INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS

AND PROFESSIONALISM

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LECTURE OUTLINE
 What is ethics?
 What is professionalism?
 What is ethical decision-making?

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WHAT IS ETHICS?
 Preston 1996
 “ethics is concerned about what is right, fair, just,
or good: about what we ought to do, not just
about what is the case or what is most acceptable
or expedient”

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WHAT IS ETHICS?
 Martin 1995
 Moral philosophy that incorporates four main
goals:
 Clarification of moral concepts
 Critical evaluation of moral claims focused on
“testing their truth, justification and adequacy”
 Connection between moral ideas and values
 Providing moral guidance

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WHAT IS ETHICS?
 Winter (1996)
 “ethics seeks to clarify the logic and adequacy of
the values that shape the world; it assesses the
moral possibilities which are projected and
betrayed in the social give-and-take”

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WHAT IS ETHICS?
 Cooper (2006)
 “..study of moral conduct and moral status”
 Moral or morality
 Assumes some widely accepted mode of behavior that are given
by a religion, culture, a social class, a community or a family
 Example:
 Premarital sex
 Family comes first
 Never drive under the influence
 Respect parent and order people

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WHAT IS ETHICS?
 Cooper (2006)
 Ethics is a one step away from the action or the
practice of morality
 It is a study of logic, values, beliefs, and principles
that are used to justify morality in its various forms
 It considers what is meant by principles such as
justice, truth, or the public interest; their implication
for conduct in particular situations and how one
might argue over one principle over another

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WHAT IS ETHICS?
 Cooper (2006)
 Ethics takes what is given or prescribed and asks
what is meant and why
 Preston (2007)
 “Ethics may also mean the actual values and rules
of conduct”

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WHAT IS ETHICS?
 Cooper (2006)
 Ethics also deals with moral status of entities such as
families, organizations, communities and societies
 Ethical reason is focused on how the characteristics
associated with the good family, or the good
organization or the good society are grounded in
certain principles, values, beliefs and logical argument
 Ethics weighs the adequacy of these attributes and
analyze how they are justified

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WHAT IS ETHICS?
 Deontological approach
 The morality of an action is judged on adherence
to the rule or duty
 Focuses on one’s action or duty to certain ethical
principles like justice, freedom or truth without
regard to the consequences

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WHAT IS ETHICS?
 Teleological approach
 The morality of an action is judged on the
consequences of one’s action or conduct
 Normally refer to “utilitarianism” or
“consequentialism”

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WHAT IS ETHICS?
 Most take both approach when making a decision
 We consider the principles that are important to
us as well as the consequences of acting on such
principles

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 “FOUR-WAY TEST” FOR ETHICAL DECISION MAKING (FROM
ROTARY INTERNATIONAL)

 Is it the truth?
 Is it fair to all concerned?
 Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
 Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
PERSONAL ETHICS
 Be honest at all times
 Convey a sense of business ethics based on your own standards and
those of society
 Respect the integrity and position of your opponents and audiences
 Develop trust by emphasizing substance over triviality
 Present all sides of an issue
 Strive for a balance between loyalty to the organization and duty to
the public
 Don’t sacrifice long-term objectives for short-term gains
VALUES
 Values are defined “as those principles or
attitudes to which we attribute worth (that is, we
cherish or prize them)” (Preston 2007)

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VALUES
Terminal Values Instrumental Values
Comfortable/Prosperous Life Ambitious, Hardworking,
aspiring
Exciting life Broadminded

Salvation (saved, eternal life) Loving (affectionate, tender)

Wisdom (a mature Self-controlled (restrained, self-

understanding of life) disciplined)
Freedom (Independence, free Helpful (working for the welfare
choice) of others)
Equality (brotherhood, equal Courageous (standing up for
opportunity for all) your beliefs)

Source: Rokeach (1970)

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VALUES
 Dimensions of cross-cultural differences
 Power distance
 Individualism versus collectivism
 Uncertainty avoidance
 Masculinity versus femininity
 Long-term versus short-term orientation

Source: Hofstede (2001)

