# data[].attributes.body
Ethics to me are what are right and wrong.

# data[].attributes.body
Many people have their own version of ethics.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
LibGuides: PHIL 385: Engineering Ethics: Codes of Ethics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
LibGuides: PHIL 385: Engineering Ethics: Codes of Ethics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Use ethics cartoons to promote integrity and ethical conduct.

# data[].attributes.body
It means right or wrong depending of the choices that we make all the time

# data[].attributes.body
It is where you are doing something that is the opposite of ethics.

# data[].attributes.body
It is the same to other peoples views.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Unethical Business Practice Cartoons and Comics - funny pictures from CartoonStock

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Unethical Business Practice funny cartoons from CartoonStock directory - the world's largest on-line collection of cartoons and comics.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Want to stop unethical behavior? Display a moral quote

Something has gone terribly wrong and now you need a co-worker to help cover your tracks. You're going to have to lie to that person, who in turn will have to spread that lie (unwittingly or otherwise) around the office.

You have two choices of co-conspirator; Frank who has a framed photo of his family on his desk or George who has framed quotes about honesty on his desk.

Who are you going to pull in to your web of lies?

If you're anything like the participants of a recent UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School study, you're going to go with the family man and avoid George with his moral stand.

Researcher Sreedhari Desai found that subjects tasked with spreading lies were much less likely to involve people who had the quote "Success without honor is worse than fraud " in their email signature. She also found that participants who were exposed to the quote (as opposed to those who saw neutral quotes or blank email signatures) were less likely to even continue spreading lies.

In another, more real-world test, the Professor found that religious symbols had the same effect. In India, office workers who displayed images of Hindu gods or quotes from the Koran or the Bible were generally sparred from unethical requests.

Says Desai:

When someone is in a position to request an unethical thing, they may not consciously be thinking, "I won't ask that person." Instead, they may perceive a person as morally "pure" and feel that asking them to get "dirty" makes an ethical transgression even worse. Or they may be concerned that someone with moral character will just refuse the request.

What's fascinating about this study is how little it took to sway a person away from doing something unethical in the first place. Not only did quotes and religious imagery work, but even "morally-branded" T-shirts had participants rethinking the error of their ways.

Let's take this idea to the next level. Suppose your company just made a huge mistake and your CEO is going to offer a public apology. Would we be more likely to believe and accept his apology if there was a quote about truth and honesty on the wall behind him? What if it was just an image of Abe Lincoln?

What if your maintenance manager was thinking of falsifying his records to cover up for the days he slipped out early. Would he still do it if he found an honesty quote in his email inbox at the start of every day?

If Desai's findings are true in the real world, just think of all the reputations that could have been saved for want of a virtuous meme.

Please help us share...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Want to stop unethical behavior? Display a moral quote

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Something has gone terribly wrong and now you need a co-worker to help cover your tracks. You're going to have to lie to that person, who in turn will have to spread that lie (unwittingly or otherwise) around the office.

# data[].attributes.body
This basically the dark side of us that cause the bad actions we do when the dark covers the light.

