WHAT ARE VALUES AND ETHICS?

“Ethics knows the difference between what you have a

right to do and what is right to do.”
What Are Ethics?

Ethics are essentially a moral philosophy. It is a guiding

principle that helps us choose between right and wrong,
but “right” and “wrong” aren’t absolutes. That is, laws do
not govern right and wrong. Instead, they are social
constructs for what is considered good behavior that is
learned from others in society and from experiences.
Ethical standards tend to become defined by groups and
cultures and are enduring long-held beliefs intended to
guide not just individuals, but society as a whole.
For instance, it may be legal to walk past a dying man
on the sidewalk and ignore his needs, but most people
would consider it highly unethical. For most people,
helping that man would speak to our deepest core ethics,
because most societies have always dictated it to be
“right” to feed the hungry and help the hurting.
Ethics and moral philosophy challenge us with big-
picture ideas. Is it right for people to live indulgent lives
and spend recklessly just because they can when people
are living on a dollar a day in so many parts of the world?
Legal, yes. Ethical, that’s a shades-of-grey answer, and
where one stands on the issue mostly comes down to their
values.
What Are Values?
Values are subjective; they’re personal or organizational,
not societal, and they vary tremendously from one person
to another and from one company to another.
One person’s values may dictate that they feel an
obligation to care for their aging parents themselves,
while another feels their obligation is merely to ensure
their parents have care – whether through in-home visits
or via living in a care facility. Neither of these views is
dictated by law and both could be considered ethical.
Each person might vehemently disagree with the beliefs
of the other person. These personal instincts are guided by
their value system.
Values are not necessarily positive. They’re a
reflection of the person, and the extent to which that
person is moral or not defines their set of values. Usually,
when one’s sense of values seems to be compromised, it’s
said they have a “lack” of values or are amoral – but that
lack of values is a reflection of their value system. For
instance, a bank manager who insists on little to no
flexibility on calling in loans has a value set that dictates
he does everything in his power to make his company
profitable. If that means a family of four with a new baby
is evicted from their home or a woman in her 80s is left
with no home, so be it. For him, being the most profitable
bank manager is how he judges being his best self.
Whatever your political persuasion, it comes down to
your values. If you’re a supporter of the left or right, or if
you’re religious or an atheist, it all comes down to your
values. All of these values can be ethical, according to
society, but the values themselves are subjective and
personal. Values are, essentially, what you can live with
yourself doing, or not; it's whatever lets you respect
yourself in the morning, and that is different for each
person.
When Ethics and Values Meet
Following the law is good enough for some companies,
but others believe in being ethical and having strong core
values that guide their every action. Having mission and
value statements that truly reflect who a company is and
represents their ethos can go a long way toward
cultivating employee dedication, strong customer loyalty
and excellent public perception.