JOHN B LACSON MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO)

COLLEGE OF CRIMINOLOGY

Professional Conduct
Introduction:

It is a professionally accepted standard of personal and business behaviour, values

and guiding principles. Codes of professional ethics are often established by professional
organizations to help guide members in performing their job functions according to sound and
consistent ethical principles.

The professional conduct outlines the certain behaviour that meets and exceeds
ethical expectations for a given profession. It translates into a functional work environment.
Civility and mutual respect, commitment to organization, job satisfaction, productivity, synergy,
minimal absenteeism, minimal turnover, and communication will help you to build a positive
reputation in your workplace in the future.

Let’s us begin!

Learning Outcomes

1. understand the importance of Professional Conduct

2. apply the twelve professional behaviour tips in the workplace in the future as well as in
day to day life.
3. recognize the importance of workplace etiquette.

Professional conduct is the field of regulation of members of professional bodies,

either acting under statutory or contractual powers.

Historically, professional conduct was wholly taken by the private professional bodies,
the sole legal authority for which was of a contractual nature. These bodies commonly
established codes of conduct and ethical codes for the guidance of their members.

Acquire New Knowledge

 JOHN B LACSON MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO)
COLLEGE OF CRIMINOLOGY

Here is your sixth lesson – Read and learn.

Lesson 6. Importance of Professional Conduct

Professional conduct involves ethics, morals, and standards of behaviour. Being a

professional, it is necessary for the person to maintain his/her ethical behaviour and to have
good professional conduct.

Professionalism is the conduct, aims or qualities that characterize or mark a profession

or professional person; it implies quality of workmanship or service. Every organization knows
that a professional reputation is the difference between success and failure and they seek to
keep their most professional staff.

What is professional conduct in the workplace?

Professional behaviour is a form of etiquette in the workplace that is linked primarily to

respectful and courteous conduct. Being conscious of how you treat c-workers and clients, and
ensuring a positive workplace attitude can help you to improve your productivity and
effectiveness in the workplace.

Acquire New Knowledge

Here is your seventh lesson – Read and learn.

Lesson 7. Twelve (12) Professional Behavior Tips and Ways to Uphold your
Professionalism and Workplace Etiquette

1. Honesty: always act openly. Never share confidential, privileged or client information
unnecessarily, and don’t tolerate or justify dishonest conduct by others. Report any
conflicts of interest immediately.
2. Respect: maintain a respectful attitude to others at all times, even during stressful
times. Don’t lash out at colleagues or disrespect anyone (senior or otherwise).
Always appropriate language (verbally or in writing) and don’t swear. Apologize for
errors or misunderstandings, and keep your personal opinion of others private.
3. Meetings: arrive on time and be prepared by reviewing the agenda or meeting notes
in advance. Make contributions to discussions where appropriate, and don’t take
over when someone else is trying to talk. Respect the meeting convenor or chair,
follow the appropriate format, and ask considerate questions.
4. Communication: speak clearly and in language others can easily understand, act
courteously and use good manners when engaging with others. Follow any company
guidelines regarding content, read information provided before asking questions,
listen to other when they are talking or explaining, and don’t engage in office
 JOHN B LACSON MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO)
COLLEGE OF CRIMINOLOGY

gossip. Be careful of language and tone in written communications, and don’t copy
in others unnecessarily when emailing (but don’t intentionally exclude others either).
5. Time Management: don’t be late to work, instead arrive a few minutes early, to
settle, get your coffee and greet co-workers. Follow lunch and break schedules by
leaving and returning on time. At the beginning of everyday, review your schedule
so you know what time you have to be where, and what workload you have on that
day.
6. Integrity: act ethically and do the right thing at all times, and always report
suspicious people in the office, misconduct, or other violations of company policy.
Remain impartial keeping any personal bias and intolerance out of the workplace.
7. Safety: understand the company safety policy and report any maintenance or other
hazards immediately.
8. Corporate Goals: have an understanding of your company’s missions, goals and
objectives and the role that you play in achieving those.
9. Dress: dress in clean, appropriate clothing. Follow any dress code standards or
guidelines and if there aren’t any, avoid clothing that is revealing, provocative, or
includes offensive language or pictures.
10. Accountability: take responsibility for your work and actions, do what needs to be
done, and don’t leave it for others. Be honest if things go wrong, or you don’t finish
something on time, and then work out an effective resolution to move forward. Seek
help early if you need it.
11. Teamwork: you often need to work with people that you may not necessarily like.
Set aside differences to work well with others since teamwork sometimes even
outweighs performance- with people who work well with others often advancing
based on that aspect.
12. Commitment: dedication and positive action to your role and the organization can
carry you a long way. Essentialy, being professional is about giving your best at all
times. Think about how your behaviour will be perceived by others and make sure
to understand and follow company codes of conduct where they exist.
Following are the ten golden rules to being professional in service to your organization:

