July 23, 2008
Ethics
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You can find various business ethics quizzes around thPick the one answer you think is wrong. This one is different. Each question has only one WRONG answer, doesn’t analyze your answers and tell you where you went wrong. Rather, it is simply intended to raise your ethical consciousness, maybe even stimulate a little discussion between you and your peers or family.
In this quiz, try to pick the answer that is wrong. I hope the “wrong” answers are obvious if you care about business ethics.
Enjoy!
1. My reputation
a. Is only as good as my word
b. Precedes me
c. Once lost is hard to regain
d. Is the legacy I’ll leave behind
e. Doesn’t matter to me.
2. Following my employer’s Code of Ethics
a. Could be important to my success
b. Requires interpretation to get it right
c. Will make me a better leader
d. Is a waste of time
e. Requires a certain level of consciousness and some attention to detail
3. Pointing out ethical transgressions at work
a. Can be awkward
b. Helps raise awareness for us all
c. Is a career ending move
d. Can backfire
e. Could be educational all the way around
4. Keeping the workplace ethical
a. Makes it a better place to work
b. Is hopeless
c. Requires clarity around ethical standards
d. Means top management has to do it
e. Leads to a more profitable company
5. My employer’s ethical reputation
a. Is in the dumps and dropping
b. Reflects on me
c. Is partially set by how I behave
d. Makes a difference in the bottom line
e. To some extent determines whether people will buy our products
6. Accepting gifts from vendors
a. May be fine within limits
b. Should under no conditions affect my willingness to buy from them
c. Has stricter rules in the US than is some other countries
d. Is a great idea to get as much as you can!
e. Should probably be disclosed to the ethics office, particularly if it is valued at over a certain amount
7. I care about business ethics because
a. America’s reputation has suffered recently
b. Good business ethics can restore better profits
c. I don’t want to work somewhere slimy
d. Good business ethics creates a more just workplace
e. They substitute for my complete lack of business ethics.
The wrong answers would likely come from someone who is apathetic and/or cynical. Sometimes, we do feel either of those feelings. However, life is short and the well-lived life is a life of integrity. Living a life of integrity means caring about business ethics.
If you enjoyed taking this quiz, share it with your friends. If you work in an office that cares about ethics, share it at the next staff meeting. Leave it in the lunch room. Pick the one question that you like most and talk about it over beers this weekend. On your commute home, think about what you want to do differently going forward. Send the quiz anonymously to your boss. Keep the discussion going about the importance of ethics in business!
Copyright by Sally Rhys of Coaching for Perspective, July 2008
Sally Rhys, MS, coaches and consults on business ethics. As the former Director, Ethics and Compliance at a $1.5B publicly traded company, her expertise will help you increase both your business knowledge and professionalism. Contact her at http://www.coachingforperspective.com
July 22, 2008
Ethics
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Each of us carries around within us a personal code of ethics. We may not be conscious of it; we may not deliberately consult it on a daily basis, we may not apply a decision tree against it to make a choice, but it exists. And, at times, it may falter, or we may apply different ethical principles in different situations.
Take a minute to identify your fundamental ethical philosophy. Which of the descriptions below best captures the way you like to operate in the world?
1. Humans have no special place within the world, but are just one of thousands of expressions of life. People have desires and free will and so can alter their nature. However, if one acts unnaturally, it upsets the balance of life. Therefore, one should seek balance in life.
2. Ethics is a practical science; you have to do it, not just think it. This philosopher thought in terms of virtue ethics which has to do with the proper function of a thing. Therefore, the best activity of the soul is to attain a joy in the good life.
3. The responsibility of all people is to help build the ideal society, and if it takes violating the norms of a society to do so, then do it. To some degree, the situation will dictate the proper thing to do at the proper time.
4. There is a single unconditional obligation, and that is to carry out your duty. How you feel when carrying out the action is what is important, although the outcome might not be what you intended.
Now, which statement resonates most with you? Which seems to be the path you travel in living your life?
If you select number 1, your pattern is most aligned with Laozi, a philosopher of ancient China and a key figure in Taoism.
If number 2 rang your chimes, your pattern is most aligned with Aristotle, the Greek who taught that to have a good life, you must live a balanced life and avoid excesses.
If number 3 resonated with you, your pattern is most aligned with Confucius, the Chinese philosopher who emphasized personal and government morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and mercy.
If number 4 makes the most sense to you, your pattern is most aligned with Kant, an 18th century Prussian philosopher.
No matter which philosophy attracts you the most, all are legitimate, honorable ways of being. In fact, you may apply different principles depending on any given situation.
While these are all laudable approaches to life, applying them will likely have different outcomes. For instance, consider the case of Zoe. Zoe has a co-worker, Alice, who was listing more hours worked on her timesheet than was true; she is cheating the company.
To apply the thinking of Kant in this situation, we’d say, “If everybody cheated on their time sheet, no work would get done and the company would be paying for nothing!” Since Zoe is a friend to Alice, she knows that Alice was just abandoned by her husband, and has two kids under four to care for. Day care is proving problematic. With this additional information, you might think about adopting a Confucian standard. This philosophy would encourage you to value helping to build an ideal society, which certainly includes making sure small children are well cared for.
