In-House Training Courses

Course Overview

Ethics, in the broadest sense of the concept, is a branch of philosophy that seeks to analyze principles of conduct that govern human activity. Humans throughout time have been pragmatic creatures that actively engage each other in trade in the hopes of prospering and thriving. In the course of this interaction, their actions affect the well-being of others – these actions fall under the purview of ethics.

In this course, you will be introduced (or reintroduced) to professional and business ethics. We will look at specific ethical issues and principles of conduct that are relevant to the professional environment and the people who interact with it. In essence, this course is a study of the moral issues which arise in the context of the professional/business workplace. The ultimate intent of this course is to leave students with an understanding of their own driving forces which helps them to understand and empathize with co-workers, managers, and customers. This course should leave the student better equipped to identify, think critically about, and resolve ethnical issues that are encountered in the workplace.

Key Concept

Honesty, Integrity, Loyalty, Respect, Morality, Perseverance, Passion, Honor – these are the core principles that influence an individual’s decisions and behaviors. In general, a professional ethic is the belief that hard, diligent work has value to the individual, the business, and the customer. A “strong work ethic” is typically viewed as a virtue that adds to a person’s character and their inherent value to their profession/business.

Key Terminology

Morals

Morals are a person’s standard of behavior or beliefs concerning what is and is not acceptable for them to do. Morals are formed by accepting what is taught at a very early age by their family, their school, their religion, and their society to be the truth. Morals may change over time, but they are the building blocks to values, beliefs, and a person’s general way of thinking.

The theory of morality is large and complex – many people have a concept of what morality means to them, but few people challenge the source of that morality or temper into accepting that other people have other definitions of it.

Values

Values (or ideals) are a person’s principles or standards of behavior – a judgment of what is believed to be important in life. Values are formed by a person’s morals and beliefs and shaped by their environment, education, and society. Values influence what a person thinks and feels and dictates how they evaluate a situation, theory, or feeling. They generally determine priorities and guide a person’s life and are used to measure the results of that life. When the things that you do match your values, it’s perceived as good and satisfying.

Beliefs

Beliefs are the acceptance that a statement, theory, principal, or existence is true. Beliefs are shaped by thoughts – by what we’ve learned and accepted as fact or truth; they’re shaped by the thoughts of what others, who have influence, have conveyed as being a fact or the truth; they’re shaped by what has be learned from one’s environment and society; and most of, are shaped by one’s experience – painful experience drastically alter one’s beliefs.

Belief System

Beliefs are considered to be the state of mind in which a person thinks something to be the truth regardless of empirical evidence to the contrary. A Belief System is a set of principles or tenets which together form the basis of a religion, philosophy, or moral code – more to the point, it is an individual’s collection of beliefs that govern their perception and interaction with the world at large.

Ethics

Ethics are a set of moral principles that guide and drive an individual’s conduct. They affect how people make decisions by delineating personal interpretations of good and evil; of right and wrong; of virtuous and vice; of justice and criminality. They are impacted by personal beliefs, the law, the given environment, and they society to which an individual is exposes – danger comes from the absolute, unwavering belief that an individual’s ethics are the righteous and only acceptable implementation thereof; harmony is achieved by the understanding that beliefs and ethics are subjective and each individual is entitled to their own variation thereof.

Ethical Dilemma

An Ethical Dilemma occurs when two or more ethical standards apply to a situation, but they either conflict or are in opposition of each other. This is sometimes referred to as an ethical paradox between multiple moral imperatives of equal importance where there is no clear way to apply one without transgressing the others. It can be considered a “no-win” situation. The only way through is identify the ethical principles involved and use critical-thinking evaluations to support the decision making process – these dilemmas tend to be emotionally charged, but require a calm, rational approach to reach the most practical conclusion.

Life-Cycle Process

Learning Objective

1. Understanding what morals are and how they impact the workplace.
2. Understand your own morals, values and ethics and how they impact your outlook, your relationships, and your profession.
3. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of different moral theories and models.
4. Understand the importance of ethical reasoning in business and professional contexts.
5. Identify ethical problems in complex professional and business-related situations.
6. Understand and identify ethical dilemmas in the workplace.
7. Understand the complexities of personal, legal, cultural (both local and global), and philosophical competing ethical interests.
8. Understand what ethical decision making is and how to distinguish between morals, values, ethics, and the law.
9. Understand a professions’ or business’ social and moral responsibilities (in regards to conflicts of interest, environmental concerns, discrimination and the ethical treatment of employees/coworkers).
10. Understand the benefits of adapting a professional code of conduct.