1. Always strive for excellence; this is the first rule to achieving greatness in whatever
endeavour you undertake this is the quality that makes you and your work stand
out.
2. Be trustworthy; in today’s society trust is an issue and any employee who exhibits
trustworthiness is on a fast track to professionalism. Trustworthiness is about
fulfilling an assigned task and as an extension- not letting down expectations, it is
been dependable, and reliable when called upon to deliver a service.
3. Be accountable; to be accountable is to stand tall and be counted for what actions
you have undertaken, this is the blameworthiness and responsibility for your
actions and its consequences – good or bad.
 JOHN B LACSON MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO)
COLLEGE OF CRIMINOLOGY

4. Be courteous and respectful; courteousness is being friendly, polite and well-

mannered with a gracious consideration towards others. It makes social interaction
in the workplace run smoothly, avoid conflicts and earn respect.
5. Be honest, open and transparent;; honesty is a facet of moral character that
connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as truthfulness, straightforwardness
of conduct, loyalty, fairness, sincerity, openness in communication and generally
operating in a way for others to see what actions are being performed.
6. Be competent and improve continually; competence is the ability of an individual to
do a job properly, it is a combination of knowledge, skills and behaviour used to
improve performance.
7. Always be ethical; ethical behaviour is acting within certain moral codes in
accordance with the generally accepted code of conduct by the rules.
8. Always be honourable and act with integrity; honourable action is behaving in a
way that portrays “nobility of soul, magnanimity, and a scorn of meanness which is
derived from virtous conduct and personal integrity.
9. Be respectful of confidentiality; confidentiality is respecting the set of rules or
promise that restricts you from further and unauthorized dissemination of
information.
10. Set good examples; applying the foregoing rules helps you improve your
professionalism within your organization but it is not complete until you impact
knowledge on those around and below you.
Ways to uphold your professionalism and workplace etiquette

1. Honor your commitment and get your job done

2. Be on time and any meetings/events
3. Pay attention to cultural norms and follow them
4. Check your communication
5. Keep personal business during work time to a minimum
6. Bring notepad and pen or pencil to every meeting
7. Think before you post, tweet or comment at work or about work
8. Avoid office politics and gossip

Ethical Standards
Introduction:

There is not one consistent set of standards that all companies follow, but each company
has the right to develop the standards that are meaningful for their organization.

Ethical standards are always easily enforceable, as they are frequently vaguely defined
and somewhat open to interpretation.
 JOHN B LACSON MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO)
COLLEGE OF CRIMINOLOGY

The ethical standards demarcate to established and generally accepted moral values.
These are the principles that when followed, promote values such as trust, good behaviour,
fairness, and/or kindness.

Learning Outcomes:

1. define ethical standards.

2. recognize the role of ethics in science.

Acquire New Knowledge

Here is your eight lesson – Read and learn.

Lesson 8. Definition of Ethical Standards and the Role of Ethics in Science

Ethical Standards are set of principles established by the founders of the organization to
communicate its underlying moral values. This code provides a framework that can be used as
a reference for decision making processes.
 JOHN B LACSON MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO)
COLLEGE OF CRIMINOLOGY

What does Ethical Standard Mean?

These standards are an important part of an organization’s culture. They establish the
parameters of behaviour that owners and top executives expect from employees and also from
suppliers, at least to the extent of their relationship with the organization.

Legal Ethical Standards Definition

Legal ethical standards are those company policies put in place that are based on laws,
rules and regulations that come from government or regulatory bodies. These standards define
more than the law for a company; they define the expectations for employees, for company
leadership, and they set the protocol for any violations or allegations of wrongdoing. It is the
law that you cannot harass or physically harm someone.

Morally Based Ethical Standards Definition

A morally based ethic’s standard is a company standard for doing the right thing. This
standard could be regarding laws, regulations or customer service and human resource
standards. An example is when a company voluntarily sets its minimum wage higher than the
required minimum wage for the betterment of its workers.

