Ethics and Etiquette - Do You Really Know the Difference?

Just as the word 'ethics' has a different definition from the word 'etiquette,' there is a vast difference between business ethics and business etiquette. There are even instances where you must forgo etiquette in order to remain ethical in business practices.

Business ethics is a code or a set of standards that a business adheres to. This code essentially states what is considered ethical, and what is considered unethical in terms of how the business is conducted in relation to what is best for human beings, the community, the environment, and so on. Business etiquette, on the other hand, is essentially conducting business affairs in a polite manner. It can be compared, in some ways, to dinner table etiquette.

For example, if an employee is rude to a customer, this is not unethical, but it is considered poor etiquette. It may even be against the company's policy that relates to how employees interact with customers. One can have perfect etiquette and extremely poor ethics.

Ethics and Etiquette - Do You Really Know the Difference?

Another example of this is an attorney who has beautiful manners. In fact, his overall social and business etiquette is so perfect that he fits in well at any function, and performs well in any situation. However, if he is billing his clients for hours that he did not actually work, he is not using ethical business practices.

So, what must you do when you face a choice between etiquette and ethics? Above all else, choose to honor the code of ethics first, but have enough etiquette to try to smooth the situation over at the same time. Unfortunately, this doesn't always work out, and one must choose ethics and let the etiquette cards fall where they may.

Have you ever seen the movie, 'Jerry McGuire?' This is a movie about a sports agent. He realizes, after a few nights of not getting any sleep because his conscience was plaguing him that the sports agent industry, as a whole, was rarely considering what was best for the athletes that they represented beyond the amount of money and benefits that they could negotiate for them, which in turn raised their own profits. He wrote a report about how this should be changed, and put it in the boxes of all of the sports agents at a convention.

In this fictional characters situation, ethics met etiquette in a head on collision. What he did was ethical, but not without etiquette. However, it did cost him his job, and there wasn't much etiquette - or ethics - involved in that, mostly on the part of the company that he represented.

Again, there will come a time in your business transactions where you must choose between ethics and etiquette. Remember, however that in most cases, an unethical business decision will have a profound effect for a long time to come, while acting in a manner that is not dictated by good etiquette will usually only result in a few people talking about your poor manners for a short time. When you make an etiquette faux pas, it is usually soon forgotten, and future good etiquette can generally make up for it, but when you make an unethical decision, it can haunt you for the rest of your career.

Ethics and Etiquette - Do You Really Know the Difference?
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Define Your Position: Values, Ethics & Leadership

Some call it wearing one’s heart on the sleeve; others call it wearing their emotions. If the discussion is of values and ethics, leaders must wear them openly, constantly encouraging, mentoring, and coaching others to operate within values-based and ethical standards the leader expresses. Values and ethics exist in a philosophical arena and often mistaken as the same. Values explain that who you are is what you were when. Ethics demonstrates values through behavior. This paper takes the position that values exist on a higher plane than ethics.

Dr. Gyertson6 shares an insight on value and ethic sources. He says throughout human development, there are socio-cultural influences in family and tribe. In the time of prehistory, these values meant survival and extended family. Exploring present value development offers a very different view of family and tribe. Family is nuclear now and connection to extended family is often limited to the July Family Picnic. Tribe, community, is multifaceted people have small neighborhood tribes, work tribes, social tribes, and others. They move among tribes and behave differently in different settings. While core values remain, behaviors shifts when moving among groups. Interacting in work groups is an example. Consider a group of university administrators working to satisfy the needs and desires of applicants and students. Administrators work to put applicants and students at ease as they enter classes. Faculty works with students lecturing, and facilitating to grow students knowledge. The student is the same person yet is interacting with the different elements of the university.

Value deals with the worth, utility, moral virtue, aesthetics, and, may be singular or a collective of each. Values are at the core of what a person believes. In June 2006, article in USA Today, Colorado Rockies pitcher Jason Jennings tells the reporter that players for the ball club hear the value of character and good living from the top of the organization all the way down. In the locker room, one does not see pornographic pictures or magazines. There are sports magazines, racing and car magazines, and prominently seen throughout the locker room are bibles. This ball club believes in Christian values and Christian ethical behavior. A fan tells of not hearing the usual trash talking or player showboating among members of the Rockies. The leadership in the Rockies organization provides evidence of expected behavior in the clubhouse, on the playing field, and among players of other teams. The Rockies are not the "winningest" team in major league baseball; however, they display the near the highest behavioral ethics.

