Professional Values and Ethics It is important to understand why professional values and ethics are vital to a successful career. To fully appreciate what professional values and ethics are, we must describe the meaning of each. Values pertaining to a professional environment are defined as “A professional’s obligation to comply with rules of one’s conduct, ethics, etiquette, professional values and attitudes.” (Ethics and Professional Responsibility, 2004). Ethics is concerned with “What is right and wrong, good and bad, and harmful and beneficial regarding decisions and actions in organizational transactions.” (Business Ethics, the Changing Environment, and Stakeholder Management, 2006). Maintaining positive ethics and values in a personal, economic, and social environment will promote a successful career.
Personal values continuously change, are developed over time, and help with making appropriate decisions in a professional career. For example, an automobile salesperson is often expected to falsify costumer’s incomes to increase loan approvals to sell the customer a vehicle that is beyond his or her means. The type of salesperson who goes along with, this shows a lack of personal values and often makes one time sales to customers. It is the salesperson with values that will make repeat sales and garner the greatest number of referrals. “Fostering a customer-oriented selling approach amongst salespeople may play an instrumental role in establishing long-term customer relationships” (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2002). The salesperson with values will take into consideration not only the costumer’s wants and desires but also their needs and financial capabilities. As stated earlier, “one’s values are, in part, determined by one’s ethics” (Ethics and Professional Responsibility, 2004). In
