Professional Pilot, May 2018

VIEWPOINT an editorial opinion Ethics E thics the moral principles that govern our behavior include how we conduct our business activities Managers know this and most seek to operate in an ethical manner However the defi nition of ethical behavior may not be as clear cut as just the desire to behave ethically hence the need for rules Many people hate rules viewing them as curtailment of their freedom Others seek rules as a way of eliminating the gray area that can allow unethical behavior But there are many cases where people know the rules agree to follow them and then break them in some cases unintentionally Examples of ethical behavior Lets take an employee who signs an agreement with a company in exchange for training fi nancial or other assistance They may do this to obtain the credentials necessary to perform a specifi c company and or industry function This agreement states that the employee will not compete with the company or solicit its clients should they decide to leave at some future date Years later the employee elects to seek employment in a different function but with one of the companys competitors Is this an ethical transgression What if the employee took with them various sources of company property including a company client list or 16 PROFESSIONAL PILOT May 2018 company fi les and documents What if he or she contacted the companys clients prior to his or her departure to advise that even though the employee would not be able to provide the same services he or she knew that the new employer possessed or desired that capability and of course the employee would be working there and able to assist Exactly at what point does this become an ethical moral and or legal issue Does the new employer incur a responsibility through the interview and background process to ensure a breach does not occur by virtue of this hire Why Because the employer can be liable if they know of the employees ongoing obligations to the former employer and because its the ethical moral and professional way to conduct business Some years ago I was offered a position by a top company contingent on meeting certain requirements not the least of which was to reveal any potential confl ict of interest I might have I provided as much background as possible covering areas where confl ict might exist allowing my future employer to decide if there was a problem and how it could be addressed Was it time consuming to go through such a process Yes but it exemplifi ed and proved to me the companys commitment to its stated ethical standards The aircraft broker and ethics Many people and companies operating in the business aviation arena represent buyers and sellers in transactions worth tens of millions of dollars Yet there are no stan By Anthony Kioussis President Asset Insight Snake oil merchants in early America would travel from town to town and make impossible claims for their products With music to draw them in crowds formed as these unprincipled salesmen would lie to the assembly Whatever malady an unsuspecting prospect might want to alleviate was said to be cured by the snake oil Today we continue to have sales people in a myriad of industries including business aviation who lack ethical conduct Theyre harder to spot and dont draw crowds in with banjo players But their sales pitches can cost gullible prospects thousands of dollars Image courtesy Creative Commons