See how applying different ethical standards would guide you to take different action?
Whichever approach makes the most sense to you, explore the strengths and limitations of your preferred approach. Under what circumstances does your approach work best? Under what circumstances would your approach result in unintended, maybe even negative, consequences? How have you consciously applied your philosophy in the past? Has it ever landed you in a hot spot? By the way, note that being in a hot spot may mean that you did exactly the right thing, it is just not well received!
Sometime tomorrow, find an opportunity to practice applying your favored approach very deliberately. It can be a small incident in your daily life. Think about driving in traffic, trash on the streets, standing in a line. What do you learn from the exercise? Knowing that, how will you change your pattern in the future, if at all?
And finally, I encourage you find out more about the thinking and teachings of the thinkers above. You might refine your thinking about how you want to live your life. Online encyclopedias are an easy first step.
Happy philosophizing!
Sally Rhys, MS, coaches and consults on business ethics. As the former Director, Ethics and Compliance at a $1.5B publicly traded company, her expertise will help you increase both your business knowledge and professionalism. Contact her at http://www.coachingforperspective.com
March 27, 2008
Ethics
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Advertising is a competitive field; there is no question about it. Having been in this industry for over twenty years, I have seen many changes: some good, some bad but the core basics of the business remain constant. What used to take weeks to accomplish fifteen years ago virtually takes days but the flip side of that is that in order to do that, you have to stay up with technology and constantly learn. I often laugh with colleagues that one day my head will truly explode with all the information it is being fed.
The reward, however, is the final product and glory for each client. The bottom line in advertising always was and still is one thing: the client.
Within the industry I am known as a ‘relationship’ builder — I like to network and combine talents and see people soar. In my career, I have been extremely fortunate to have been given many chances way before I was ready simply because someone believed in me. The most valuable education I have ever received had been through the jobs I acquired early in my career receiving the guidance of some of the most talented Art Directors in New York.
One disturbing change I see today within my industry is the lack of teamwork that was rampant twenty years ago. Today, it is everyone for themselves, which unfortunately, is short-term thinking. Years ago, people did whatever it took to achieve a deadline and everyone on board was a dedicated pro. Today, the pro’s are few and far between and dedication has a price which, unfortunately, usually is not worth the price.
Although I have a talented and competent staff, I like to give ‘new talent’ a chance and perhaps create new opportunities for them. Last year, I had put together a very simple website for myself and asked a young man I knew if he would code it for me. The understanding was that if he did a good job within a reasonable amount of time, I would consider hiring him for ongoing work. That seemed fair especially since he had so little on his resume.
Since this is my business, I was fully aware that the website should have taken a few days to do but I was experimenting with new talent so I let it go it’s course.
The results were interesting and something I have experienced often in the recent years. This young man actually took two months to complete a very simple project without ever returning one phone call to me. The final invoice given to me was astronomical — not worth the work and I was charged for work that he never did. Instead of breaking things down, he literally charged me for two months of nothing — including his sleep time…. Needless to say, I have no use for this gentleman to ever join my advertising agency and I doubt he will go far.
Technology has created new rules within my industry that has opened up a ‘Wild-West’ mindset: basically anything goes because the average client has absolutely no idea what is involved to make their project happen nor should they. Although I do not expect my clients to know how to do what my agency does, I do work very closely with each client educating them of the process and what is available for them within their budget. Every job is different and I am a firm believer in building as you go and expand as a business creates revenue. Oftentimes, clients do not think past a design or logo and run out of money during the most vital part of the process: the marketing. Let’s face it; what good is a highly expensive design or a ten thousand dollar book cover if there is no money left within the budget to market that product?
Well, the unfortunate truth is that many players within my industry (who basically are my competition) really don’t care and the irony is is that their success rate is not very high.
Another interesting situation followed only a few weeks ago. Recently, I have added videos to my services to market books and products. My thought process was that if the movie industry can create movie trailers to entice the public, why not do the same for an upcoming book? The success has been enormous for the authors I work with and we have a ball putting an authors book ‘to the big screen’,
A California IT firm wanted to merge with my agency and asked to view my most recent book promo video, Seduced by Fear. What I didn’t expect was that he retouched my work and the final result looked similar to the old Japanese movies where the lip sinking did not match — the spoken words within my video were going much faster that the mouths were moving. Even more disturbing was that I was charged $5,000.00 for tampering with my work. What was that all about? Well, it doesn’t matter because there was no merge nor was any check written.
My concern is and always has been with each client. Too many innocent people are getting taken advantage of by ‘professionals’ who are really amateurs trying to ‘play with the big boys’ and make a quick buck. When clients comes to me for work, I insist that they do their ‘homework’ before committing to any contract and check my references as well as ‘interview’ a few other Agencies. With the onset of the Internet, businesses can seem much more successful or larger than they actually are and it is easy to get fooled and…ripped off.