Define Your Position: Values, Ethics & Leadership

Ethics comes from the Greek ethikos, meaning arising from habit. Ethics is a study of living, a study in which we discover things as being right or wrong or true and false based on how we know things. Therefore, ethics is the outward manifestation, the acting out of a belief.

Values versus ethics

Values and ethics do not exist separately from each other. However, they may develop differently over time. A child’s values grow from the values of parents. A child’s ethical behavior develops from observing what parents do. Trust in parents’ grows as a child sees their parents obeying their beliefs (values) through their ethics (what they do) consistently. It is a leader’s responsibility to an organization, workers, and her- and him-self to do no less. Followers of a leader will loose trust quickly if they observe attitudes and behaviors that do not match expressed ethical standards and values.

Values must identify or embody who a leader is. Values are the bases upon which leaders make judgments on what is important. Ethics identifies a leader’s moral compass, the leader’s understanding of good and right. Ethics are a set of moral principles.

Leaders must commit to personal values and organizational values seeking a fit between both. Moreover, leaders must manifest values in a way that leaves the observer fully aware of the leader’s commitment.

A leader studies the community in which an organization exists to know what the community values. Another consideration is the ethical behavior that leaves a leader questioning whether the community acts as it believes. These observations of what a community believes and how it behaves tells a leader the scope of normative order within a community. However, organizational leaders must operate on a higher plane.

A consideration for leader examination when establishing a code of ethics is that ethics and values do not fit a neat categorization into specialty areas. Melissa Ingwersen1 of JPMorgan Chase Bank supports the foundation of ethics at home and school before applying them to business. She says JPMorgan Chase does not want to compromise it banks or bankers by doing business with questionable clients. Therefore, JPMorgan Chase selects clients carefully attempting to maintain their reputation and the reputation of their clients.

What does the above example tell us about values and ethics in an organization? For Chase Bank, the value is honesty, integrity, and character building of clients by selecting clients who have similar values as the bank. Chase Bank does not compromise their core values for the sake of gaining business. Another view of this provided by Brenda Joyner, et al2, is a sense of corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR includes such elements as economic, legal, discretionary activities and ethics. She says these exist within what are the values of the public.

Working standard - values and ethics

Stated above, ethics is the outward display of values. In some organizations, leaders are content to accept the ethic of responsibility to shareholders. Although this was the generally accepted behavior in economic boom years, most long-life businesses recognize that the bottom line is not an ethically symbolic way to engage.

Joyner, et al, relate the work of Paine (1994). In this, they attempt to put a value on following the letter of the law versus following spirit of the law. While obeying the letter of the law is legally and ethically correct, seeking the higher value to obey the spirit of the law propels a leader to higher trust, reducing cynicism, ultimately adding value to the ethical standard. The ethical standard is a leader and organization’s integrity strategy and values are the core beliefs driving the strategy.

Ray Coye3, writing in 1986 saw the need to differentiate values and ethics. In his view, there are no values for an organization separated from the collective values of leaders and members. He provides a definition of values as, “… serv(ing) as the authorities in the name of which choices are made and action taken.” In greater depth, this 1986 definition is one based on the prevailing attitude toward values and ethics considered correct – at that time (Coye, 1986)

• A value is chosen freely after consideration of alternatives and consequences

• Publicly affirmed, cherished, and prized

• Pattern of action that is consistent and repeated

Conclusion

Values exist at the core of our nature; they are our core belief system. Ethics, our behavior, reveal our values within an operating environment. If we say we cherish (value) our children but behave abusively, value and ethical behavior are incongruent. Within a leadership role, the same is true of our attitude toward workers. Recent history of organizational failure adds to common knowledge of how personal greed over the expressed organizational values ruin business and, worse, the faith workers have in the business and leaders.

Not all organizations are the Colorado Rockies Baseball Club, but trends start one person and one organization at a time. Be a trend setter.

Works Cited
1. Nightengale, B. (2006, June 1). Basball’s Rockies seek revival on two levels. USA Today. Retrieved September 20, 2006 from [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl/rockies/2006-05-30-rockies-cover_x.htm].
2. Cook, J. R. Interview: Melissa Ingwersen, Central OH President, JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA. Ethical Leadership, Council for Ethics in Economics (1,1)
3. Joyner, B. E., Payne, D. & Raiborn, C. A. (2002, April). Building values, business ethics and corporate social responsibility into the developing organization. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship(7,1), pg. 113.
4. Coye, R. (1986, February) Individual Values and Business Ethics. Journal of Business Ethics (5,1), pg. 45.
5. Watson, S. (2006). Personal Values in Business: How successful businesses underpin their success with clear values. Retrieved September 20, 2006 from [http://www.summitconsultants.co.uk/news-detail.asp?fldNewsArticles_ID=126].
6. Gyertson, D. J. (2006). Ethical Frameworks. Presentation at Regent University DSL Residency September 13 to 22, 2006

Define Your Position: Values, Ethics & Leadership
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Are Ethics Important For Professional Accountants?

