Professional Ethics

Professional Ethics

              Key words: profession, ethics, integrity, training, obligations

Profession is a vocation based upon education and training and professionals are those who have got specialized training and can take decisions of their own and can act accordingly which ordinary persons can’t do. Ethics is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior. Ethics are values and beliefs of an individual or a society as a whole. Ethical principles  are:  honesty, integrity, being fair and open minded, respect for dignity and accountable for one’s decisions and their consequences.

It is reported that Chanakya wrote “Arthashastra” in fourth century BC during Chandra Gupta Maurya’s rule. It is a treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy. 

Professional ethics refer to the ethical obligations to be followed by professionals. Every profession has got its own obligations - Engineers have got their own values and beliefs, doctors have their own, lawyers their own and teachers their own obligations.

The main question that crops at this juncture is who decides what is ethical?  What is good at one point of time need not be good all the times. 

Each profession has got its own code of ethics. A code of ethics prescribes what a professional should do so that he can  do the best at the minimum cost. It also helps a professional to choose what to do when faced with a problem.  A professional has obligations towards his employer, client/customer   and society.

Ethics plays an important role in the workplace. General public are unlikely to do business with an unethical company. When a company is caught doing something unethical, that company often faces  different problems. Consumers may  boycott their products.  Ethics and work should go hand in hand. Maintaining ethics should be an integral part of the workplace.

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