# data[].attributes.body
To practice what is right.

# data[].attributes.body
Just some use it to look better than the competition.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Introduction
When it comes to determining a set of rules, guidelines or principles to follow in the business industry, many will agree that it is difficult for everybody to agree on one due to the complexities of dealing with human nature. Therefore, to a certain extent, the field of business ethics tries to come up with solutions to handle problems that arise within the business environment. On the contrary belief, one should not be confused with the meaning of morality and ethical theory. Morality has got to do with principles or rules that are used by people to decide between wrong and right (Jennings, 2008). Meanwhile, ethical theory tends to provide guidelines that justify an action to be right or wrong when settling human conflicts (Jennings, 2008). This paper is going to discuss five different ethical theories. They consist of the utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, justice, rights and ethical relativism theories. After that, these ethical concepts will be used to identify some of the ethical issues that are presented in the article entitled 'News of the World: What was it like on the inside?' Finally, this paper is also going to come to a conclusion regarding the effectiveness of business theories and practices.
Ethical theories Utilitarianism
The utilitarian theory insists that an action is considered to be right or wrong based on the consequences of the action and its effects on majority of the people (West, 2004). This means that an action or practice is ethically correct when it produces more positive consequences in comparison to negative ones to those who are involved. The forerunners for this school of thought are Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill (west, 2004). Therefore, utilitarianism goes by the rule that an action is evaluated to be ethical based on a set of rules or principles that can bring the greatest usefulness to the greatest amount of people (Mill, 2006). This is the total opposite to deontological ethics whereby utilitarian believes that there should not be any compromising when it comes to determining the stand point of morality. Tools such as cost benefit analysis and risk assessment are often depended on by utilitarian for decision making purposes. However, there are some arguments regarding 'the greatest happiness principle' that is set forth by utilitarianism. This is due to the difficulty in measuring unit of happiness or in order to determine an action that will bring the most benefit comparing to other actions (Mill, 2006).
Kantian deontology
Kantian deontology stresses that an action is considered to be ethical if it can be accepted as a universal law by every individual (Makkreel & Luft, 2010). It is first introduced by a philosopher from Germany named Immanuel Kant. He believes that morality must follow a set of rules without any exceptions. Therefore, this school of thought looks at categorical principles whereby they are imperatives and instructions are given on the way one must act (Holzhey & Mudroch, 2005). Besides that, Kantianism also emphasizes on treating each other with respect. A person should not be used as a mean to get to an end (Holzhey & Mudroch, 2005). This means that an individual is bound or obligated to their duty to follow a set of maxim in order to determine whether their actions are ethically right. However, there have been arguments on Kantian deontology mostly due to the narrowness and inadequacy of this theory to handle various moral problems or dilemmas (Makkreel & Luft, 2010). For example, there is no moral guidance or solution when an individual's rights and duties crosses path.
Justice
Justice can be defined as the importance of getting fair treatments, equality and having rights (Rawl, 1999). In order to grasp a better understanding on the theories of justice, this section is going to look at Nozick's libertarianism and Rawl's justice as fairness. According to Nozick, every individual has the right to own a piece of property as long as it is acquired fairly without going against other people's rights (Paul, Miller & Paul, 2005). In the world of economy and business, libertarian believes in a free market where it is no influenced by government policies or public services. When an organization or individual is taxed by the government for their property which they have obtained fairly, this action is considered to be unjust even if the money is distributed to public schools, prisons or fire departments (Paul, Miller & Paul, 2005). However, many argue that absolute power that is encouraged by Nozick can bring about negative consequences such as oppression. For example, it is justified for a country to export all its food produce to another country in order to gain better profits and ignore the starvation experienced by its people.

Meanwhile, Rawl's theory of justice is called 'Justice as Fairness'. There are two main principles in this theory. The first principle advocates that every individual should have equal rights to a fair distribution of social goods such as education, food and housing (Rawl, 1999). The second principle stresses if there is any existence of social and economic inequalities, they should benefit members of society who are at the most disadvantage (Rawl, 1999). Therefore, unlike Nozick's libertarianism, Rawl supports the redistribution of wealth and taxes to those who are socially and economically disadvantage. He believes that this action is just and promotes productive behavior. Many people argue Rawl's theory of justice is too restrictive and pro-communism.
Rights
The rights theory finds that the best method to deal with ethical issues is to form a basis of obligations in order to justify every individual's entitlement to human rights (Shaw, 2010). Besides that, the rights theory also insists that human rights should be independent from the influence of other factors. Human right is simply the natural rights belonging to every person by virtue of being a human being (Shaw, 2010). There are two types of human rights; positive and negative rights. Positive rights are obligations put open people to provide goods and services to other people (Jennings, 2008). On the other hand, negative rights are obligations imposed on people to stop them from interfering with other people's freedom of action (Jennings, 2008). One of the major arguments pertaining to the rights theory is the lack of hierarchy to determine which rights has more value than the rest.
Ethical relativism
Ethical relativism is a theory that decides whether an action is right or wrong solely based on the moral norms that adheres to the culture of one's society (Shomali, 2001). Therefore, an action can be seen as ethically right in one society does not mean it will be in another. Unlike Kantian deontology, ethical relativist believes that there is no such thing as a universal law when it comes to determining a set of maxim (Jhingran, 2001). Any sort of moral problems or disputes should be judged and handled within the members of a society by coming to an agreement (Jhingran, 2001). However, there are many people who argue against the theory of ethical relativism. Although moral practices may differ from one society to another but the underlying principles of these practices are the same (Shomali, 2001). As a result, skeptics consider the possibility of the universalization of ethical values to be conceivable. For example, every society acknowledges that certain actions are deemed wrong such as the act of torture and slavery. Besides that, individuals from the same cultural background can hold different moral beliefs as well as practices and decide that these actions are right or wrong (Shomali, 2001). Despite being widely accepted by the Nazi society, the genocide of Jews is considered to be ethically wrong by many Germans. This is proven when some of them try to help Jews to escape from their country.
Ethical issues in the article 'News of the World: What was it like on the inside?'
The article 'News of the World: What was it like on the inside?' portrays the vicious competition among journalists and newspaper companies. When this situation happens, many individuals resort to unethical business practices in order to get ahead from the competitors (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2012). There are many reasons that can lead to unethical business behavior. Therefore, this section is going to identify various ethical issues that happen in a newspaper company called 'News of the World' or NoW through the eyes of one of their journalists named Dan Arnold.