The benevolence within me will always continue to seek out new talent. Optimistically speaking, once in a while, I am happy to say, I really do get lucky. In order to be successful, integrity must be combined with talent and it saddens me that so little is found today. On my more dramatic days, I sort of like to think of myself as the ‘Elliot Ness’ of advertising — weeding out those who do bad business to protect the public. After all, without clients how can Advertising be successful?
A native New Yorker, Judi Lynn Lake resides in South Carolina, with her husband and 7-year-old daughter. She successfully runs her own Advertising/PR Firm. Contact Judi at http://www.judilake.com
March 27, 2008
Ethics
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In today’s work world, you cannot afford to tolerate a commitment level that remains at room temperature. You need people who invest themselves fully in their work, people who deliver dramatic results.
Performance is what pays the bills. Not loyalty. Not morale. What is needed is high job commitment. Commitment works a lot harder than loyalty, and gets more done than morale does. Commitment energizes. It empowers. It inspires creativity and pulls a persons true potential into play. That is crucial because the organization cannot get by anymore with mediocre performers. Commitment is self-nourishing it draws power from the spirit, it feeds the soul. Commitment gives meaning to work, and deepens ones sense of self-worth.
Be Passionate In Your Commitment
People always look at the leader when they want to take the pulse of an organization. Example says a lot. Commitment climbs when people see passion in the person in charge. They catch the feeling since commitment, after all, is a highly contagious thing. The more consuming your commitment, the more you draw your people toward you and toward the task to be done. Your intensity, your focus, drive, and dedication carries maximum influence over the level of commitment you can expect from others.
Like it or not, you set the climate. People always take a reading on the person in charge. So when it comes to building commitment, you must lead by example.
Provide a Strong Sense of Purpose
People do not care about working for a company; they want to work for a movement. Provide employees with a grand purpose, a mission with a larger meaning, a cause that transcends the dullness of their everyday duties. Give them a dream they can identify with and watch commitment climb. Build your cause around a concept, an idea or principle that can inspire people to go beyond their present limits.
It is worth noting that Martin Luther King did not say I have a strategic plan. He shouted I have a dream! And he created a crusade. Never under estimate the power of purpose.
Engineer and Honor Achievements
Commitment grows when employees have a chance to contribute. Create a work environment where people can achieve, and you create a climate of greater commitment. Employees want to know they make a difference. This gives meaning to their work, however mundane their accomplishments might seem to you.
Build commitment in your work group by giving people meaningful assignments they can carry to successful completion.
Delegate Power to Every Person
Give each employee full control and authority over some sector of work. Share the power. Delegate authority and let everyone be in charge of something. Position your people, as individuals, to wield a measure of influence over ideas and events. When people feel unable to shape circumstances and when they feel that everything is beyond their control, they learn to act helpless. Anytime people feel disempowered, commitment gets diluted.
Help your employees believe in their ability to affect their circumstances. Give them opportunities to shape their future. Look for chances to let them have a say in matters of personal concern, especially within their own sphere of influence. When the power drains out of your people, there is no strength left in the organization. Commitment dies for lack of energy.
Make Your People Feel Needed
Think how hard it would be to remain committed if your commitment was not needed. What if you did not feel like you mattered? If your efforts seemed insignificant, or if your work was not looked at as being worth much, why would you want to try?
Commitment cannot take root unless your employees feel like they count for something. If they come to believe it is no big deal whether they do a sloppy job or first class work, they get the idea that nobody really cares, the drive to deliver excellent results dies a slow death.
It is important to make every person fell like he or she really matters. See that each one gets to go home at night feeling useful … relevant …significant. Need your people as individuals. Let it show. Ask for their help. Lean on them.
Pj Germain
the Foundation for Excellence
Top Tooth Whitening Products
All About Digital Cameras
March 27, 2008
Ethics
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Ever wonder if the latest greatest technology can help you? Do you wonder what would happen if you step back and took a look at your business process workflow in an end to end manner? Would you learn how to be more efficient and more profitable? When you hear business process improvement (BPI) and business process management (BPM), do you know the difference between the two? If you do know, then are you like most business owners, wondering what problems could be solved and what components are part of a BPI/BPM Assessment and if your business could benefit by a business process impact study?
To do this we first need to look at your business process workflow in an end to end manner. Consider that a task is a collection of organized processes that you the business owner or manager organized to complete one of your business activities. It does not matter the size of your business, your workflow tasks include processes that will occur in a sequential or parallel manner. Your sequential processes operate and are linked/worked one after the other. Your parallel processes occur simultaneously and reflect the way you operate daily. Large or small, your business process workflow contains many of these tasks, subtasks and steps.
After your business has been operating for a while, business process become out of sync because the normal execution and interaction of your team with customers and suppliers means unknowns occur and business workflow by their nature become complex, disjointed and out of sync. The ability to manage your processes and keep them operating at peak efficiency becomes harder and it then becomes harder to keep your business healthy. Trying to keep your personnel in sync with your business processes and their supporting technologies is even harder.
