Proffessional Ethics
Professional ethics has become more important over the years. As we become more specialized in our occupation, the issues become that much more complex – and hard. Professional people and those working in acknowledged professions exercise specialist knowledge and skill. How the use of this knowledge should be governed when providing a service to the public can be considered a moral issue and is termed professional ethics. They must complete their job according to the moral values.
Professionals are capable of making judgments, applying their skills and reaching informed decisions in situations that the general public cannot, because they have not received the relevant training. One of the earliest examples of professional ethics is probably the Hippocratic oath to which medical still adhere to this day. Professional ethics is a set of standards adopted by a professional community. Professional ethics are regulated by standards, which are often referred to as codes of ethics. The code of ethics is very important because it gives us boundaries that we have to stay within in our professional careers. The one problem with the code of ethics is that we can 't always have the answers.
Professional bodies have increasingly been at work developing, revising and refining professional codes of ethics. Professionals themselves ask for more detailed codes so as to have greater guidance. There is no longer a deference to the authority of experts on the part of the public or of the client group.
Professional ethics helps a professional choose what to do when faced with a problem at work that raises a moral issue. One can certainly study what professionals do when faced with such problems, and confine the enquiry to the description. Our concern here, however, is to assist with making choices – an approach called prescriptive professional ethics.
Obviously one can be unethical without behaving illegally. It is a common rationalization of unethical
Professionals are capable of making judgments, applying their skills and reaching informed decisions in situations that the general public cannot, because they have not received the relevant training. One of the earliest examples of professional ethics is probably the Hippocratic oath to which medical still adhere to this day. Professional ethics is a set of standards adopted by a professional community. Professional ethics are regulated by standards, which are often referred to as codes of ethics. The code of ethics is very important because it gives us boundaries that we have to stay within in our professional careers. The one problem with the code of ethics is that we can 't always have the answers.
Professional bodies have increasingly been at work developing, revising and refining professional codes of ethics. Professionals themselves ask for more detailed codes so as to have greater guidance. There is no longer a deference to the authority of experts on the part of the public or of the client group.
Professional ethics helps a professional choose what to do when faced with a problem at work that raises a moral issue. One can certainly study what professionals do when faced with such problems, and confine the enquiry to the description. Our concern here, however, is to assist with making choices – an approach called prescriptive professional ethics.
Obviously one can be unethical without behaving illegally. It is a common rationalization of unethical
References: 1) C. A. Brincat and V.S. Wike, Morality and the Professional Life: Values at Work. Prentice Hall Inc., (2000). 2) Pamela S. Lewis, Stephen H. Goodman, Patricia M. Fandt, Management Challenges for Tomorrow’s Leaders, 4th Edition, Thomson, South Western. (2004) 3) Chris MacDonald, Ph.D. – Gene Marks, ed., Streetwise Small Business Book of Lists, Adams Media 2006.