PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

Profession
• A Profession is a disciplined group of individuals who
adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out
as, and are accepted by the public as possessing special
knowledge and skills in a widely recognised body of
learning derived from research, education and training at
a high level, and who are prepared to apply this
knowledge and exercise these skills in the interest of
others.
• It is inherent in the definition of a Profession that a code
of ethics governs the activities of each Profession.
• Such codes require behaviour and practice beyond the
personal moral obligations of an individual.
• They define and demand high standards of behaviour in
respect to the services provided to the public and in
dealing with professional colleagues.
• Further, these codes are enforced by the Profession and
are acknowledged and accepted by the community.
 Professional Ethics
• Professional ethics encompass the personal and
corporate standards of behavior expected by
professionals.
• Professional ethics are principles that govern the
behaviour 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.
 Professionalism
• The word professionalism originally applied to vows of a
religious order.
• By at least the year 1675, the term had seen secular
application and was applied to the three learned
professions: Divinity, Law, and Medicine.
• The term professionalism was also used for the military
profession around this same time.
 Business Ethics vs. Professional Ethics
• Business ethics change over time and are defined by
whether a certain practice is regarded with approval or
disapproval by others in the profession. Examples include
top leasing; lawyer advertising.
• Professional ethics are unchanging rules that go to the
core of insuring that a certain profession maintains the
trust of the public. Having and enforcing professional
ethics enable a trade group to be elevated to the level of a
profession.
 Community Values and the Laws
• Community values are the non-negotiable core principles
or standards that the community’s citizens wish to
maintain.
• RESPECT FOR THE RIGHTS, DIFFERENCES, AND
DIGNITY OF OTHERS
• HONESTY AND INTEGRITY IN DEALING WITH ALL
MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY
• ACCOUNTABILITY FOR PERSONAL BEHAVIOR
THE LAWS
Law is commonly understood as a system of rules that are
created and enforced through social or governmental
institutions to regulate conduct, although its precise
definition is a matter of longstanding debate
 Nature of Professionalism
• also called THE FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS
OF A PROFESSION
 1. Great responsibility
• Professionals deal in matters of vital importance to their
clients and are therefore entrusted with grave
responsibilities and obligations. Given these inherent
obligations, professional work typically involves
circumstances where carelessness, inadequate skill, or
breach of ethics would be significantly damaging to the
client and/or his fortunes.
 2. Accountability
• Professionals hold themselves ultimately accountable for
the quality of their work with the client. The profession
may or may not have mechanisms in place to reinforce
and ensure adherence to this principle among its
members. If not, the individual professional will (e.g.
guarantees and/or contractual provisions).
 3. Based on specialized, theoretical
knowledge
• Professionals render specialized services based on
theory, knowledge, and skills that are most often peculiar
to their profession and generally beyond the
understanding and/or capability of those outside of the
profession. Sometimes, this specialization will extend to
access to the tools and technologies used in the
profession (e.g. medical equipment).
 4. Institutional preparation
• Professions typically require a significant period of hands-
on, practical experience in the protected company of
senior members before aspirants are recognized as
professionals. After this provisional period, ongoing
education toward professional development is
compulsory. A profession may or may not require formal
credentials and/or other standards for admission.
 5. Autonomy
• Professionals have control over and, correspondingly,
ultimate responsibility for their own work. Professionals
tend to define the terms, processes, and conditions of
work to be performed for clients (either directly or as
preconditions for their ongoing agency employment).
 6. Clients rather than customers
• Members of a profession exercise discrimination in
choosing clients rather than simply accepting any
interested party as a customer (as merchants do).
 7. Direct working relationships
• Professionals habitually work directly with their clients
rather than through intermediaries or proxies.
 8. Ethical constraints
• Due to the other characteristics on this list, there is a clear
requirement for ethical constraints in the professions.
Professionals are bound to a code of conduct or ethics
specific to the distinct profession (and sometimes the
individual). Professionals also aspire toward a general
body of core values, which are centered upon an
uncompromising and unconflicted regard for the client's
benefit and best interests.
 9. Merit-based
• In a profession, members achieve employment and
success based on merit and corresponding voluntary
relationships rather than on corrupted ideals such as
social principle, mandated support, or extortion (e.g. union
members are not professionals). Therefore, a professional
is one who must attract clients and profits due to the
merits of his work. In the absence of this characteristic,
issues of responsibility, accountability, and ethical
constraints become irrelevant, negating any otherwise-
professional characteristics.
 10. Capitalist morality
• The responsibilities inherent to the practice of a
profession are impossible to rationally maintain without a
moral foundation that flows from a recognition of the
singular right of the individual to his own life, along with all
of its inherent and potential sovereign value; a concept
that only capitalism recognizes, upholds and protects.
 Professional Certification
• Professional certification is the process by which a person
proves that he or she has the knowledge, experience and
skills to perform a specific job and the tasks in which they