To understand this more, you need to understand the makeup or architecture of your business and what tools would be considered. This architecture and tools are in use everyday and hence drive your efficiencies. The architecture consists of the following:
- Communications Tools - Your communication tools consist of the processes, methodologies and workflow software applications that your organization uses on a daily basis to conduct your business. This layer is used by your personnel daily and your customers experience the results daily. This layer drives your business and your workflow management.
- Support Technologies - Your technology supports your business communication tools and provides specific capabilities that individually, hinder or enable your business operation at a system or computer level. Support technologies consist of your vendor products, their proprietary or open source capabilities. Included at this layer are the standards that may drive your business. This layer supports and drives your communication tools and your business environment.
- Integration Collaboration - The integration and collaboration of your communication tools across your supported technologies has the potential to provide your business with a major positive impact. This integrated layer, BPM workflow, SOA, service oriented application as examples, drives and delivers the business benefits. This would be considered the new end to end business process.
This end to end business process is supported by four key technologies that are installed in your business and should be evaluated to ensure synergy. These four key communications technologies, internet, office, voice and CRM, make up an end to end business process and are considered to be the IOVC layer.
- Internet - arguable every thing runs through the internet. The internet consist of more then a website, it is also web services and your email strategy. Your customers may only come through the internet. Today if you are not on the internet, you are missing business exposure, revenue and your potential customers are missing you.
- Office - your office operations are driven by a set of business processes that whether formally designed, inherited or grew out of spontaneous interaction due to day to day demands, they are the heart beat of your operation, which means they drive the efficiency of your operation.
- Voice - people talking to people ensure services, problems and solutions are handled in a timely and accurate manner. Your telephone system must provide more then just voice communication, it should provide value added mobility services that sets you apart from your competition.
- CRM - Customers contact you/your people to buy products and services and to rectify a problem. This customer interaction should be used to build a strong customer relationship. Your people, using your customer interaction process will make all the difference in retaining or losing customers.
Understanding the architecture, the technology and the IOVC components, you can now make a fair assessment about the benefits of learning whether a business process improvement (BPI) and business process management (BPM) assessment can help you.
If you train yourself, you would learn what a business process is and you would learn how to define your key business processes. You and your team would be able to define what tools are used in identifying your business processes. The team would learn how to document the existing business process by developing process maps. More importantly, they would be able to identify which workflow tasks or steps add value. Then the team would identify and work to eliminate those business steps that fail to add value. At this point in the assessment, the team starts to transition from identifying and knowing what steps to improve and moves to working on a deployment solution.
In deployment the team collectively understands and discusses what to do when the identified solution conflicts with business policy or a current external process. The goal of the team is to make it functional within your organization. The solution then gets implemented and becomes operational.
On an ongoing basis the team needs to ensure continued success, the group must manage the business process. This requires a complete understanding of current routines, future goals and the gaps in between. This is considered business process management or BPM.
Another factor to consider, when learning about BPI and BPM is you should consider how you should learn? You should learn in the manner that is related to how you work. For BPI/BPM assessments to be effective, the best way to learn is in a situational manner which enables you to identify and manage your specific business processes. You may want to consider having customized courses or consulting that can be defined to target your specific situation.
In summary, implementation of a business process workflow management system with proper understanding, people, education and learning in a situational environment, one can first identify the process, and then analyze the process, move on to improving and deploying the process. Finally, you monitor and manage the process to make radical improvements within your business.
Will you benefit? Consider that your personnel work daily to complete specific business processes using business process technology that you have within your business. You learn to better utilize what you do and therefore can gain tremendous benefits. You should become intimately involved and learn about managing business processes that are a part of your day. In today’s business environment, we continuously strive for a more effective business process operation and a firm with actual hands on experience can help you learn and apply these strategies. That is because business process improvement and business process management have become essential tools to just about any organization.
Greg provides small business solutions as an internet and office technology consultant. At TechOSS Business Process Improvement Solutions Greg helps people succeed through the use of integrated IOVC communications technology.
March 27, 2008
Ethics
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I will admit I was getting a little worried about the recently nixed Fox interview with O.J. Simpson as well as Judith Regan’s decision to publish his book.
The short lived media frenzy regarding the O.J. Simpson book, If I Did It, as well as Judith Regan’s ridiculous defense for why she decided to publish it intrigued me very much. Judith, if you were looking for a voice to heal then why not anonymously volunteer somewhere?
I applaud Rupert Murdoch and the Harper Collins Publishing House for the courage to make a decision that obviously cost them a great deal of money.
Personally, I had thought this publishing company had gone mad, but thank God they came to their senses and actually pulled the project — or, perhaps more to the truth, they listened to the American people’s response and realized this was not what the average citizen craved for at all. So the average person does have a voice after all…
I left the corporate world twenty years ago basically because I wanted to travel the road less traveled and, as old blue eyes sang, ‘do it my way’. All the myths about advertising and publishing are true but there still needs to be standards and accountability. On a small scale, I receive at least thirty manuscripts a day and from those I usually choose to work on only one or two books a month. Unfortunately, although everyone wants to write books today there is not a great deal of quality.
