Ethics, morals and values represent sensitive and important elements in an enterprise’s operations. This is particularly true when dealing in the international arena where many countries, not exposed to the Judeo-Christian heritage, find many U. S. ethical standards difficult to understand. Employees should receive training in this matter. The book, “Ethics, Morals and Values: A Training Guide” will serve this endeavor well.

ETHICS, MORALS AND VALUES

 Excerpt

My personal interest in the topics of morals, values and ethics stems from my duties during 30 years with IBM, perhaps the paragon of ethical companies, my several years overseas experience and my involvement in several projects, including one during my participation in an Executive MBA program.

I found that attempting to differentiate among morals, values and ethics was tenuous and sensitive.  During an IBM sponsored project on these topics with Manhattanville College I realized just how difficult it is to approach these concepts.  So did several professors, who worked on the project with me.  Later, I tackled this topic again during my MBA program in the form of an essay. My instructor was a former Roman Catholic Priest, which presented an interesting exchange of concepts. 

Since people in most of the Western countries are products of their environment that is fundamentally one of Judeo-Christian heritage, it is likely that any one of us would have some difficulty in explaining the difference between morals and ethics.  Later I will provide a simple “test” to stimulate group discussions on this specific challenge.