Ethics

Ethics programs are designed to constantly reinforce honesty and integrity as the foundation for all business principles. They promote ethical work behaviour and individual accountability and responsibility, and they protect employees and the company from accusations of wrongdoing. Failure to set and protect high ethical standards can be devastating to a company.

Ethics means a solid commitment to integrity. Integrity, in turn, means a “strict adherence to a moral code.” Because a company’s reputation of honesty and integrity is so crucial, you need to do more than simply follow the law. You need to avoid even the appearance of inappropriate conduct.

Upon successful completion of this course, you should be able to:

• State the purpose of an ethics program
• Define ethics
• List common characteristics of an ethics program
• Identify ethical standards for fairness and honesty, accurate record keeping, and complying with antitrust laws
• Identify ethical standards for giving and receiving gifts, gratuities, and entertainment with customers and suppliers, government and non-government personnel, and foreign officials
• Identify standards for handling conflicts of interest, financial standards—including preservation of assets—restrictive trade practices, intellectual properties, and employee relations
• Recognize the responsibility to comply with and report suspected ethical violations, what disciplinary action could result from failure to comply with or report violations, and how to raise ethical concerns and seek additional counsel
• Recognize the application of ethics principles through the use of case studies

REGULATIONS

This course was designed to help satisfy requirements of the following regulations:

• 15 U.S.C. Chapter 1, Sherman Act — Anti-Trust Law
• 17 U.S.C., Sections 101-810, Copyright Law
• 35 U.S.C. and Title 17 C.F.R. Chapter 1, Intellectual Property Laws

• The definition of ethics
• The purpose and common characteristics of ethics programs
• Fairness, accuracy, and antitrust laws
• Gifts, travel, and entertainment
• Conflicts of interest, asset protection, and employment standards
• The reporting process
• Case studies