Associates have often questioned me about my selection criteria since I primarily work with self-publishing authors. Usually the thing that matters most within the self-publishing arena is getting paid and moving on. Well, gone is the stigma of ‘vanity press’ and that is not why I work with self-publishing authors. I work with them because I know they would never get the attention or respect they deserve had they gone through a traditional publishing house and they are usually not experienced enough to realize that.
At my last corporate gig, I was an Art Director within the music industry and I loved my job enormously. I traveled, had freedom, respect and was making good money. My personal choice of music is show-tunes, swing and 70s rock but, ironically, I was placed within the heavy metal genre.
I knew my days were numbered one evening when I had to make a moral choice that was not good for the company but was, in my opinion, the right thing to do. In the eleventh hour I boldly decided to pull a very expensive, full page, 4 color ad from a then famous rock band and replace it with a filler ad. The band was notorious for simulating graphic abortions on stage and I could not support that as art for vulnerable teenagers. Of course, twenty years later, I realize it would have been best if I just quit that job but, in my youth, I was a bit of a rebel.
My duration within that company lasted one more month and then I was laid off — interestingly, not fired. I went from making a six-figure income to nothing and many people thought I was crazy ‘for not going with the flow’ but I knew better. Whether I believe in something or not, as long as my name is associated with it and I am getting paid I basically am endorsing it. There is no way around that and the solution, for me, was quite simple: only accept work that I can back up morally and responsibly.
Over the years, I have been offered tremendous opportunities that could have been incredibly rewarding financially but morally inept. I consciously do not work on projects that can influence people in an unhealthy way because within my field there is too many smoke and mirrors. Because I am brought in on projects to pull it all together and make it happen, I discern each project to its true meaning.
Forty years ago movies still showed values, prayer and reverence and today, unfortunately, it is unfashionable. The other day as I was driving, I heard an advertisement on the radio that ended with: ‘Jesus is still the Reason for the season.’ Well, I darn well almost ran off the road with that one but inwardly felt joyful and hopeful. Although probably not politically correct, New Line Cinema has gone back to the fundamental truth to which this great country has turned it’s back on. Jesus Is the Reason for Christmas and He should be invited back in America.
Perhaps if we combined the morals of yesteryear with the technology and knowledge of today we would have the world each of us dream about. Personally, I have seen enough guts, gore, sex and destruction and I would bet that a great many more are as bored and disgusted by it as me. People do indeed have a voice and the time is now to use it if only for our children who are our leaders for tomorrow.
Judi Lynn Lake successfully runs her own advertising agency which handles everything from logos, branding, videos and websites while continues to work closely with self-published authors from design to promotion. To learn more visit http://www.judilake.com
March 27, 2008
Ethics
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The 21st century has revolutionized the way business in conducted worldwide. The world wide web connects nearly every home to companies in foreign nations as well as the teenager with a blog. The internet is the most powerful form of communication in the world and is the best tool for building a business. Unfortunately, scams, liars, and cheats also recognize the power of the web and use it to attack honest folks. How can your business separate itself from the cheats?
There is a saying that Zig Ziglar has made very popular in recent years. If you haven’t heard it yet you can expect to hear it frequently in the future, especially if your future includes business dealings. The idea is really the essence behind building trust with any clientele. It goes like this:
“You can have anything in the world that you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” -Zig Ziglar
The point is that any successful business deal must give the client just what he wants and thereby establish the integrity of the company. Many people believe that win-win business deals are ideals of young fools who have no sense of reality. This attitude couldn’t be further from the truth. All successful deals must be win-win or else the customer would never buy. If a customer perceives that he or she is being ripped off, there is absolutely no incentive to buy from you because they know that you cannot be trusted.
A successful salesman, therefore, is one who is confident in his product or service and can successfully communicate the unique benefits that the customer can obtain only by buying from you. The presenter must be very conscious of all communication, verbal and nonverbal, so that there is nothing to alert the customer that anything dishonest is afoot. The best way for a salesperson to be at ease is to offer an honest product or service. When the prospects start asking the difficult questions, the salesperson won’t have to stammer and make excuses because he or she is totally sold on the product themselves. If your product doesn’t do such-and-such that your prospect is asking about, answer honestly and admit the fault. By admitting a fault, the prospect will see that you’re honest and you actually win a point by conceding a negative. Make sure, however, that if your prospect does not choose to buy your product, refer to someone who offers what they are looking for (in exchange for a finder’s fee, of course).
Honest business will ultimately generate increasing trust in you as a salesperson and it won’t be long before your clients will be marketing your business for you because you delivered such high quality and honest service. Save the marketing money for your much-deserved pay raise for learning to gain the trust of your clients and assist everybody in getting what they wanted.
Tyler Ellison is an experienced internet marketer and helps others to make money fast online marketing legally using different techniques to attract prospects.
March 26, 2008
Ethics
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Many believe that ethical behavior is some abstract term that sounds nice and looks good on paper, but are confused as to what being ethical really means in the workplace. What if someone told you that everything you need to know about ethical behavior, you learned in kindergarten?