Ethical Standards are classified at three levels:

1. Macro Level
At a macro level, sometimes called the systemic level, ethics are defined and
influenced by the wider operating environment in which the company exists.

2. Company level
At a company or corporate level, ethical standards are embedded in the policies
and procedures of the organization, and form an important foundation on which business
strategy is built. These policies derive from the influences felt at macro level and therefore help
a business to respond changing pressures in most effective way.

3. Individual Level
Since businesses are run by people, the ethical standards of individuals in the
business are an important consideration. Individuals may well have a very different set of
ethical standards from their employer and this can lead to tensions.

Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of moral development

Level 1 (Pre-Conventional)

1. Obedience and punishment orientation (How can I avoid punishment?)

Level 2 (Conventional)

2. Self-interest orientation
(What’s in it for me?)
 JOHN B LACSON MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO)
COLLEGE OF CRIMINOLOGY

(Paying for a benefit)

Level 3 (Post- Conventional)

3. Interpersonal accord and community

(Social norms)

(The good boy/girl attitude)

4. Authority and social-order maintaining orientation

(Law and order morality)

5. Social contract orientation

6. Universal ethical principles
(Principled conscience)

Level 1 : Pre-Conventional

Throughout the pre-conventional level, a child’s sense of morality is externally controlled.

Children accept and believe the rules of authority figures, such as parents and teachers.

Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation

Focuses on the child’s desire to obey rules and avoid being punished.

Stage 2: Instrumental Orientation

Expresses the “what’s in it for me? Position, in which right behaviour is defined by whatever
the individual believes to be in their best interest. Stage two reasoning shows a limited interest
in the needs of others, only to the point where it might further the individual’s own interests.

Level 2: Conventional

Throughout the conventional level, a child’s sense of morality is tied to personal and societal
relationships. Children continue to accept the rules of authority figures, but this is now due to
their belief that this is necessary to ensure positive relationships and societal order.

Stage 3: Good Boy, Nice Girl Orientation

In stage 3, children want the approval of others and act in ways to avoid disapproval.
Emphasis is placed on good behaviour and people being nice to others.

Stage 4: Law-and-Order Orientation

In stage 4, the child blindly accepts rules and convention because of their importance in
maintaining a functioning society.

Level 3: Post-Conventional
 JOHN B LACSON MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO)
COLLEGE OF CRIMINOLOGY

Throughout the post-conventional level, a person’s sense of morality is defined in terms of

more abstract principles and values. This level is marked by a growing realization that
individuals are separate entities from society and that individuals may disobey rules inconsistent
with their own principles.

Stage 5: Social-Contract Orientation

In stage 5, the world is viewed as holding different opinions rights, and values. Such
perspective should be mutually respected as unidque to each person or community. Democratic
government theoretically based on stage five reasoning.

Stage 6: Universal-Ethical-Principle Orientation

In stage 6, moral reasoning is based on abstract reasoning using universal ethical principles.
Generally, the chosen principles are abstract rather than concrete and focus on ideas such as
equality, dignity, or respect.

The Role of Ethics in Science

Scientific ethics calls for honesty and integrity in all stages of scientific practice from
reporting results regardless to properly attributing collaborators. This system of ethics guides
the practice of science, from data collection to publication and beyond.

Ethical Standards in Science

Scientist have long maintained an informal system of ethics and guidelines for
conducting research, but documented ethical guidelines did not develop until the mid-twentieth
century. Scientific ethics now refers to a standard of conduct for scientists that is generally
delineated into two broad categories (Bolton, 2002)

 First, standards of methods and process address the design, procedures, data
analysis, interpretation, and reporting of research efforts.
 Second, standards of topics and findings address the use of huan and animal
subjects in research and the ethical implications of certain research findings.
Together, these ethical standards help guide scientific research and ensure that research efforts
(and researchers) abide by several core principles including:

1. Honesty in reporting of scientific data;

2. Careful transcription and analysis of scientific results to avoid error;
3. Independent analysis and interpretation of results that is based on data and not
on the influence of external sources;
4. Open sharing of methods, data, and interpretations through publication and
presentation;
5. Sufficient validation of results through replication and collaboration with peers;
6. Proper crediting of sources of information, data, and ideas;
 JOHN B LACSON MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO)
COLLEGE OF CRIMINOLOGY

7. Moral obligations to society in general, and in some disciplines, responsibility in

weighing the rights of human and animal subjects.