have been trained. The proof comes in the form of a
certificate which is earned by passing one or more exams
that were developed by an organization or association
that monitors and upholds the prescribed standards for
the particular industry involved.
 Types
• Corporate: Internal certifications made by a corporation to
certify quality of training delivery and completion for
quality purposes. For example, a corporation might
require a one-day training course for all sales personnel,
after which they receive a certificate. While this certificate
has limited portability (for example, to other corporations),
it is the most simple to develop.
• Product-specific: These certifications are more involved
with products, and are intended to be referenced external
to the company in the marketplace. This approach is very
prevalent in the information technology IT industry, where
personnel are certified on a version of software or
hardware. This type of certification is portable across
locations (for example, different corporations that use that
software), but not across other products. So, if you get
CISCO certification in networking, it does not mean you
can say you are certified in Microsoft or Oracle.
• Profession-Wide: This is the most general type of
certification. Certification in the medical profession is often
offered by particular specialties in Nursing, Diagnostics
and Testing. In order to apply professional standards,
increase the level of practice and possibly protect the
public (though this is also the domain of licensure), a
professional organization might establish a certification.
• This is intended to be portable to all places a certified
professional might work. Of course, this generalization
increases the cost of such a program; the process to
establish a legally defensible assessment of an entire
profession is very extensive. An example of this is a
Certified Public Accountant (CPA), which would not be
certified for just one corporation or one piece of
accountancy software but for general work in the
profession.
 Code of ethics
• A code of ethics is a guide of principles designed to help
professionals conduct business honestly and with
integrity. A code of ethics document may outline the
mission and values of the business or organization, how
professionals are supposed to approach problems, the
ethical principles based on the organization's core values,
and the standards to which the professional is held.
Codes of Ethics and Professional Conduct
• The codes of ethics and professional conduct outlines the
ethical principles that govern decisions and behavior at a
company or organization. They give general outlines of
how employees should behave, as well as specific
guidance for handling issues like harassment, safety, and
conflicts of interest.
 Difference
• The Difference Between a Code of Ethics and a Code of
Conduct:
• A code of ethics is broad, giving employees or members a
general idea of what types of behavior and decisions are
acceptable and encouraged at a business or organization.
A code of conduct is more focused. It defines how
employees or members should act in specific situations.
 Sample Template
1. Be inclusive.
We welcome and support people of all backgrounds and
identities. This includes, but is not limited to members of
any sexual orientation, gender identity and expression,
race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, social and economic
class, educational level, color, immigration status, sex, age,
size, family status, political belief, religion, and mental and
physical ability.
2. Be considerate.
We all depend on each other to produce the best work we
can as a company. Your decisions will affect clients and
colleagues, and you should take those consequences into
account when making decisions.
3. Be respectful.
We won't all agree all the time, but disagreement is no
excuse for disrespectful behavior. We will all experience
frustration from time to time, but we cannot allow that
frustration become personal attacks. An environment where
people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive
or creative one.
4. Choose your words carefully.
Always conduct yourself professionally. Be kind to others.
Do not insult or put down others. Harassment and
exclusionary behavior aren't acceptable. This includes, but
is not limited to:
Threats of violence.Insubordination.Discriminatory jokes
and language.Sharing sexually explicit or violent material
via electronic devices or other means.Personal insults,
especially those using racist or sexist terms.Unwelcome
sexual attention.Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the
above behavior.
5. Don't harass.
In general, if someone asks you to stop something, then
stop. When we disagree, try to understand why. Differences
of opinion and disagreements are mostly unavoidable. What
is important is that we resolve disagreements and differing
views constructively.
6. Make differences into strengths.
We can find strength in diversity. Different people have
different perspectives on issues, and that can be valuable
for solving problems or generating new ideas. Being unable
to understand why someone holds a viewpoint doesn’t
mean that they’re wrong. Don’t forget that we all make
mistakes, and blaming each other doesn’t get us anywhere.

Instead, focus on resolving issues and learning from

mistakes.
What to Include Your Code of Ethics and
Professional Conduct:
 Practice of Proffessional
• Practice of being Professional.
 Accountability, Responsibility and Liability
• Activity search the meaning of the three.
Role of Professional
 Assignment
• What is the role of professional programmer?
• What is the role of professional ____(what will be you in
the future).
Example:
programmer, computer science instructor, graphic designer,
any thing that you like.
 Reference
• http://www.professions.com.au/about-us/what-is-a-
professional
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_ethics
• https://www.iaa.govt.nz/for-advisers/adviser-tools/ethics-
toolkit/professional-ethics-and-codes-of-conduct/
• http://designprofessionalism.com/defining-design-
professionalism-1.php
• https://www.collegetransfer.net/AskCT/What-is-
Professional-Certification
• https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/code-of-ethics.asp
• https://www.betterteam.com/code-of-ethics-and-
professional-conduct