Ethics and Etiquette - Do You easily Know the Difference?

Just as the word 'ethics' has a distinct definition from the word 'etiquette,' there is a vast distinction in the middle of firm ethics and firm etiquette. There are even instances where you must forgo etiquette in order to remain ethical in firm practices.

Business ethics is a code or a set of standards that a firm adheres to. This code essentially states what is determined ethical, and what is determined unethical in terms of how the firm is conducted in relation to what is best for human beings, the community, the environment, and so on. firm etiquette, on the other hand, is essentially conducting firm affairs in a gentle manner. It can be compared, in some ways, to evening meal table etiquette.

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For example, if an employee is rude to a customer, this is not unethical, but it is determined poor etiquette. It may even be against the company's course that relates to how employees interact with customers. One can have exquisite etiquette and highly poor ethics.

Another example of this is an attorney who has gorgeous manners. In fact, his whole public and firm etiquette is so exquisite that he fits in well at any function, and performs well in any situation. However, if he is billing his clients for hours that he did not categorically work, he is not using ethical firm practices.

So, what must you do when you face a option in the middle of etiquette and ethics? Above all else, choose to honor the code of ethics first, but have sufficient etiquette to try to smooth the situation over at the same time. Unfortunately, this doesn't always work out, and one must choose ethics and let the etiquette cards fall where they may.

Have you ever seen the movie, 'Jerry McGuire?' This is a movie about a sports agent. He realizes, after a few nights of not getting any sleep because his conscience was plaguing him that the sports agent industry, as a whole, was rarely considering what was best for the athletes that they represented beyond the number of money and benefits that they could negotiate for them, which in turn raised their own profits. He wrote a record about how this should be changed, and put it in the boxes of all of the sports agents at a convention.

In this fictional characters situation, ethics met etiquette in a head on collision. What he did was ethical, but not without etiquette. However, it did cost him his job, and there wasn't much etiquette - or ethics - complex in that, mostly on the part of the firm that he represented.

Again, there will come a time in your firm transactions where you must choose in the middle of ethics and etiquette. Remember, any way that in most cases, an unethical firm decision will have a profound result for a long time to come, while acting in a manner that is not dictated by good etiquette will usually only result in a few people talking about your poor manners for a short time. When you make an etiquette faux pas, it is usually soon forgotten, and future good etiquette can generally make up for it, but when you make an unethical decision, it can haunt you for the rest of your career.

Ethics and Etiquette - Do You easily Know the Difference?