetings.
The duties are:
1. To pay taxes to the local government and state, in time.

2. To keep the surroundings clean and green.

3. Not to pollute the water, land, and air by following hygiene and proper garbage
disposal. For example, not to burn wood, tyres, plastic materials, spit in the open,
even not to smoke in the open, and not to cause nuisance to the public, are some of the
civic (duties) virtues.
4. To follow the road safety rules.

These virtues are divided into four categories:

1. Civic Knowledge
Citizens must understand what the Constitution says about how the government
is working, and what the government is supposed to do and what not to do. We
must understand the basis of our responsibilities as citizens, besides duties and
rights. We must be able to recognize when the government or another citizen
infringes upon our rights. It implies that the government requires the participation
of the enlightened citizens, to serve and survive.

2. Self-Restraint
For citizens to live in a free society with limited government each citizen must be
able to control or restrain himself; otherwise, we would need a police state—that
is, a dictatorial government to maintain safety and order. He advocated for
morality and declared that happiness is achieved and sustained through virtues and
morals. He advocated and demonstrated self-restraint several times in his private
and public life, and naturally he was a great leader.

3. Self-Assertion
Self-assertion means that citizens must be proud of their rights, and have the
courage to stand up in public and defend their rights. Sometimes, a government
may usurp the very rights that it was created to protect. In such cases, it is the
right of the people to alter or abolish that government (e.g., voting rights, rights
call back).

4. Self-Reliance
Citizens who cannot provide for themselves will need a large government to take
care of them. Once citizens become dependent on government for their basic
needs, the people are no longer in a position to demand that government act within
the confines of the Constitution. Self-reliant citizens are free citizens in the sense
that they are not dependent on others for their basic needs. They do not need a
large provider-government, which has the potential to become an oppressive
government, to meet those needs. Only a strong self-reliant citizenry will be able
to enjoy fully the blessings of liberty. These civic virtues, applicable to local, state,
and central governments, nourish freedom and civil liberty at the root of
democracy.

RESPECT FOR OTHERS

This is a basic requirement for nurturing friendship, team work, and for the
synergy it promotes and sustains. The principles enunciated in this regard are:

1. Recognize and accept the existence of other persons as human beings, because
they have a right to live, just as you have.
2. Respect others’ ideas (decisions), words, and labor (actions). One need not
accept or approve or award them, but shall listen to them first. One can correct or
warn, if they commit mistakes. Some people may wait and watch as fun, if one
falls, claiming that they know others’ mistakes before and know that they will fall!
Appreciate colleagues and subordinates on their positive actions. Criticize
constructively and encourage them. They are bound to improve their performance,
by learning properly and by putting more efforts.

3. Show ‘goodwill’ on others. Love others. Allow others to grow. Basically, the
goodwill reflects on the originator and multiplies itself on everybody. This will
facilitate collinearity, focus, coherence, and strength to achieve the goals.
LIVING PEACEFULLY
To live peacefully, one should start install peace within (self). Charity begins at
home. Then one can spread peace to family, organization where one works, and
then to the world, including the environment. Only who are at peace can spread
peace. You cannot gift an article which you do not possess. The essence of
oriental philosophy is that one should not fight for peace. It is oxymoron. War or
peace can be won only by peace, and not by wars!
One should adopt the following means to live peacefully, in the world:

Nurture
1. Order in one’s life (self-regulation, discipline, and duty).
2. 2. Pure thoughts in one’s soul (loving others, blessing others, friendly, and not
criticizing or hurting others by thought, word or deed).
3. 3. Creativity in one’s head (useful and constructive). 4. Beauty in one’s heart
(love, service, happiness, and peace).

Get
4. Good health/body (physical strength for service).

Act
5. Help the needy with head, heart, and hands (charity). Service to the poor is
considered holier than the service to God.