Ethics in professional accountancy are of utmost importance. Now as the business and financial world is adopting international accounting and auditing standards, it is becoming all the more necessary to adhere to certain Code of Ethics prescribed by international and national accountancy bodies. Before arguing in favour of the topic, let's have a look at some basic concepts:

Profession

A profession is an occupation that requires extensive training and the study and mastery of specialized knowledge, and usually has a professional association, ethical code and process of certification or licensing; for example engineering, medicine, social work, teaching, law, finance, the military, nursing and Accountancy etc. Classically there were only three professions: military, medicine and law. Each of these professions holds to a specific code of ethics and members are almost universally required to swear some form of oath to uphold those ethics, therefore 'professing' to a higher standard of accountability. Each of these professions also provides and requires extensive training in the meaning, value and importance of its particular oath in practice of that profession.

Are Ethics Important For Professional Accountants?

Accountant

Practitioner of Accountancy is known as Accountant. Qualified Accountant, Accountant, Professional Accountant or Accountancy Practitioner is a legally certified accountancy and financial expert. Accountants not only work in public practice but many of them are working within private corporations, in financial industry and in various government bodies. Accountancy (profession) or accounting (methodology) is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities, lenders and other stakeholders and decision makers to make resource allocation and policy making decisions.

Like many other professions there are many professional bodies for accountants throughout the world. Some of them are legally recognized in their jurisdictions such as British qualified accountants including Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA or FCCA), Chartered Accountant (CA, ACA or FCA), Canadian qualified accountants such as Chartered Accountant and Certified General Accountants (CA or CGA) and American qualified Accountants such as Certified Public Accountants (CPA) etc. Some other statutory and non-statutory accountancy qualifications are Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Associated Cost and Management Accountant (ACMA), Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) etc.

In Pakistan, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan is the sole professional and accountancy body with the right to award the Chartered Accountant designation. ICAP is the member of IFAC (International Federation of Accountants, IASB (International Accounting Standards Board), Confederation of Asian & Pacific Accountants (CAPA) and South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA). The members of ICAP have reached to 4,089 as of March 1, 2007 data.

Role of Professional Accountants:

Accountants are independent business advisors. Accountants can offer an extensive range of services. Accountants can be registered auditors, can set up client's accounting systems, can be an advisor on tax planning, or a detector of frauds and embezzlements, can do budgeting and financial statement analysis, advise clients on financing decisions, provide specialist knowledge and can help maintaining an ethical environment.

After discussing the basic concepts and role of professional accountants we are in a better position to ponder on what professional ethics is and why it is important in the field of accountancy.

Definition of Ethics

The word 'Ethics' is derived from the Ancient Greek word ethikos; means customs and habits. A major branch of philosophy which is the study of values and customs of a person or group and covers the analysis and employment of concepts such as right and wrong, good and evil and do's and don'ts.

Code of Ethics:

In the context of a code adopted by a profession or by a governmental organization to regulate that profession, an ethical code may be styled as a code of professional responsibility, which may dispense with difficult issues of what behaviour is 'ethical'. A code of ethics is often a formal statement of the organization's values on certain ethical and social issues relating to the profession and practice of the professional knowledge. This also includes the principles and procedures for specific ethical situations.

Ethics in Professional Accountancy:

The general ethical standards of society apply to people in professions such as medicine, law, nursing and accountancy etc just as much as to anyone else. However society places even higher expectations on professionals. People need to have confidence in the quality of the complex services provided by professionals

Ethics in accountancy profession are invaluable to accounting professionals and to those who rely on their services. Stakeholders including clients, credit grantors, governments, taxation authorities, employees, investors, the business and financial community etc perceive them as highly competent, reliable, objective and neutral people. Professional accountants therefore, must not only be well qualified but also possess a high degree of professional integrity. Because of these high expectations, professionals have adopted codes of ethics; also known as codes of professional conduct. These ethical codes call for their members to maintain a level of self-discipline that goes beyond the requirements of laws and regulations. Each of the major professional association for accountants has a code of ethics.

