Business Ethics

Ethics in business has become big news over the past several years. We read about the escapades of the executives at Enron, WorldCom and other major companies and shake our heads in astonishment thinking, “How could that happen.” We marvel at the unethical behavior of these leaders while at the same time never considering our own behavior.

The truth is that business leaders, regardless of the size of the company, are faced with ethical pressures everyday. The scale or impact of the ethical decision may not measure up to the likes of an Enron, but nevertheless, they do exist. How a business leader handles minor ethical issues is a precursor to how larger decision will be made as the business grows.

Many of the ethical issues we may face are not clearly black or white. In fact, two people faced with the same issue could quite possible make contrary decisions, while believing they each have made the best ethical decision. Why? Because ethical decisions are based upon one’s moral character. When it comes to moral behavior, we each march to the sound of different drummers and as such will make different decisions on similar issues.

As a business owner you must set the bar on ethical behavior. Make integrity a core value, be honest with your customers and employees, always follow the rules, never compromise your principles, and remember that the right thing is not always the opposite of the wrong thing. Do these things and your customers will respect you and your employees will remain loyal, essential ingredients to a successful business.

To Your Success -

Rick is a recognized business advisor and consultant. He specializes in working with small to mid-sized business owners to strengthen their business processes and ultimately grow their business. Rick has been accredited by the Institute for Independent Business, an International accrediting body for senior executives.

Rick holds an MBA from the LeTourneau University located in Longview, Texas.

Rick Stephens is the Principle Advisor of the Consulting firm RG Stephens & Associates located in Plano, Texas. Rick offers business owners the opportunity to meet confidentially to discuss any business issue they may be experiencing. His initial meeting is always free and without obligation. Call him at 972-578-7895 or via his website at http://rgstephens.com to arrange for an appointment.

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RFID stands for Radio Frequency IDentification.

Its supporters tout its amazing power to streamline it supply chain. I am in agreement with those supporters. RFID will significantly increase the efficiency of supply chains. The problem with RFID is that the RFID tags will be released into the world and become a privacy and security nightmare.

I think that the true potential of this technology is as big as the internet. That is a bold statement, but think about it. The internet is electronic content in small pieces linked together. RFID taken to its logical limits becomes the internet of things. Imagine if every thing made in the world could shout out its existence. If you have enough RFID scanners and internet capacity you could place every man made object in its GPS location. Get your mind around that for a second. Every manmade object with real-time global placement.

This ends many things: cash, theft, and privacy.

Why would world wide RFID end cash? There would be no need to exchange currency because all of everybody’s possessions would be tagged. You go to a store you pick up what you want and then you leave. No stopping at the cash register (the cash register will be a relic like the slide rule) the RFID readers at the door know who you are and what you came in with and what you are leaving with and will debit you cash at the bank or put it on your credit card.

Why would word wide RFID end theft? Why steal anything the police will just pull out their PDA and find the item and arrest you. Also don’t try to cheat on your taxes the government all ready knows what items you posses.

The end of cash and theft sound like a wonderful ideas, but remember someone knows all that you have purchased where from and how much you paid. Do you want your child or boss to know every purchase you have ever made. Better not pick up that resume book at Barnes and Nobles because you boss who subscribes to a futuristic RFID listing service will be able to know you are looking for a job. I hope you never have an ex boy or girl friend track you down with the serial number from that pair of jeans they bought you. True world wide RFID is the “Internet of Things” (term taken from the book SPY CHIPS and website www.spychips.com) will end privacy.

Now governments are putting these RFID Chips into Passports and Drivers license. Public schools are tagging your children so they will be able to know who sneaks away for an unauthorized bathroom break. They use the same technology on your kids as ranchers use on their livestock. A government agent will be able to follow you around town from the comfort of a Fort Meade computer center. The potential for abuse is staggering. I feel that this issue is as significant as Cloning but it is not getting the press in the mainstream media. This is because the mainstream media is bought and paid for by corporations pushing RFID.

I am a Conservative Christian Business man. I believe in the right of business to make a profit if they work hard enough. On this issue I find my self allied with the far left fringe. This is because business is looking at the short term bottom line and not the long term effects on the world we share. Who wants to live in a world without privacy?

I call on businesses to think about your RFID strategy and its effects on the world we live in.

Brian Davis - Privacy Expert

Consumer advocate

http://www.DSBSecurity.com/

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Ethics in the field of hiring, staffing and recruitment is based on a combination of things and depends on who is actually involved in the hiring process.

Certainly the job searcher, hiring manager and recruiter are just three possible people involved in a hiring decision.

As a recruiter, I try my best to gauge the truthfulness of comments by both job searchers and hiring managers and they presumably are gauging my truthfulness as well.

Commonly, job searchers often lie about various aspects of their resume ie. their salary, why they left their last job, their job responsibilities, their educational achievements, etc.

Hiring managers might lie about why they are looking to hire a new person ie. they might lie about why the previous person left the job they are trying to fill (if the last person who held the job was fired for something embarrassing like having an office affair or something like that, do you think the hiring manager will tell you the truth about why the person was fired? Me neither). Similarly a hiring manager probably won’t tell you that the previous person quit the job because they were bored or because they thought their manager was a jerk either.

A recruiter needs to find the truth and often needs to read between the lines of comments that are made to them by either the job searcher or the hiring manger.

Similarly some recruiters aren’t always capable of telling the truth 100% of the time either. Recruiters often have a reputation not much better than a used car saleman - no offense to used car salesmen - and sometimes it’s not difficult to see why.

Whether you’re a job searcher looking for a job, a hiring manager looking to fill a job, or a recruiter looking for a job searcher to fill a job, the truth tends to come out one way or the other.

As a recruiter, I have a hard time working with people I can’t trust and I’m usually a pretty good judge of character. I tell the truth when working with job searchers and hiring managers alike and I expect them to do the same.

There are plenty of job searchers and hiring managers - and recruiters - out there and life is just too short to waste time with people who aren’t trustworthy.

Carl Mueller is an Internet entrepreneur and professional recruiter who has written an ebook for career-minded individuals: http://www.RecruiterSecretsRevealed.com

Recruiter Secrets Revealed sheds light on job search and career management “secrets” that you can use to supercharge your career and distinguish yourself from other job searchers.

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