One of the most obvious ethical issues is the pressure from the supervisors to get a story no matter what cost it takes (George, 2009). Journalists for this newspaper are pushed to obtain newsworthy material by hook or by crook. Since the competition between NoW with Sunday Mirror and People are tight, the company uses their journalists as a mean to get ahead and of course, to obtain a larger profit margin. Journalists from this newspaper have to work extra hard and are moved from one project to another without any consideration for their health. This action is considered to be unethical if it is based on Kantian deontology. He stresses that every individual should be treated with respect and should not be used as mean to reach an end.

Besides that, the way NoW runs its company creates fear and paranoia in every journalists (Geroge, 2009). Their employees often have to work throughout the week and sometimes late into the evening. Apart from that, they also have to be on the pager 24 hours a day and they are expected to travel around the globe in a short period notice so that, they can catch the next big story. As a result of living in fear of getting terminated from the 'best' newspaper company, journalists are often stressful and resort to drinking in order to curb with the pressure. Aside from that, the amount of time spend in offices also means they have neglected their families back home. This is considered to be unethical based on utilitarianism as the company's action of pushing their journalists to work harder does not bring the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people. It only serves to bring larger profit for the company's shareholders while sacrificing the happiness of their employees.

Not just that, people outside of NoW are scared of the journalists from this company and more often not, give in to interviews and provide information that are required although they may feel reluctant to do so (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2012). This action is considered to be unethical based on the rights theory. These individuals or organizations have the freedom to say 'no' to the journalists from NoW without any negative consequences that may be inflicted upon them by the massive influence of a successful company. Besides that, the action of firing journalists just because their stories are not publish in the newspaper is also against human rights. It is not the journalists' faults if their stories are pushed aside by the newspaper committee for another piece that seems to be trendier due to a sudden change in circumstantial events. These journalists have also worked hard just like the others and deserve some sort of job security and protection from the newspaper company.

In addition, there seems to be an unequal distribution of wealth between the profit gain by the newspaper company with their employees as well as between the journalists (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2012). For instance, journalists who successfully get their stories published are paid more in terms of salary and are also secure from termination. Based on Rawl's theory of justice, this action is considered to be unethical. Every journalists in NoW has worked hard in order for the newspaper company to succeed in the industry. Therefore, to be fair, salary should be equally distributed among the journalists.

Furthermore, in NoW, journalists are awarded base on their success to get a juicy story for publication. There are instances whereby the company is willing to do anything in order to obtain the most current news. Sometimes, journalists are asked by NoW to offer cash and other bonuses such as cars as well as housing property to informants. This act of bribery can be seen as unethical based on the ethical relativism theory (George, 2009). In many societies around the world, bribing is against their moral norms. Although the company may view this action as a mean to get their hands on precious information, it may be conflicting to certain employees who do not support bribery. However, they will have to push their norms aside to avoid being fired from their jobs.
Conclusion
This paper has discussed the different ethical theories that are relevant to the business industry such as utilitarianism's pursuit of happiness, Kantian deontology in coming up with a universal law, Rawl's and Nozick's definition of justice, human rights as well as ethical relativism's belief in conforming to society's cultural norms (Shaw, 2010). Various academic literature provided by these philosophers can be used as guidance when it comes to practicing business ethics. However, there is no one discipline that can stand on its own. This is because the theory that is presented by one school of thoughts is not sufficient or practical enough in overcoming a multitude of moral problems which exist in real life situation. Currently, many businesses choose to adopt interdisciplinary theories in order to achieve better outcomes in handling ethical issues (Shaw, 2010).
References
Ferrell, O. C. & Fraedrich, J. (2012). Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases. Cengage Learning. Connecticut.

George, R. (2009). Business ethics. Prentice Hall. New Jersey.

Holzhey, H. & Mudroch, V. (2005). Historical dictionary of Kant and Kantianism. Scarecrow Press. Maryland.

Jennings, M. (2008). Business ethics: Case studies and selected readings. Cengage Learning. Connecticut.

Jhingran, S. (2001). Ethical relativism and universalism. Motilal Banarsidass. Delhi.

