Chapter 2:

Ethics

• Rights
• Justice
• Utility
• Care

Ethical Obligations

• Competence and Diligence
• Generosity
• Honesty and Candor
• Confedentiality
• Loyalty

Legal Obligations

• Copyright Law: Plagiarism
• Trademark Law: Trademarks (™) and registered trademarks (®)
• Contract Law: Express warranty and implied warranty
• Liability Law: Who is responsible?

Abiding by Liability Laws

• Understand the product and its likely users.
• Describe the product's functions and limitations.
• Instruct users on all aspects of ownership.
• Use appropriate words and graphics.
• Warn users about the risks of using and misusing the product.
• Include warnings along with assertions of safety.
• Make sure users receive information.

Ethical and Legal Conduct

• Organizations with strong ethical cultures have the least amount of misconduct committed by employees.
• Much fewer observe misconduct.
• More report misconduct they see.
• Far less retaliation against reporters of misconduct.

Steps to improve ethical culture:

• The organization's leaders can set the right tone by living up to their commitment to ethical conduct.
• Supervisors should set good examples and encourage ethical conduct.
• Peers can support those who act ethically
• The organizations can use informal communications to reinforce the formal policies, such as those presented in a company code of conduct.
• ★ Promote and reward ethical and legal behavior ★

General Codes of Conduct:

• Adhering to local laws and regulations, including those intended to protect the environment.
• Avoid discrimination.
• Maintaining a safe and healthy workplace.
• Respecting privacy.
• Avoiding conflicts of interest.
• Protecting the company's intellectual property.
• Avoiding bribery and kickbacks in working with suppliers and customers.

Communicating Ethically Across Cultures

• Ethical beliefs should prevent clashing due to different backgrounds.
• "Moral Minimum" is the principle that states companies are ethically obligated not to reinforce patterns of discrimination in product information.
• U.S. Companies should adhere to other countries' federal and regional laws.

Principles of Ethical Communication:

• Abide by relevant laws.
• Abide by the appropriate professional code of conduct.
• Abide by your organization's policy on social media.
• Take advantage of your employer's ethics resources
• Don't mislead your readers.
• Avoid discriminatory language.
• Acknowledge assistance from others.