That’s right, ethics - or the guidelines of conduct followed in the workplace - were taught to you at a very young age. Practicing ethical behavior is important to you because it can grow a business, promote teamwork among coworkers, and build confidence and trust in each other. Now let’s refresh our memories on what being ethical means.
One of the first things your kindergarten teacher probably taught you was to be honest. Behaviors such as, cheating or lying, were considered wrong and could land you in the time-out corner. Practicing honesty by following through on your promises and remaining loyal to your beliefs, can build a solid and respectable reputation in the workplace.
An equally important behavior that was repeatedly emphasized was treating others with respect - i.e. - the “Golden Rule” - regardless of sex, age, or other differences. Being respectful towards supervisors, coworkers, and customers promotes an environment of tolerance and openness that is the perfect breeding ground for establishing employee and customer satisfaction and loyalty.
But where would honesty and respect get you without responsibility? Responsibility means taking your duties seriously enough to always perform and give at your highest level of performance. If a task seems difficult, don’t give up - find the answer or help you need to complete the work. You are the person who is ultimately responsible for the quality of work you do; take and accept responsibility for your decisions.
How many times did you hear, “Wait your turn!” or “Share!” in kindergarten? Probably too many times to count. Working as part of team in the workplace can be challenging because you have to be open-minded and listen to the opinions of others. But by being fair and reasonable to the positions and views of others is a great way to build a reputation of balanced equity in the workplace.
Lastly, these ethical behaviors would mean very little without developing the caring attitude to match them. Infusing your coworker and customer interactions with compassion, forgiveness, and gratitude, is essential to creating mutually respectable relationships that will prosper.
Ethical behavior in the workplace isn’t a myth; the capacity to practice honesty, respect, responsibility, fairness, and compassion has existed in each of us since we were taught these values in kindergarten. If you haven’t already, tap into those memories to be on your way to becoming the best person you can be in your career.
Cathy Warschaw, Director of the Warschaw Learning Institute provides an online multicultural dental front office course, HIPAA, telephone training and eBooks on team building, managerial, customer service, and marketing at www.WarschawLearningInstitute.com
March 26, 2008
Ethics
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The last few years have been a period of heightened scrutiny and scandal for the financial services industry. Most recently, the SEC issued a report on pension consultants regarding conflicts of interest and the objectivity of advice given to retirement plan sponsors. It’s become vital to the success of insurance and financial advisors that they differentiate themselves with their exemplary ethics, that they operate by a higher moral code and that they communicate that higher standard to their clients. Why? Because research proves that ethics builds trust, and trust sells - in the long-term and - in the short-term, as well.
Taken from the SEC report and the information provided by the Dept of Labor, below are Affirmations of Ethical Behavior for Financial and Insurance Industry Representatives.
The Ten Affirmations of Ethical Behavior
1. If registered with the SEC or a state securities regulator as an investment adviser I will provide my clients with all the disclosures required under those laws (including Part II of Form ADY).
2. I will describe any relationship I have with money managers that I recommend, consider for recommendation, or otherwise mention to the plan.
3. I will describe any payments I receive from money managers I recommend, consider for recommendation, or otherwise mention to the plan for consideration.
4. I have prepared policies and procedures to address conflicts of interest or to prevent conflicting payments or relationships from being a factor when providing advice to my clients.
5. I will monitor and reconcile the amount of commissions paid when using brokerage commissions to pay consulting fees and alert plan sponsors when consulting fees have been paid in full.
6. I have established procedural steps to ensure that the plan receives the best execution for its securities trades when the consulting fees are paid with the plan’s brokerage commissions.
7. I will describe any arrangements with broker-dealers under which I will benefit if money managers place trades for their clients with such broker-dealers.
8. If hired, I will acknowledge in writing whether or not I have a fiduciary obligation as an investment adviser to the plan while providing consulting services.
9. I will acknowledge whether or not I consider myself a fiduciary under ERISA with respect to the recommendations I provide the plan?
10. I will describe the percentage of my plan clients that utilize money managers, investment funds, brokerage services or other service providers from whom I receive fees?
Post these affirmations on your website and include them in your marketing materials. If you complete the affirmations for prospective clients, you will have distanced yourself from the scandal ridden and differentiated yourself in an industry where the value added to products and services is quickly commoditized
Want to retire with $1,127,376.04? Visit Solo 401k Retirement or
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March 26, 2008
Ethics
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Each week, roughly 17 people are murdered while on the job and 33,000 more are assaulted. This adds up to big liability for companies, not to mention tremendous heartache and pain. This high level of violence stems from on-the-job stress and increasing economic pressure. Your due diligence as an employer will not only protect the employees you value so much, but pay off in court should you ever find yourself in the unfortunate situation of having to defend your business practices in a case of negligence. Here you’ll find some brief guidelines for identifying risk factors and preventing workplace violence.
Risk Factor: High stress work environments
Stressful environments alone are a risk factor for workplace violence. According to a survey by Northwestern National Life, 25% of employees view their jobs as the primary source of stress in their lives. When people feel trapped under pressure, they are more likely to react violently.