Makkreel, R. & Luft, S. (2010). Neo-kantianism in contemporary philosophy. Indiana University Press. Indiana.

Mill, J. (2006). Utilitarianism: Easyread large edition. ReadHowYouWant. Sydney.

Paul, E., Miller, F. & Paul, J. (2005). Natural rights liberalism from Locke to Nozick. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.

Rawls, J. (1999). A theory of justice. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

Shaw, W. (2010). Business ethics: A textbook with cases. Cengage Learning. Connecticut.

Shomali, M. (2001). Ethical relativism: An analysis of the foundations of morality. Saqi Books. London.

West, H. (2004). An introduction to Mill's utilitarian ethics. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ethical Theory and Its Application to Contemporary Business Practice

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Introduction When it comes to determining a set of rules, guidelines or principles to follow in the business industry, many will agree that it is difficult for everybody to agree on one due to the complexities of dealing with human nature. Therefore, to a certain extent, the field of business ethics tries to come up...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
business ethics and customer stakeholder

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Business Ethics Introduction - Learn Business Ethics Tutorial starting from Introduction, Changing Business Landscape, Moral Reasoning, Business Ethics and Customer Stakeholder, Ethical Issues in Marketing, Ethics in HRM, Ethics in Finance, Employees and Morals, Ethics at the Individual Level, Work Ethics and Workplace, Environmental Challenges, Ethics in the Cyber Age, Workplace Violence.

# data[].attributes.body
There are some business that actually follow the moral codes.

# data[].attributes.body
It is the code you want to live by and what makes you a person.

# data[].attributes.body
Everyone have their own code they want to live by which we have to respect.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
DISCLAIMER: A major assignment in my Ethics for Public Relations Professionals class was to write a personal code of ethics that will later be used in my Capstone class at the end of my master's program. I have been writing my personal code for several weeks, and I am very excited about the finished product. I think that I will hold myself more accountable for living my life according to this code if it is public information. I realize that it is a little long, especially for a blog post, but I thought I would share anyways. Enjoy!
Background
My personal values act as a basis for distinguishing between right and wrong and thus, determine my daily actions and emotions. My parents and education have played profound roles in the development of my core personal values: personal integrity, excellence, responsibility, family and ambition. Additionally, these influences have demonstrated certain rule-based, ends-based, and virtue-based approaches to determining what conduct is consistent with these key values.

Through her own actions, my mom has taught me to always put my family first, and to evaluate the morality of my potential actions with an ends-based approach by considering the consequences for the rest of my family (Gower, 2008). My mom is incredibly compassionate, and her main goal in life is to protect her family and help her children grown into happy, healthy adults. When my younger brother was born, my mom chose to stop practicing nursing so that she could raise her children and instill in us many of the values that are outlined in this code. As my brother and I move towards adulthood, my mom urges us to support each other in all of our endeavors and further grow our friendship. The result, she says, will be an unbreakable bond that will sustain us even when our parents have passed.

Siding with deontological philosophers and demonstrating a rule-based approach, my mom taught me that disrespectful, dishonest, and self-centered actions were morally wrong, regardless of their outcomes (Gower, 2008). She also regularly acted upon her strong sense of duty to help others. Even if she was driving carpool, it was not uncommon for her to pull off the road to help a confused-looking elderly lady or a lost pet. Even though this delay often made my friends and me late to our destinations, my mom's actions were moral based on her motive (Gower, 2008). Her stern belief that "it takes all types to make the world go 'round" has influenced me to use the rights approach - to consider the rights of individuals, to respect human dignity, and to avoid using people as a means to an end (Velasquez, Andre, Shanks, & Meyer, 1996).

My dad's insistence upon moving beyond his modest background and aspiring to distinction within his in his profession has inspired my commitment to accomplishment and success, knowledge and higher education, hard-work, excellence and wealth. My dad was one of four brothers raised on my grandparent's rural horse farm outside of Baltimore. Every day, he and his brothers endured teasing by their more affluent private school classmates who thought the boys smelled like horses. My dad and his brothers were not expected to go to college, since no one in their family had done so before. My dad's brothers were kicked out of private school after private school and eventually gave up on their educations. Instead of following suit, my dad worked tirelessly to become one of the top physicians in the field of obstetrics and gynecology. With regards to his goals and education, he demonstrated egoism - enlightened self-interest and a focus on what would provide the most good for him in the long-run (Gower, 2008).