As mentioned earlier, professional accountants can be of two types. One who work in firms or independently run those firms that provide accounting, auditing and other advisory services to clients; these are called public practitioners. Others are those who are employees of organizations and may serve as internal auditors, management accountants, financial managers and financial analysts. Regardless of the role of accountants, they are adhered to code of ethics which are applied to their professional conduct although there are some special provisions for those in public practice [Reference: Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants-International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)].

International Federation of Accountants-IFAC:

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) is a federation of all accountancy bodies throughout the world. All the major international and national associations like ACCA, AICPA, ICMA, ICAP, IASB etc are all its member organizations. The mission of IFAC, as set out in its constitution, is "the worldwide development and enhancement of an accountancy profession with harmonized standards, able to provide services of consistently high quality in the public interest" [Ref: Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants-IFAC]. In pursuing this mission, the IFAC Board has established the IFAC Ethics Committee to develop and issue, under its own authority, high quality ethical standards and other pronouncements for professional accountants for use around the world. The Code of Ethics establishes ethical requirements for professional accountants. A member body or firm may not apply less stringent standards than those stated in this Code.

The objective of setting this code of conduct is to harmonize these standards and practices on a global perspective. Public can only trust these highly professionals when it is made mandatory to observe and follow strict regulations and codes throughout the world. A professional accountant is required to comply with the following fundamental principles mentioned in this Code of Ethics:[Ref: Section 100.4 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants]

· Integrity: A professional accountant should be honest and straightforward in all professional and business relationship.

· Objectivity: A professional accountant should not allow bias, conflict of interest or undue influence of others to override professional or business judgments.

· Professional Competence & Due Care: A professional accountant has a continuing duty to maintain professional knowledge and skills at the level required to ensure that a client or employer receives competent professional service. A professional accountant should act diligently and in accordance with applicable technical and professional standards when providing professional services.

· Confidentiality: A professional accountant should respect the confidentiality of information acquired as a result of professional and business relationships and should not disclose nay such information to third parties without proper and specific authority unless there is a legal or professional right or duty to disclose. This information should not be used for personal advantage by professional accountant.

· Professional Behaviour: A professional accountant should comply with relevant laws and regulations and should avoid any action that discredits the profession.

Code of Ethics defined in 'Members Handbook' for members of ICAP Pakistan is in conformity with:

· IFAC Code of Ethics and International Auditing Standards

· International Accounting Standards

· The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan - ICAP

· Relevant legislation

[Ref: Members Handbook-ICAP]

This Code of Ethics has discussed in detail the role of Chartered Accountants in given situations. For example there are clear directives on prohibition of acceptance of gifts, long association with clients, advertising of firm's name exceeding prescribed limits, holding client's monies for no sound reason, disclosure of client's records (except ones that are allowed), acceptance of fees offered by client which is less than that prevailing in market etc.

After discussing in detail the importance of ethics in accounting profession, we are to conclude the topic with this final note that accountancy as a profession is acceptable and relied upon only when ability to exercise professional judgment based on a foundation of ethics; broad but deep technical excellence and strategic awareness are exercised by a professional accountant. Only then general public can trust the integrity of this profession.

Are Ethics Important For Professional Accountants?
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The Author is an ACCA student and is working for United Nations Population Fund

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Basics Of Ethics And Morals

Throughout history, man has always struggled with the issue of right and wrong and ethics and justice. According to the dictionary, ethics is defined as "the study of the general nature of morals and of the specific moral choices to be made by the individual in his relationship with others". In simple terms, ethics provides the evaluation mechanisms and theories, based on which a particular action is adjudged as right or wrong, or as good deed or bad deed. It tries to answer the questions "why is this good?" if something is judged as good or right and "why is this bad?" if something is judged as bad or wrong.

Knowing about ethics does not mean that one will always end up doing the morally correct thing. However, it makes you more capable of explaining your actions -- like although you knew that this was wrong, you were forced to do it owing to the circumstances.

The moral absolutism approach presumes the existence of eternal moral values and principles that are applicable at all times and at all places and circumstances. It considers that the moral quality of the action or behavior lies on the quality of the act itself (which means that something which is right is always right and something which is wrong is always wrong) irrespective of the circumstances that cause the act or the consequences that result from the act.

Basics Of Ethics And Morals

The ethical relativism approach presumes that moral values and principles are not right or wrong, but can vary with different circumstances -- moral views can vary depending on how different cultures or individuals perceive a particular action or behavior. It is a very flexible approach and considers that the moral quality of the action or behavior is based on the circumstances that cause the act or the consequences that result from the act rather than the actual act itself. For instance, an action is adjudged as right if it proves to be highly beneficial to a large number of people.

Basics Of Ethics And Morals
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