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RESPONSIBILITY AND ROLE
 Winter (1966)
 “Responsibility is relatively a new term
in the ethical vocabulary, appearing in
the nineteenth century with a somewhat
ambiguous meaning…by defining the
scope of accountability and obligation in
contexts of law and common culture”

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RESPONSIBILITY AND ROLE
 McKeon (1957)
 “..the concept of responsibility became
increasingly significant as a way of
defining a common set of values among
people of divergent cultures and
traditions”

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RESPONSIBILITY AND ROLE
 Responsibility is bounded obligation in the form of
various roles
 People are held responsible in society by accepting
and exercising an array of less or well define roles:
employee, parent, citizen, group member
 Most problematic roles are those that are not
clearly defined
 What does it mean by a responsible parent in the
21st Century?

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RESPONSIBILITY AND ROLE
 Public officials are responsible for
certain duties- sometimes they are
obligated to act otherwise
 This is because public officials maintain
an array of roles related to family,
community and society
 Conflicting roles that are competing

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WHAT IS PROFESSIONALISM?
 OECD(1997)
 “A professional and efficient public
administration implies competent,
motivated and impartial public servants
working in a system serving the public
interest”

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ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM
 United Nations(2000)
 A public service committed to professionalism
and ethics is more likely to attain its goals if it
has in place an “ethics infrastructure” or its
country, a “national integrity system”. These
concepts represent, in a sense, a system of rules,
activities, and agents that provide incentives and
penalties for public officials to professionally
carry out their duties and engage in proper
conduct.

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WHAT IS PROFESSIONALISM?
 United Nations (2000)
 “public service professionalism is defined as the overall
value that encompasses all other values that guide the
public service. They include loyalty, neutrality,
transparency, diligence, punctuality, effective­ness,
impartiality, and other values that may be specific to the
public services of individual coun­tries. Public service
professionalism embraces the notion that those people
who join the public ser­vice need to be inculcated with
shared values and trained in basic skills to
professionally carry out their official duties”.

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Ethical, Professional, and
Legal Issues
ETHICS DEFINED
 Standards of moral and professional conduct
 Code of ethics--a written ethical guideline
followed by professionals
 discourages inappropriate practice
 protects recipient of services
 promotes exemplary behavior
MAKING ETHICAL JUDGEMENTS
 Considerproblem
Identify courses of action
 Identify potential
Consider consequences
issues for various decisions
 Review ethical
Determine best guidelines
course of action
 Consult colleagues
VALUES
 Those beliefs and principles held by a
person which have been formed by his/her
life experiences
 Consultant should know what his/her values
are
 Consultant should not expect other to hold
the same values
 Consultant should be aware of specific
values held by cultural and ethnic groups
COMPETENCE
 Providing services and accepting jobs for which
one is qualified
 maintain high levels of professionalism
 know one’s professional limitations
 know when to decline and refer
 avoid situations in which personal concerns could
affect professional performance
CONSULTANT-CONSULTEE-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP

 Work-related focus
 Dual relationships
 Freedom of choice
RIGHTS OF CONSULTEE
 Confidentiality--protecting the identities of
parties involved in consultation
 Informed Consent--to inform consultees about the
nature and goals of consultation, their right to
privacy, the voluntary nature of participation and
the complete freedom they have in following
suggestions made by the consultant
THE CONSULTANT AND THE GROUP
 Consulting with groups with caseloads
 Consulting with training groups
INTERVENTION AREAS INVOLVING ETHICAL ISSUES

 Individual vs. systems-level

 Use of assessment data

 Empirical validity of interventions

ETHICAL ISSUES IN ORGANIZATIONAL CONSULTATION

 Typical ethical issues exacerbated by complexity

or organization
 Aspirational ethics
 Virtue ethics
CONSULTING OVER THE INTERNET
 Relationship development
 Confidentiality
 Location-specific factors
 LEGAL ISSUES: MALPRACTICE
BEHAVIORS OFTEN LEADING TO LEGAL ENTANGLEMENTS:

 Misrepresenting one’s training

 Failing to respect integrity and privacy
 Using improper diagnosis and assessment
 Collecting fees improperly
 Libel and slander
 Breech of contract
 Failing to keep adequate records
 Failing to provide informed consent
 Providing poor advice