My dad's practice of medicine requires him to make ethical decisions on a daily basis, and he often takes a utilitarian approach to determining what is right (Gower, 2008). For example, he would recommend the termination of a pregnancy that neither the mother nor baby could reasonably be expected to survive. While some people view abortion as inherently wrong, my dad would not use a rule-based approach in the aforementioned case; instead, he would focus on the consequences of his actions and try to keep the highest number of patients, fetuses, and babies healthy. However, whenever I have consulted my dad on a personal ethical dilemma, he has rarely focused on the reasons for or the consequences of my possible decisions. More often, he has asked me to apply a virtue-based approach by examining the individual actor rather than the action itself (Gower, 2008). This required me to consider how my possible decisions would reflect on the person I am, and how that person would compare to my best possible self (Velasquez, Andre, Shanks, & Meyer, 1996).

I attended a private preparatory school, Collegiate School in Richmond, VA, from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Collegiate's 1,500 students (grades K-12) abide by a strict honor code and live according to the school's shared values of honor, love of learning, excellence, respect and community (Collegiate School, n.d.). Students are expected to become heavily involved in the community- they must participate in at least two out of the three sports seasons, among other extracurricular requirements. The Collegiate community instilled in me values that guide my virtue-based approach to personal ethics, and it taught me to consider the common good of the community when making ethical decisions (Velasquez, Andre, Shanks, &Meyer, 1996).

During my undergraduate experience at Washington and Lee University (W&L), I was again part of a tight-knit community that emphasized honor, integrity and civility and abided by a rigorous honor system. The W&L Honor System means that students must never lie, cheat or steal and that they must respect other people, their opinions and their property. It punishes only actions that the current student body sees as violations of the community's trust. Furthermore, it does not rank these breaches of trust by their severity, and it does not overlook "smaller" violations. The consequence for any violation of the Honor System is dismissal from W&L (Washington and Lee University, n.d.). In this way, W&L uses a rule-based approach to judging ethical behavior (Gower, 2008). W&L's honor system originated with Robert E. Lee, who said, "We have but one rule here, and it is that every student must be a gentleman" (Washington and Lee University, n.d.). Unfortunately, during my time at W&L, I witnessed many students abandoning gentleman-like behavior upon entering gossip-infused fraternity lunch rooms or substance-infused fraternity parties. These occasions resulted in me promising myself to carry my core values with me at all times, no matter the situation.
Ethos Statement
As a result of my background, I place a special emphasis on maintenance of personal integrity, pursuit of excellence, acceptance of responsibility, love of family and achievement of ambitious goals. I have high expectations for myself with regards to my actions; on at least a weekly basis, I take time to reflect on who I am and how that compares to my best possible self. My actions make me who I am, so it is important that I honor the following commitments in all of my actions, both personal and professional (Georgetown University, n.d.):

A commitment to doing in my heart what I know is just and right.

A commitment to performance that produces exceptional results and quality as a way of life.

A commitment to valuing the trust and confidence of my family, friends, co-workers, employers and/or clients and community.

A commitment to spending time with my family, supporting them in all of their endeavors and making them proud.

A commitment to my personal image of what can be and my belief that it will be; a commitment to setting goals and systematically working towards achieving them.