Course Outline

1. Introduction to Morals
   1. What is a Belief?
   2. What is a Value?

• What is a Moral?

1. How are Morals Formed?
2. How do Beliefs impact our Values?
3. How do Values impact our Morals

• How do Morals impact Lives and Professions?

2. Introduction to Ethics
   1. What is an Ethic?
   2. What is Integrity?

• Exercise: What are examples of Personal Ethics?

1. What determines a person’s Ethics?
2. How do Ethics impact a person’s life?
3. What determines if a person’s Ethics are right or wrong?

• Exercise: Is there a right set of Ethics?

3. Introduction to Professional Ethics
   1. What are Professional Ethics?
   2. How do they differ from an individual’s Ethics?

• What are the factors that influence Professional or Workplace Ethics?

1. How are Professional Ethics impacted by Personal Ethics?
2. What role does personal perspective play in the consideration of Ethics?
3. Exercise: What are examples of Professional Ethics?

4. Implementing Professional Ethics as a Standard
   1. Exercise: Is it right to impose a personal set of beliefs or ethics on another person?
   2. What are the basic, commonly acceptable tenants of Professional Ethics?

• What is a Professional Code of Conduct?

1. What is an Ethical Dilemma?
2. Workshop: Break into groups and resolve an Ethical Dilemma
3. Discussion: What was learned in the workshop?

5. Going Beyond
   1. Instilling an environment that supports Professional, Workplace Ethics.
   2. Build a plan to identify the ethical standards of your business and establish a Professional Code of Conduct.

• Defining Prohibited Practices and integrating them into the Code of Conduct

6. Concept Evaluations
   1. Quizzes.
   2. Competency Reviews and Evaluation.

Training Cost & Time

Learning Objective

1. Understanding what morals are and how they impact the workplace.
2. Understand your own morals, values and ethics and how they impact your outlook, your relationships, and your profession.
3. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of different moral theories and models.
4. Understand the importance of ethical reasoning in business and professional contexts.
5. Identify ethical problems in complex professional and business-related situations.
6. Understand and identify ethical dilemmas in the workplace.
7. Understand the complexities of personal, legal, cultural (both local and global), and philosophical competing ethical interests.
8. Understand what ethical decision making is and how to distinguish between morals, values, ethics, and the law.
9. Understand a professions’ or business’ social and moral responsibilities (in regards to conflicts of interest, environmental concerns, discrimination and the ethical treatment of employees/coworkers).
10. Understand the benefits of adapting a professional code of conduct.

Course Outline

1. Introduction to Morals
   1. What is a Belief?
   2. What is a Value?

• What is a Moral?

1. How are Morals Formed?
2. How do Beliefs impact our Values?
3. How do Values impact our Morals

• How do Morals impact Lives and Professions?

2. Introduction to Ethics
   1. What is an Ethic?
   2. What is Integrity?

• Exercise: What are examples of Personal Ethics?

1. What determines a person’s Ethics?
2. How do Ethics impact a person’s life?
3. What determines if a person’s Ethics are right or wrong?

• Exercise: Is there a right set of Ethics?

3. Introduction to Professional Ethics
   1. What are Professional Ethics?
   2. How do they differ from an individual’s Ethics?

• What are the factors that influence Professional or Workplace Ethics?

1. How are Professional Ethics impacted by Personal Ethics?
2. What role does personal perspective play in the consideration of Ethics?
3. Exercise: What are examples of Professional Ethics?

4. Implementing Professional Ethics as a Standard
   1. Exercise: Is it right to impose a personal set of beliefs or ethics on another person?
   2. What are the basic, commonly acceptable tenants of Professional Ethics?

• What is a Professional Code of Conduct?

1. What is an Ethical Dilemma?
2. Workshop: Break into groups and resolve an Ethical Dilemma
3. Discussion: What was learned in the workshop?

5. Going Beyond
   1. Instilling an environment that supports Professional, Workplace Ethics.
   2. Build a plan to identify the ethical standards of your business and establish a Professional Code of Conduct.

• Defining Prohibited Practices and integrating them into the Code of Conduct

6. Concept Evaluations
   1. Quizzes.
   2. Competency Reviews and Evaluation.

Training Cost & Time

Cost:   45,000 Baht/Session (1 Day)