During the existence of mankind, certain rules of behavior have developed, thanks to which people, as social creatures, are trying to establish No matter how ridiculous it may seem to someone without them, the world would be mired in chaos. And to a greater extent this applies specifically to the norms of business relations. The field of business consists of many connections and complex relationships: employer-worker, employee-employee, seller-buyer ... There are many such communication schemes and different roles that a person plays in society. And the norms of behavior clearly regulate where and what can be said or done without being considered a dim-witted or rude person.
What is business ethics
The world is developing, new companies are emerging, trade markets are expanding. Business ethics come to the rescue when it comes to partnerships. The cultures of different countries are different, but they try to make the rules of conduct in business general. For example, the inviolable credo of any entrepreneur “the client is always right” is the basis for successful business. Indeed, in conditions of fierce competition, it is rudeness in relation to consumers of goods and services that has negative consequences.
The norms and rules of conduct are gradually changing. If earlier a man was obliged to open the door to a woman and let her go forward, then recently, when ladies have become full participants in the business sphere, it has become unnecessary to do so. But, despite the changes, every self-respecting businessman is obliged to be aware of ethical standards. And first of all, this rule concerns the higher the level of negotiations, the more serious attention is paid to the study of etiquette. While the norms of conduct in international business can be summarized in a few general rules, then the summit is held with strict observance of ceremony.
Business relationships call on their participants to clarity and brevity, the inviolability of the word, literacy of speech, respect for the laws or principles of others, normality in language and dress. A high level of negotiation requires clear knowledge, for example, the rules of greeting, the order in which participants are presented to each other, the appropriateness of gifts and souvenirs.
When creating his own company, the head thinks over not only the scheme of its activities, but a whole code of ethics is created, thanks to which the new company will have weight. In such a case, the business ethics of the service relationship affects the operation of the entire enterprise. For example, the manager leads the so-called policy of non-interference: he thinks only about his own position, not trusting the employees, not allowing them to interfere in the affairs of the enterprise. The productivity of labor in such a team will be very low, since there is no sense of community of interests. There is another principle of business relations - a team. In this case, the leader will in every possible way combine the interests of the business with the needs of a particular person, he will not be too harsh or too lenient. In such a team, any employee will strictly adhere to the ethical standards developed by the company. Punctuality, strict adherence to instructions, order in business papers, dress code - all this will be taken into account. The leader will not have to blush for his company either in front of clients or partners. The main ones should know everything.
Any person, even those who are not involved in business, needs to know what rules are contained in business ethics. Is it necessary to knock on the door when entering a public institution, how to call a friend “you” or “you”, when you come to work, to whom it is worth greeting, and for whom, just a verbal greeting is enough. Ignorance of such rules sometimes makes a person narrow-minded and funny, and in certain cases even interferes with the work of other participants in business relations.
Among the components of the success of the company are necessarily present: the moral qualities of the employees and the prestige of the company. There is no need to explain how interconnected these components are, when one is impossible without the other, and all together is unthinkable without the third - strict adherence to the norms of business ethics.
As has been noted more than once, trade is the basis of almost any business. Goods and services must be sold, otherwise the whole point of their creation is lost. But a customer buys a product only when the manager is able to convince him that there is a really worthy person in front of him who offers a worthwhile deal. It is in this case that the client is imbued with the seller's trust.
Today in the field of sales tremendous attention is paid to the personality of the manager, the personality of the client and their relationship. Knowledge of psychology contributes to constructive communication. Any professional seller should understand their features, ways of resolving conflict situations and much more.
In this lesson that concludes this course, we will talk about business communication and professional etiquette. Below we will tell you about the psychology of communication, the effects of perception, the ability to bargain and ask the right questions, conflicts in the field of sales and the art of saying "no". All this knowledge will be useful to you in your work, because will help you better understand the intricacies of sales and the nuances of communication between the seller and the buyer. And we will start with a short story about what a manager's image depends on.
What affects the image of a manager
A person can have a real impact on the people around him, and this depends not only on how strong or smart he is, but also on how attractive he is and what impression he makes. And here it is worth talking mainly about the image.
Image means image, and creating a positive image is of paramount importance in achieving success. This includes a well-thought-out appearance, and skills, and knowledge, and the "inner content" of a person.
For a manager, appearance is extremely important, because this is the first thing a client encounters when meeting him, and folk wisdom is "met by clothes" here just in place. The appearance of a person is similar to the packaging of goods, and therefore it is imperative to take care of your appearance. Basically, it can be called a hidden compliment to other people. It is scientifically proven that when people see that others are trying for them and striving to impress, it is taken as a compliment. As a result, positive emotions are transferred to the person who called them, making them more attractive.
A successful sales manager should be dressed in clean and ironed clothes and polished shoes, cut, shaved, etc. It is equally important to follow fashion and, if possible, try to match it, but excessive extravagance is not welcomed.