Code of Conduct
Conduct consistent with my value of personal integrity:
1. I will not change who I am for others, and I will stand up for my beliefs even when they are unpopular. Explanation: If I'm not confident in myself and respectful of what I believe, then I cannot expect others to exhibit confidence in me and respect my beliefs. While it may be uncomfortable for me when other people disagree with my actions, and while my unpopular actions may not yield the most positive outcomes for me, my ethical decision making is often rule-based and virtue-based rather than consequence-based. To me, my motives (ex: honoring my commitment to respect individual human dignity) and my virtues (ex: personal integrity) are better determinants of my own morality than are the consequences of my actions (ex: being unpopular with my co-worker or not getting a promotion.)
The nature of the communications field requires its professionals to advocate on behalf of an organization, person or cause (Parsons, 2008). Propagating a message that I don't personally endorse is the same as lying to the public and failing to stand up for my own beliefs. By professionally disseminating a message that I personally oppose, I would clutter the relevant "marketplace of ideas" (Fitzpatrick & Bronstein, 2006, p. 4) and weaken the messages in line with my actual point of view. In other words, attempting to persuade the public on a point of view that I myself do not support would compromise my personal integrity. Therefore, I will be extremely selective in choosing the clients on whose behalf I advocate as a communications professional (Parsons, 2008).
Dr. Seuss said it best- "Be who are you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." The people who truly care about my well-being will not try to change me, even if they do not always agree with me. Instead, they will accept me for who I am and acknowledge my right to have different beliefs than them. While I may be disappointed as I come across "those who mind," Dr. Seuss's advice will ultimately help me recognize "those who matter." 2. I will treat people as I want to be treated myself (the Golden Rule). Explanation: Put simply, I will always be courteous and civil in my day-to-day dealings with people. Just because I am in a bad mood does not give me the right to take my frustrations out on the world. In fact, it is important that I try to brighten other peoples' days and have a positive impact on everyone with whom I come into contact. For example, rather than sitting silently during cab rides and ignoring my driver, I choose to engage him or her in conversation. Everyone has an interesting life story that they are bursting to tell. By applying reversibility, I know that my day is always better when someone expresses interest in hearing mine. 3. I will value basic human dignity and rights and will not intentionally cause harm to another human being. Explanation: Human beings have the God-given ability to decide for themselves how they will lead their lives, and they have a basic moral right to have their decisions respected. This freedom to choose gives humans, regardless of their race, religion, nationality, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, a unique dignity (Velasquez, Andre, Shanks, & Meyer, 1996). As long as an individual respects the human dignity of others, then that individual deserves to have his or her dignity acknowledged by me and to be free from the threat or occurrence of any sort of physical, verbal or emotional abuse. I adopt a rights-based approach to determining the morality of my behavior. In other words, my actions must treat humans as ends in and of themselves (Velasquez, Andre, Shanks, & Meyer, 1996). 4. I will be transparent in my purpose and act in a manner that is fair and just for all concerned. Explanation: It is important to promote a spirit of openness in both my personal and professional lives. In some aspects of my personal life, I do claim my right to privacy and/or am willing to tell non-harmful white lies to spare the feelings of others. However, I have most often found that it is the truth that will "set me free." I am willing to disclose all aspects of my professional life; when making professional decision, I use the "front page of the Post" test to guide my behavior. I refuse to hide information from a party who deserves access to it; however, as my career progresses, I expect to encounter grey areas. To determine whether withholding certain information would be unethical in these situations, I will ultimately examine my motives for omitting information (Parsons, 2008). I will also keep in mind that "if you don't tell the truth, then your publics, once they are aware of this, have difficulty trusting you" (Parsons, 2008, p. 24). I owe it to my publics to serve as a credible source of accurate information.
Conduct consistent with my value of excellence:
5. I will never be satisfied with anything being less than my best effort. Explanation: I am committed to trying my hardest in all aspects of life, be it a work assignment or a personal relationship. I grew up as an anxious perfectionist, but luckily, my mom finally ingrained in me her motto: "as long as you give it your best effort, that's all you can do." To me, excellence is not about the results I achieve; instead, it is about the means by which I achieve them and my adherence to standards and rules that I have set for myself. In prioritizing where my "best efforts" go, it is important that I maintain a healthy work-life balance. After all, if I dedicate all of my time and effort to my professional life, my personal life will go by the wayside, and I will not achieve excellence (or happiness) in this realm. While the meaning of a healthy work-life balance will change as I continue to evolve, it currently involves excelling at the office and in the classroom while still being a reliable and present family member and best friend and saving time for daily activities that I enjoy, like exercising and reading.
6. I will seek continuous improvement.
Explanation: Personally, it is important that I strive to live a more virtuous life every day. The more that I can live according to my virtues, the more moral my actions will be and the more ethical of a person I will be (Velasquez, Andre, Shanks, & Meyer, 1996 ). Professionally, competence is necessary to achieve excellence. I agree with Parsons (2008) when she says "respecting our clients, our communities, and ourselves requires us to exhibit competence in our professional activities" (p. 55). I will maintain a level of competency in my profession through continuing education opportunities and selective client choice. Currently, I am working towards my master's degree in public relations with a concentration in digital communications at Georgetown University. I also attend internal workshops at my company and stay up-to-date on the latest social media news and trends. I do not take on client work that I know I am not qualified to handle. Instead, I work with a supervisor on the task so that I can be qualified to handle such work in the future.
Conduct consistent with my value of responsibility:
7. I will keep my promises and honor my commitments. Explanation: Because I play many roles, my promises and commitments take many forms, including promises to myself, my friends, my family and my profession as well as contracts, agreements, assignments for work and my professional development classes. One especially important professional commitment is confidentiality to my employer and/or client. Unfortunately, there will be times when my responsibilities to myself, my employer or client, my profession and society will come into conflict with each other, and some responsibilities will take priority over the others (Parsons, 2008). In these cases, I will use virtue to juggle my loyalties to these different parties on a case by case basis. My reason for developing a career in communications is to serve the public through the delivery of accurate messaging to inform their decisions and ultimately improve society. Therefore, my duty to society is ethically greater than my duty to my employer or client, and is the "key to social responsibility" (Parsons 2008, p. 26). 8. I will fulfill the functional and moral obligations of my many roles and accept accountability for my shortcomings, negligence and oversight in fulfilling these obligations. Explanation: My many roles include daughter, sister, best friend, student, assistant account executive, Christian and housemate. In each of these roles, I fulfill functional obligations as well as related moral obligations (Fitzpatrick & Bronstein, 2006). For example, one of the functional obligations for my job is to assist with blogger outreach and track resulting blog hits; a related moral obligation is to ensure that bloggers who write about our client in response to our blogger outreach activities fully disclose their relationship with our client and outreach program. Since the functional obligations of a role are often accompanied by moral obligations, "responsibility assumes that the actor becomes also a moral agent possessed of a certain level of moral maturity and ability to reason" (Fitzpatrick & Bronstein, 2006, p. 20). I will hold myself accountable for an action if I am "functionally and/or morally responsible for an action, some harm occurred due to that action" and) I "had no legitimate excuse for the action" (Fitzpatrick & Bronstein, 2006, p. 21). To avoid questions of personal accountability, I will strive for relative autonomy in all of my roles, but particularly in my role as a responsible public relations professional. If I am not to have excuses for my actions, and thus accept accountability for them, then I must be "free to make decisions" associated with my job "without outside pressure or influence" from my company, supervisors, coworkers, or clients (Fitzpatrick & Bronstein, 2006, p. 21). Accepting accountability when I fail to fulfill certain obligations means that I make these unintentional wrongs right regardless of any inconveniences to me. 9. As a communications professional, I will tell the truth for the common good of my publics. Explanation: Truth is the "singular most important element in the efficient operation of the marketplace of ideas in American society" (Fitzpatrick & Bronstein, 2006, p. 11). This is because the marketplace of ideas concept "rests on the premise that the truth will emerge from ideas and messages competing in a public form" (Fitzpatrick & Bronstein, 2006, p. 12). This means that any effort to disseminate false truths or hinder the dissemination of truthful information interferes with my publics' informed decision making and rights to receive accurate and truthful information (Fitzpatrick & Bronstein, 2006). Thus, as a responsible public relations professional, my advocacy for clients must "equalize access to the marketplace," "contribute to marketplace processes," make a "meaningful contribution to the marketplace of ideas," "tell the truth" and disclose "timely, relevant, and complete information" in a forthright way (Fitzpatrick & Bronstein, 2006, p. 9-13).
Conduct consistent with my value of family:
10. I will always make my family my number one priority. I will bring them joy and derive great joy from my relationships with them. Explanation: No matter what else is going on in my life, my highest obligation will always be to my family. This is my rule, and my ethical decisions will follow it. I do however understand that not everyone lives their lives according to this rule, and I will not view them as immoral for breaking it. It is because my family and I have a very special relationship that I am comfortable making this strong commitment to them. My happiness comes from making my family happy, and I know that they feel the same way about me. I have very strong faith in my family because I know that no matter what happens in my life, they will have my back. Taking actions to support them, visit them, talk on the phone regularly with them and be an overall presence in their lives is more important to me than anything else. I plan on waiting to start my own family until after I have a well-established a communications career, financial security and several "childless" years with my husband under my belt. When I do have children, they will take priority over my career and recalculate my relationship with my husband. It is important to me that I wait to have children until I can take a true vow of selflessness. 11. I will view my life as a gift and be grateful for it and my circumstances each and every day. Explanation: God has given me the best possible family and life for which I could ever ask. I have been blessed with an extremely comfortable life, and I realize that this is not the norm. For this reason, I am thankful for what I have been given every day, and I try to use my privilege to improve my community through service and donations when possible.
Conduct consistent with my value of ambition:

