Encouraging ethical behaviour

7. Ethics. What affects a person's inclination to make either ethical or unethical decisions is not entirely clear. Three general sets of factors influence the ethics of decision making. First, an individual's values, attitudes, experiences, and knowledge influence decision making. Second, the absence of an employer's official code of ethics may indirectly encourage unethical decisions. Third, the behaviours and values of others, such as coworkers, supervisors, and company officials, affect the ethics of a person.

8. Ethics and Etiquette. There is some difference between business ethics and etiquette. Etiquette means rules for formal relations or polite social behavior among people in a society or a profession.

If you are a manager you should stick to the following rules in your everyday activities.

• Don't order, ask and be polite.

• Remember that people work with you, not for you. They like to be treated as associates, not slaves.

• Keep your promises, both important and less important promises.

• Criticize, if you must, only in private – and do it objectively. Never criticize anyone in public or in anger.

• You should say "Good morning" when you come in and "Please" and Thank you" at every opportunity.