Ethical codes are adopted by organizations to assist members in understanding the difference between right and wrong and in applying that understanding to their decisions. An ethical code generally implies documents at three levels: codes of business ethics, codes of conduct for employees, and codes of professional practice.
Business ethics and Code of conduct
Many organizations use the phrases ethical code and code of conduct interchangeably, but it may be useful to make a distinction. A code of ethics will start by setting out the values that underpin the code and will describe an organization's obligation to its stakeholders. The code is publicly available and addressed to anyone with an interest in that organization's activities and the way it operates. It will include details of how the organization plans to implement its values and vision, as well as guidance to staff on ethical standards and how to achieve them. However, a code of conduct is generally addressed to and intended for the organization's leaders and staff. It usually sets out restrictions on behavior, and will be far more focused on compliance or rules than on values or principles.
Professional ethics
A code of practice is adopted by a profession (or by a governmental or non-governmental organization) to regulate that profession. A code of practice may be styled as a code of professional responsibility, which will discuss difficult issues and difficult decisions that will often need to be made, and then provide a clear account of what behavior is considered "ethical" or "correct" or "right" in the circumstances. In a membership context, failure to comply with a code of practice can result in expulsion from the professional organization. In its 2007 International Good Practice Guidance, Defining and Developing an Effective Code of Conduct for Organizations, the International Federation of Accountants provided the following working definition:
"Principles, values, standards, or rules of behavior that guide the decisions, procedures and systems of an organization in a way that (a) contributes to the welfare of its key stakeholders, and (b) respects the rights of all constituents affected by its operations.
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Students will develop an understanding of the psychological and social processes of learning the following competences: (i) ethical sensitivity, (ii) ethical reasoning, (iii) ethical motivation, and (
L'objectif général de ce cours est de permettre aux étudiant-e-s:
de saisir les questions environnementales en tant que questions éthiques;
de clarifier le point de vue à partir duquel apparaît leur
This course enables students to sharpen their proficiency in tackling ethical and legal challenges linked to Artificial Intelligence (AI). Students acquire the competence to define AI and identify eth
In moral philosophy, deontological ethics or deontology (from Greek: δέον + λόγος) is the normative ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a series of rules and principles, rather than based on the consequences of the action. It is sometimes described as duty-, obligation-, or rule-based ethics. Deontological ethics is commonly contrasted to consequentialism, utilitarianism, virtue ethics, and pragmatic ethics.
Professional ethics encompass the personal and corporate standards of behavior expected of professionals. The word professionalism originally applied to vows of a religious order. By no later than the year 1675, the term had seen secular application and was applied to the three learned professions: divinity, law, and medicine. The term professionalism was also used for the military profession around this same time. Professionals and those working in acknowledged professions exercise specialist knowledge and skill.
Business ethics (also known as corporate ethics) is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics, that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of individuals and entire organizations. These ethics originate from individuals, organizational statements or the legal system. These norms, values, ethical, and unethical practices are the principles that guide a business.
Explores European regulations for medical devices, covering classification, manufacturer's role, post-market follow-up, and essential requirements compliance.
Guides students through reflecting on applying the ethical analysis cycle and understanding ethics education goals.
Explores personal beliefs, fundamental principles, and various engineering ethics codes.
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This paper reports on the development of a brief scenario-based challenge to prompt engineering students’ reflection about the broader impacts of their design decisions, and thereby increase their ethical sensitivity and motivation. The game scenario asks ...
CDIO conference proceedings2023
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Deepfakes - synthetic videos generated by machine learning models - are becoming increasingly sophisticated. While they have several positive use cases, their potential for harm is also high. Deepfake production involves input from multiple engineers, maki ...
Can social, organisations and disciplinary values guide decisions when thinking about ethical challenges? With this presentation, I describe the ambivalence of decision-making when it comes to being a cause or a valuable resource for acting upon ethics cha ...