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Sunday, March 12, 2006

Ethics: A moving target?

I’ve been giving a lot of thought, not just recently but for several years, about just what does “ethics” mean? Is it situational? Is it personal? Is it your client's or your employer's? Which one trumps in the game of life?

I’ve been fortunate to represent a client who earned the 2005 Ethics in Business Award from the Samaritan Center in Austin. It’s no beauty contest to win this award: they had to fill out extensive questionnaires, permit observation by individuals studying ethics at St. Edward’s University, and meet the mark of opinion by employees, customers and vendors. My client, The Maids Home Services franchise in Austin, Tx is an honor to work for. The couple running this business are genuine people who walk the talk of their beliefs. Check out their Web site at www.themaidshomeservices.org.

You'd think this award, which included competition from huge international companies as well as smaller businesses such as my client's, would garner news media attention. NOT! It got a mention on an inside page of the business section, listing the three winners but nothing about what the award represents, how it was earned, what it means in the business world to even strive for such an award. The big daily said they really didn't have the staff to cover small business. I wonder if the big international company had won whether that would have changed their coverage. As you can tell, I'm frustrated by this. It was a failure to me as a public relations and media relations expert.

I’m interested in hearing from you about your employer or client whose ethics you consider impeccable. Why? Is it because their ethics mirror yours? Because they represent an ethic you’d like to achieve? Because they make money at it? Some combination of the above?

We’ll explore this more in future posts.

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1:50 PM | 4 comment(s)