Prevention: Stress related violence tends to have quite a few warning signs. It’s critical to incorporate administrative processes and policies that allow employees to comfortably and anonymously report threats or aggressive behavior by other associates. Specific processes should be in place to track threats and assess their level of risk based on statistically proven guidelines.
Risk Factor: Jobs that involve the exchange of money
Any employee who exchanges money with the public is at a higher risk for workplace violence. Desperate and criminally-minded individuals learn how to target establishments that do not impose standard crime prevention techniques.
Prevention: In addition to well enforced cash handling policies and emergency procedures, it’s important to make your efforts to prevent workplace violence evidence to the public. Highly visible security cameras, security cash safes, and signs that alert customers of the employee’s limited access to cash, all help to protect employees from violent robberies. The height of the counter also works as a subconscious and physical barrier between employee and customer.
Risk Factor: Mobile Workplaces
Delivery drivers, cab drivers, and other employees who work primarily alone from their vehicle are often targets of violence. Without an unpredictable environment and lack of a protective building structure, those who work from their vehicles can find themselves in any number of violent and threatening situations.
Prevention:
Having an accessible alert or panic button that employees can use to call attention to themselves is a good start for preventing mobile workplace violence. Installing GPS locators and implementing processes to identify and react to unusual driving behavior can be another useful crime prevention method. For some types of businesses or for coverage in high-risk areas, it can be beneficial to staff multiple employees on one shift with policies to ensure that these staffing procedures are consistently followed. Criminally minded opportunists often learn to spot inconsistencies and exploit weak points such as a single driver when there are normally two.
The key to preventing workplace violence is a well thought out plan created from the point of view of the criminal. To reduce disasters from trial by error, it’s important to train with or consult with criminal behavior and forensics specialists. There are various tools and training programs for employers to aid in preventing workplace violence created by experts who have studied the minds and routines of violent criminals for years are able to pick out patterns of behavior and reasoning.
Taking steps to protect the safety of your employees and your business can make an incredible difference in moral, in the ability to attract high quality associates, and can save you from serious liability in the future.
Author is a writer for Academy Group which specializes in behavioral sciences and threat assessment. For more information you can visit www.Academy-Group.com.
March 26, 2008
Ethics
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Should You Take The Bait?
Unfortunately, unscrupulous home business schemes are everywhere these days. If you surf the internet, it seems as though everywhere you turn, you are flooded with ads that tell you how to earn more money than you are now, often for doing something that is easy and almost skill free work. Give us a break. These ads usually look like this:
Be part of one of America’s Fastest Growing Industries!
Hype, right?
Earn thousands of dollars a month, from your home, at only fifteen minutes a day!
It will take more than this much time just to get started and organized each day.
Want to Learn The Big Secret of the Internet Millionaires! Click Here!
The biggest secret is to start something and build it yourself, slowly, with the help of quality associates. Also, if something is great, the content in the copy will be honest hype and spell it out for you. Be afraid of people who freely toss exclamation points at you.
We have all seen these types of ads both on and off the internet. They are appealing, sure. Who does not want to earn ten thousand dollars a month for fifteen minutes of work a day? But you have to be careful.
Almost all get rich quick schemes are designed to part you from your hard earned money. If you feel your greed emotions kicking in on anything like this, it is time to click the delete button or hang up the phone.
Many of these scheme artists are great at getting lots of testimonials for you to read. What they do not tell you is that they babysat and hand fed these leads to get where they are to make their money. They will not, I repeat, they will not have time to do this with you because they are growing so fast.
When you see big name internet marketers giving testimonials keep in mind these people are extremely talented and can make almost anything work. Ninety percent of us are just not this talented. Sorry, but it is true. Ask them to put in writing how much help they are going to give you after you sign up, if no written commitment, forget about it. I have gone through this routine many times myself.
Not all work at home opportunities deliver on their promises. What many promoters of home business schemes will not tell you is that you often have to work for many hours before you earn a single cent. This is dishonesty at its worst, for by now you should know that there is no such thing as something for nothing.
Even if you are operating from a solid home business, you will have to work hard and smart if you want to be successful. If anybody else tells you otherwise, watch out. Some thing is most likely not right.
Ask Questions! Please forgive this hype exclamation point.
Avoiding dishonest home business schemes is strictly a matter of common sense. Since you will be putting your time and money into this venture, you should definitely do some research. You do this by asking intelligent questions. If they hedge on them they are a rip off and delete their message and do not communicate with them anymore.
Some questions you must ask your work at home sponsors include the below.
What is the total cost of the program being offered? Dishonest programs always carry hidden costs with them. Be sure to check the fine print before proceeding.
Ask for all the costs involved in the program, and ask them to clarify exactly what you get in return for your money. Once again, if they hedge or they promise they will tell you after you sign up, what do you do? Good, hit the delete button and put them on your permanent no list.
What exactly will I have to do? Your tasks must be clearly outlined, with every step clearly defined. Confusion on this point is often the source of future contention.