6. Not hurting and torturing others either physically, verbally, or mentally.

The following are the factors that promote living, with internal and external peace:
1. Conducive environment (safe, ventilated, illuminated and comfortable).

2. secured job and motivated with ‘recognition and reward’.

3. Absence of threat or tension by pressure due to limitations of money or time.
4. Absence of unnecessary interference or disturbance, except as guidelines.

5. Healthy labor relations and family situations.

6. Service to the needy (physically and mentally-challenged) with love and
sympathy.
CARING
Caring is feeling for others. It is a process which exhibits the interest in, and
support for, the welfare of others with fairness, impartiality and justice in all
activities, among the employees, in the context of professional ethics. It includes
showing respect to the feelings of others, and also respecting and preserving the
interests of all others concerned. Caring is reflected in activities such as friendship,
membership in social clubs and professional societies, and through various
transactions in the family, fraternity, community, country and in international
councils.

In the present day context, caring for the environment (including the fauna and
flora) has become a necessity for our very survival. If we do not care for the
environment, the environment will scare us.

SHARING
Primarily, caring influences ‘sharing’. Sharing is a process that describes the
transfer of knowledge (teaching, learning, and information), experience (training),
commodities (material possession) and facilities with others. The transfer should
be genuine, legal, positive, voluntary, and without any expectation in return.
However, the proprietary information it should not be shared with outsiders.
Through this process of sharing, experience, expertise, wisdom and other benefits
reach more people faster. Sharing is voluntary and it cannot be driven by force,
but motivated successfully through ethical principles. In short, sharing is ‘charity’.

HONESTY
Honesty is a virtue, and it is exhibited in two aspects namely,
(a) Truthfulness and
(b) Trustworthiness.

Truthfulness is to face the responsibilities upon telling truth. One should keep
one’s word or promise. By admitting one’s mistake committed, it is easy to fix
them. Reliable engineering judgment, maintenance of truth, defending the truth,
and communicating the truth, only when it does ‘good’ to others, are some of the
reflections of truthfulness. But trustworthiness is maintaining integrity and taking
responsibility for personal performance. People abide by law and live by mutual
trust. They play the right way to win, according to the laws or rules. They build
trust through reliability and authenticity. They admit their own mistakes and
confront unethical actions in others and take tough and principled stand, even if
unpopular.
COURAGE
Courage is the tendency to accept and face risks and difficult tasks in rational
ways. Self-confidence is the basic requirement to nurture courage.
Courage is classified into three types, based on the types of risks, namely

(a) Physical courage,

(b) Social courage, and

(c) Intellectual courage.

In physical courage, the thrust is on the adequacy of the physical strength,
including the muscle power and armaments. People with high adrenalin, may be
prepared to face challenges for the mere ‘thrill’ or driven by a decision to ‘excel’.
The social courage involves the decisions and actions to change the order, based
on the conviction for or against certain social behaviours. This requires leadership
abilities, including empathy and sacrifice, to mobilize and motivate the followers,
for the social cause. The intellectual courage is inculcated in people through
acquired knowledge, experience, games, tactics, education, and training. In
professional ethics, courage is applicable to the employers, employees, public, and
the press.

VALUING TIME
Time is rare resource. Once it is spent, it is lost forever. It cannot be either stored
or recovered. Hence, time is the most perishable and most valuable resource too.
This resource is continuously spent, whether any decision or action is taken or not.

COMMITMENT
Commitment means alignment to goals and adherence to ethical principles during
the activities. First of all, one must believe in one’s action performed and the
expected end results. It means one should have the conviction without an iota of
doubt that one will succeed. Holding sustained interest and firmness, in whatever
ethical means one follows, with the fervent attitude and hope that one will achieve
the goals, is commitment. It is the driving force to realize success.
This is a basic requirement for any profession. For example, a design engineer
shall exhibit a sense of commitment, to make his product or project designed a
beneficial contribution to the society. Only when the teacher (Guru) is committed
to his job, the students will succeed in life and contribute ‘good’ to the society.
EMPATHY
Empathy is social radar. Sensing what others feel about, without their open talk, is
the essence of empathy. Empathy begins with showing concern, and then
obtaining and understanding the feelings of others, from others’ point of view. It
is also defined as the ability to put one’s self into the psychological frame or
reference or point of view of another, to know what the other person feels. It
includes the imaginative projection into other’s feelings and understanding of
other’s background such as parentage, physical and mental state, economic
situation, and association. This is an essential ingredient for good human relations
and transactions.

