Professional Ethics: Obsolete or Replaced

1
Professional Ethics Obsolete or Replaced?
by Earl Johnson, Jr., Sr. Consultant Millican
Associates

• ARMA Houston Chapters 2005 Spring Conference
• Information Powers Success
• Stafford, TX
• April 26-28, 2005

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What you will take away

• A realization that meaningful conflict is a
  cornerstone in healthy, successful organizations
  due to the dependence on business ethics.
• A better appreciation of the real costs to our
  society when our leaders fail ethically, and the
  price we pay.
• A set of learning tools that can be used to
  build, rebuild, and/or strengthen your own
  foundational ethical standards and principles.

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What are ethics?

• Ethics is about deciding whether an action is
  good or bad and what to do about it if it is
  bad.
• The problem in discussing ethics is that it turns
  everybody into judge and jury, each deciding what
  is good or bad behavior, inevitably attempting to
  impose that judgment on others.
• 
  - Peter de Jager, The Information Management
  Journal
• 
  September/October 2002

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Professional Ethics

• How many of you consider yourselves to be ethical
  people?

2. How many of you believe that it is important
for businesses to function in an ethical manner?
3. How many of you believe you know an ethical
dilemma when you see it?
4. How many of you feel there are clear answers
to ethical problems?
5. Now, how many of you believe that you always
know an ethical dilemma when it arises, and
always know how to resolve it?
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Business ethics timeline
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
Ethical Climate
Ethical Dilemma
Ethical Develop-ment
SOURCE www.ethics.org
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Ethics in the workplace
Proportion of employees who admit
SOURCE The Wall Street Journal Online
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Who do we trust (by profession)?
- Gallup Poll News Service Annual Survey on
Honesty and Ethical Standards, 12/7/2004
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3 Approaches to Dealing With Ethical Dilemmas

• Neglect, or an absence of formal ethical programs
• 2. Compliance programs based on regulations to
  prevent violations
• Values oriented program that combines functional
  values with individual responsibility

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The Bakers Dozen

• Ethics Is Power because for people who operate
  ethically their word is their bond. Time
  consuming and costly written agreements aren't
  needed.
• Ethics Is Power because for people who operate
  ethically, there are no hidden agendas to worry
  about.
• Ethics Is Power because you dont have to watch
  your back.
• Ethics is Power because it fosters the
  development of one of the most crucial success
  elements for organizations - trust.

from the book Political Savvy by Dr. Joel
DeLuca, Ph.D. www.politicalsavvy.com
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The Bakers Dozen

• Ethics is Power because those known to operate
  ethically are preferred team members revered as
  even equal to and sometimes greater than
  technical competence.
• Ethics is Power because operating ethically
  increases ones Rep or reputation in the firm,
  a key to the amount of informal influence and
  power they possess in the eyes of others.

from the book Political Savvy by Dr. Joel
DeLuca, Ph.D. www.politicalsavvy.com
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The Bakers Dozen

• Ethics is Power because ethical people are more
  resistant to influence attempts from political
  Sharks who use unethical means. The power of
  those acting unethically is thus dampened and the
  overall ethical influence is enhanced by
  comparison.
• Ethics is Power because ethics means doing the
  right thing which often results in doing the
  right things for the task. Doing things right
  increases the chances of success and success
  usually increases power. A bit convoluted but
  true nonetheless.

from the book Political Savvy by Dr. Joel
DeLuca, Ph.D. www.politicalsavvy.com
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The Bakers Dozen

• Ethics is Power because bosses who believe their
  subordinates are ethical worry less that they
  will be negatively surprised by something wrong
  in their unit. They know the person will tell
  them if something is going wrong that could
  embarrass the boss in the organization. Often the
  result is a boss who is willing to delegate more
  responsibility to an ethical person, other
  factors being equal. This can give the ethical
  person more responsibility and influence.

from the book Political Savvy by Dr. Joel
DeLuca, Ph.D. www.politicalsavvy.com
13
The Bakers Dozen

• Ethics is Power because ethical people are less
  likely to spend precious energy in internal turf
  battles, both personally and departmentally. This
  can free up an enormous amount of energy for task
  accomplishment which versus internal friction. It
  thus empowers teams and organizations to better
  serve customers and operate more efficiently. The
  result can be greater power and influence in the
  market place.

from the book Political Savvy by Dr. Joel
DeLuca, Ph.D. www.politicalsavvy.com
14
The Bakers Dozen

• Ethics is Power because operating ethically can
  increase personal self esteem. Those with high
  self esteem often have high confidence which can
  make them more powerful and influential with
  others than those with low self esteem.
• Ethics is Power because those higher in the
  organization are more likely to listen to someone
  they know to be ethical versus someone who they
  believe are trying to advance personal versus
  organizational agendas.

from the book Political Savvy by Dr. Joel
DeLuca, Ph.D. www.politicalsavvy.com
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The Bakers Dozen

• Ethics is Power because ethical environments are
  more likely to bring out peoples personal best
  instead of their personal worst - often the
  result of unethical environments. When ordinary
  people are functioning together at their personal
  best they are often capable of extraordinary
  performance thus increasing personal and
  organizational impact and power.

from the book Political Savvy by Dr. Joel
DeLuca, Ph.D. www.politicalsavvy.com
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Are things getting better?
Chuck Prince Citigroups CEO wants to be the
chief executive officer who brings a new culture
of ethics He argues that Citigroup's leaders
-- himself included -- failed to make their own
values and ethics part of the fabric of the
corporation. "We emphasized the short-term
performance side of the equation exclusively," he
said. "We didn't think we had to say And by the
way, don't violate the law.' There were unspoken
assumptions that need to be spoken." It wont
be easy. Citigroup played a pivotal role in
financing fraud-ridden Enron, WorldCom, and
Adelphia among others. Its private Japanese bank
flouted regulators, and European bond traders
developed a trading strategy so extreme its been
dubbed "Dr. Evil." The company has been caught
misbehaving multiple times, on multiple
continents. The first sign Mr. Prince was
serious about all this came when he fired three
senior executives for failing to manage the Japan
problem.
Source The Wall Street Journal, March 2, 2005
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Earl Johnson, Jr.

• Senior Consultant
• Millican Associates
• 2699 Stirling Road, Suite C106
• Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33312
• [phone]
• ejohnson_at_millican-assoc.com
• www.millican-assoc.com