12. I will be optimistic and look for a larger purpose behind my actions.
Explanation: Since I am only beginning my career as a communications professional, my work may at times feel tedious and unimportant. Only when I strive to understand where my daily tasks fit in with my team's larger communications strategy for our client can I realize my importance to my team and my client. More importantly, by looking at the big picture, it becomes clear how important the communication profession is to educating society and making information flow freely. With this optimistic insight, I am certain that I have chosen the best profession for me and satisfied that I have the opportunity to make a difference for society. Another overarching purpose for my professional work is to achieve a comfortable and nurturing lifestyle for myself and my family. While I refuse to compromise my other values to achieve wealth and am disinterested in the status that comes with wealth, affluence serves as a motivator in my professional life for two reasons. First, it is a symbol of professional success, and a reward for years of hard work. Second, I dream of one day giving my children everything that my parents gave and continue to give me, including a nice house with a big yard in a safe neighborhood, a vacation home on the water, and a huge investment in my future. While the possible consequences of my work, like promotion and wealth, should not impact my decisions in ethical dilemmas, it is good practice to consider my professional goals and future to stay focused and hungry in my career. My Code and the Real World
As a public relations professional, I plan on joining the National Capital Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA-NCC). It was PRSA's code of ethics that originally sparked my interest in joining this society. After analyzing several professional codes relating to the public relations, communications and marketing industries, I found PRSA's code to be most consistent with my own code of ethics. The purpose of PRSA's code is to "anticipate and accommodate, by precedent, ethical challenges that may arise" for its members (PRSA, 2000, p.1). Resolving these ethical challenges is so important to PRSA members because "the level of public trust PRSA members seek, as we serve the public good, means we have taken on a special obligation to operate ethically" (PRSA, 2000, p. 1). This statement of improving society through the delivery of trustworthy communications is directly in line with my motive for pursuing a career in public relations.