To practice ‘Empathy’, a leader must have or develop in him, the following

characteristics
1. Understanding others: It means sensing others feelings and perspectives, and
taking active interest in their welfare.
2. Service orientation: It is anticipation, recognition and meeting the needs of the
clients or customers.

3. Developing others: This means identification of their needs and bolstering their
abilities. In developing others, the one should inculcate in him the ‘listening skill’
first. Communication = 22% reading and writing + 23% speaking + 55% listening
One should get the feedback, acknowledge the strength and accomplishments, and
then coach the individual, by informing about what was wrong, and giving correct
feedback and positive expectation of the subject’s abilities and the resulting
performance.

4. Leveraging diversity (opportunities through diverse people): This leads to

enhanced organizational learning, flexibility, and profitability.

SELF-CONFIDENCE
Certainty in one’s own capabilities, values, and goals, is self-confidence. These
people are usually positive thinking, flexible and willing to change. They respect
others so much as they respect themselves.

The self-confidence in a person develops a sense of partnership, respect, and

accountability, and this helps the organization to obtain maximum ideas, efforts,
and guidelines from its employees. The people with self-confidence have the
following characteristics:

1. A self-assured standing,
2. Willing to listen to learn from others and adopt (flexibility),

3. Frank to speak the truth, and

4. Respect others’ efforts and give due credit.

The factors that shape self-confidence in a person are:

1. Heredity (attitudes of parents) and family environment (elders),

2. Friendship (influence of friends/colleagues),

3. Influence of superiors/role models, and

4. Training in the organization (e.g., training by Technical Evangelists at Infosys

Technologies)

SPIRITUALITY
Spirituality is a way of living that emphasizes the constant awareness and
recognition of the spiritual dimension (mind and its development) of nature and
people, with a dynamic balance between the material development and the
spiritual development. This is said to be the great virtue of Indian philosophy and
for Indians. Sometimes, spirituality includes the faith or belief in supernatural
power/ God, regarding the worldly events. It functions as a fertilizer for the soil
‘character’ to blossom into values and morals.

Spirituality in the Workplace

Building spirituality in the workplace: Spirituality is promoted in the workplace
by adhering to the following activities:

1. Verbally respect the individuals as humans and recognize their values in all
decisions and actions.
2. Get to know the people with whom you work and know what is important to
them. Know their goals, desires, and dreams too.
3. State your personal ethics and your beliefs clearly.
4. Support causes outside the business.

5. Encourage leaders to use value-based discretion in making decisions.

6. Demonstrate your own self-knowledge and spirituality in all your actions.
 Spirituality for Corporate Excellence
The spiritual traits to be developed for excellence in corporate activities are listed
as follows:
1. Self-awareness
2. Alertness in observation and quickness in decision making

3. being visionary and value based

4. Holism

5. Compassion
6. Respect for diversity

7. Moral Autonomy
8. Creative thinking and constant reasoning

9. Ability to analyse and synthesize

10. Positive views of adversity

11. Humility
12. Sense of vocation

Conclusion
Through this assignment we gained sufficient knowledge about the personal and
professional ethics. How they both work individually and together. We came to know
what ethics means to us and how it works in personal and professional life. We
established the difference between both the ethics, learnt ways how to collaborate
both the ethics when you face challenges. This assignment also helped us in learning
about how we can get things ethically done, what are the ways for it, we have
discussed that above.