Again, do not be carried away with promises that you will not have to do much to earn your money. If it sounds too good to be true, it most probably is. However, if it seems like hype but they give you all the details with extremely low costs to start, you might be on to something good.
Will I be paid a salary or will my pay be based on commission? This is another point that can cause trouble. Obviously, the compensation package you receive should be well thought out and commensurate to the service that you will be rendering.
When will I get my first paycheck? Beware of programs that will pay for your services much later after you have done the work. This might cause you short term financial difficulties and loss of valuable time that can make you discouraged about being an entrepreneur when they do not work.
By exercising a whole lot of common sense and asking intelligent questions, you should be able to avoid dishonest home business schemes.
James M. Lowe writes original articles about home business opportunities.
March 26, 2008
Ethics
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This article is aimed at owners, who want that their tenants to move out of a property. For removing the tenants from the property, landlords must utilize the help of eviction process. With the help of this process, also known as Summary Proceedings, the lawful owner of the property takes possession very quickly.
Many Steps Involved in Eviction Process
There are several steps described in the overall landlords guide to the eviction process. It begins with the landlord issuing an eviction notice. After the notice, a series of court appearances and a trial takes place. The chances of your success depend much on how better you present your arguments to prove your case. You may get an order of eviction if you succeed in satisfying the magistrate. After the issuance of this order, it is the responsibility of a court officer to vacate the rental property by removing the tenants and their belongings. However, in most of the cases, long before the stage of physically evacuating arrives, landlords and tenants agree on a settlement. Landlords should never try to physically evacuate the person.
When You Can Start The Eviction process
According to the landlords guide to the eviction process there are seven reasons to start the eviction process. Here is a list of the reasons.
1. Not paying the amount of rent.
2. Continuously damaging the property
3. Any severe health hazard.
4. Involvement in any kind of illegal drug activities.
5. Violating any of the terms of the lease.
6. Unauthorized entry such as forceful entry.
7. Not moving out even after expiry of lease term.
How To Evict More Than One Tenant
Is it possible to remove tenants, who are paying partial rent, just because their roommate has left? The landlords guide to the eviction process says yes, you can, because getting the full amount of rent is your right. You must include a joint and several liability clause in the agreement that gives you the right of collecting the full amount of rent from any of the tenants. In addition, in the case of non-payment of rent or violation of any other term, this clause also gives you the right to force any or all of the tenants to move out.
How Much Time To Wait Before Issuing Notice
The landlord must wait for a definite time period for each reason. Depending upon the reason, this period may be one day, one week, or even one month.
David Gass is President of Business Credit Services, Inc. His company publishes a free weekly e-newsletter on Small Business Consulting at their web site http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com
March 26, 2008
Ethics
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Are advisers really compensated to act in their client’s best interest or are they in conflict with the best interest of the client’s? Do we really incent the behavior that we seek? If Boomers are seeking competent and trusted advisers that will act according to their best interest, are we giving them the proof that we can do that?
Much as been written about the vast amount of wealth that has begun to transfer from one generation to another over the next 15 years. It has been estimated that approximately $14 trillion in assets involving over 70 million households will begin to migrate over the next decade and beyond.
Never before have so many households needed competent, trusted advisors to help them navigate their wealth into the future. Whether it’s their intent to pass the assets along to their heirs or to their favorite charity or foundation, they need the guidance of a competent and trusted advisor. Never before has financial planning been so desperately needed by so many.
But, as an industry, are we prepared to meet the needs of the largest group of consumers ever amassed in our country’s history? Are compensation plans aligned with the best interest of the client, across the board? Can advisers truly act in the best interest of their client’s and still be successful? Are the plans in conflict with the company’s desired outcome? Aren’t most plans still designed around the amount of commission and fees an adviser generates? Don’t we tell advisers to develop long term relationships with their clients, to think in terms of households and cross selling opportunities, yet, we based their compensation on the amount of revenue generated?
Yes, investment advisory accounts and the assets in those accounts are increasing in popularity, but by all estimates the total percentage of accounts in advisory accounts has just recently crossed into double digit territory. Why isn’t the “win/win” scenario of the advisory account gaining more traction? Following the money trail might reveal the answer-look at compensation plans.
What if…Advisers were paid to gather assets and to develop relationships? What if advisers were paid an annual trail based on the anniversary of the assets being held-the longer the client retains the assets with the adviser, the higher the payout. Wouldn’t that encourage the nurturing of long term relationships? Wouldn’t that encourage transactions that are in the client’s best interest, without regard for the generation of fees? Here’s a big one- what if all investment products (packaged or not, insurance based or not) paid the same revenue stream? Or what if the product cost and its risk profile were correlated for revenue? What would the product mix of most advisers look like? Isn’t it time for our compensation measurements to be changed and updated? Aren’t we still paying for business the old way and expecting advisers to find business the new way? Just look at the number of lawsuits surrounding the “overtime pay” issue and you will realize that we have to look at our business differently. Those lawsuits seem to be gaining ground and changing the landscape. Change is hard, but it’s good, too! There are 70 million households with over $14 trillion in assets looking for an answer. We should deliver it.
William F. Cole, CFP