I fully support all six of PRSA's specifically-defined core values: advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence, loyalty, and fairness (PRSA, 2000). I am especially impressed by PRSA's explanations of advocacy, expertise, independence and loyalty because they emphasize key provisions addressed in my own code of ethics. These include providing "a voice in the marketplace of ideas, facts and viewpoints to aid informed public debate," advancing the profession "through continued professional development, research and education," providing " " to our clients, being "accountable for our actions" and "honoring our obligation to serve to public interest" (PRSA, 2000, p. 1-2). In comparison with the other codes that I analyzed, PRSA's code of ethics is unique for its commitment to enhancing the profession and its discussion of competence (PRSA, 2000). According to my own code of conduct, I will enhance the reputation of this profession through my own commitment to continued improvement, and will hold myself to high standards of competence. My personal code promotes actions that are extremely consistent with PRSA's code provisions, like contributing to the free flow of information and avoiding situations "that put one's personal or professional interests in conflict with society's interests" (PRSA, 2000, p. 3).
Conclusion
My personal code of ethics will guide my resolution of ethical dilemmas. It is consistent with my employer's code of ethics as well as the code of ethics of a professional organization that I hope to join in the near future. Since my code of conduct is based on values that have been ingrained in me by my parents and educational institutions, it should not be especially hard for me to follow. However, as I continue to grow personally and professionally and as I encounter new ethical dilemmas that cannot be resolved according to my code, I will revise and expand upon this document.
References
Collegiate School. (n.d.) Mission & values. Retrieved July 9, 2010, from http://www.collegiate- va.org/podium/default.aspx?t=22118

Fitzpatrick, K., & Bronstein, C. (Eds.). (2006). Ethics in public relations: Responsible advocacy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Georgetown University. (n.d.) Ethos statement. Retrieved July 12, 2010, from http://studentconduct.georgetown.edu/ethos/

Gower, K. K. (2008). Doing the right thing. In Legal and ethical considerations for public relations (pp. 1-23). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.

Parsons, P. J. (2008). Ethics in public relations: A guide to best practice (2nd ed.).Philadelphia, PA: Kogan Page Limited.

Public Relations Society of America. (2000). PRSA member code of ethics. New York, NY: Author.

Velasquez, M., Andre, C., Shanks, T., & Meyer, M. J. (1996). Thinking ethically: A framework for moral decision making. Issues in Ethics 7(1). Retrieved from http://www.scu.edu/ ethics/practicing/decision/thinking.html

Washington and Lee University. (n.d.) The Honor System. Retrieved July 17, 2010 from http://www.wlu.edu/x34.xml

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
DISCLAIMER: A major assignment in my Ethics for Public Relations Professionals class was to write a personal code of ethics that will later be used in my Capstone class at the end of my master's program. I have been writing my personal code for several weeks, and I am very excited about the finished product.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
personal code of ethics by traci ratliff fall

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
PERSONAL CODE OF ETHICS BY TRACI RATLIFF FALL, ppt download

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I will own my mistakes. Rationale: I value honesty and that includes admitting when you're wrong and growing from it.

# data[].attributes.body
The only way to understand it is to see what code do you follow and learn from it as you press on through each event