Here's what can play against a manager in his appearance:
- Old Fashioned Clothing (Conservative Image)
- Flashy colors in clothes (can be distracting and annoying)
- Tasteless jewelry, massive bracelets and buckles (this also includes an abundance of jewelry)
- Unsuccessful combination of stripes and cells in clothes (image of a clown)
- Dress in a black tie and a black blazer for a funky look
- Smoked glasses (hide eyes, interfere with communication)
But a person can be impressed by both appearance and speech. The use of terminology that is incomprehensible to the interlocutor in business conversations is most often perceived by him as a way of the seller "to be smart", to show his psychological advantage. Such manifestations of superiority, as a rule, cause rejection, resistance and a feeling of internal protest. And respect is more often caused by people who are able to tell in simple language even the most difficult things.
From all this we can conclude that business etiquette presupposes two main things at the initial stage: presentable, neat and well-groomed appearance and clear and intelligible speech, not replete with specific concepts and other manifestations of deep knowledge in any area.
In addition to this, special psychological effects are far from the last place in the formation of a manager's image. You can get acquainted with the most common on, and we will tell only about the most relevant for the sales sector.
Psychological effects
Ignorance of the psychological effects of perception presented below can cause many mistakes and failures, but knowledge, on the contrary, allows you to achieve success and avoid a lot of professional mistakes.
So, take note of the following psychological effects:
- Projection effect. People tend to ascribe advantages to pleasant interlocutors for them, and disadvantages to unpleasant ones. If you are pleasant in communication, then in everything else you will be presented as positive. With disadvantages, the same thing happens, just the opposite.
- Halo effect. People who have achieved significant success in one area will be considered very capable in other areas as well. But it has been scientifically proven that this opinion is often wrong. It is all the fault of the individual impressions created by short-term results - they form the so-called halo. This halo may work in the short term, but it does not work for everyone and does not always work in the same way.
- The effect of order. There are two types of this effect. According to the first, when conflicting information comes in that is difficult to verify, people are more likely to trust the one that they learned first. And according to the second, when consistent information arrives, people will trust the one that was received last, and it will be perceived as clarifying.
- The loser effect. A person who has failed in one area, people tend to consider capable of less in other areas. This is where the depressing effect of defeat comes into play, projected onto all the qualities of a person.
These and other effects have shown themselves more than once in business. We recommend that you be very careful about what you tell others about yourself. It is not for nothing that business people willingly share their successes with others and are silent about failures. You should always keep this in mind when dealing with clients and when dealing with senior management.
At the same time, what you have already learned about the factors affecting the image of a manager, and the psychological effects affecting his perception by clients, it is very useful to get at least basic knowledge about non-verbal means of communication, and in particular about. Facial expressions, intonations, postures and gestures are an integral part of any communication, including business. Non-verbal components of communication are very important in the first minutes of meeting new people, and if you learn, firstly, to pick up these signals, and secondly, to consciously submit yourself, your results in both professional and personal spheres will significantly increase.
In general, do not be lazy and take a little time to study our material on the topic of non-verbal communication (it is located), and we will continue the lesson by talking about working with conflicts in the field of sales.
Resolving professional conflicts
An ordinary sales manager, a head of the sales department, and in general any person striving for constructive communication with other people should be able to work with conflicts. You can learn all the details and details about conflict resolution from ours, so we will not go into all the details, but point out the main points of this topic that need to be taken into account.
A conflict is the interaction of two or more people who have incompatible goals or ways to achieve them. Conflicts between managers and clients can arise for several reasons:
- Personal reasons. These include mainly the attribution by the manager of the client of a position directed against his own personality.
- Production reasons. I mean such things as long customer service time, a small range of services, inconvenient operating hours of outlets, lack of spare parts, components and other materials, etc.
Note that conflicts can be one-sided (on the part of one person) and bilateral (on both sides), as well as true (occur with mutual infringement of the interests of the parties) and false (occur due to misunderstandings and mutual mistakes).
The development of conflicts can occur in two scenarios:
- Relatively slow pace. The parties to the conflict seem to make alternating moves - one in response to the other.
- Fast pace. The parties to the conflict act in a straightforward and swift manner. The confrontation is rapidly gaining momentum. It is not uncommon for people to forget the root cause and become uncontrollable; can move on to mutual insults.
Conflicts can have several termination options:
- The conflict ends completely (one of the parties wins).
- The conflict is partially resolved (the parties reach a compromise).
- The conflict returns to its original state (for some reason, the parties take a "pause", but the first time the conflict resumes).
Business etiquette presupposes the obligatory settlement of all emerging conflicts, and it is best to suppress them at the initial stage. For this, it is necessary to remove psychological barriers with clients in order to achieve mutual understanding. When resolving a conflict situation, the manager must be flexible in behavior and take into account the current psychological state of the buyer.
Almost always, a person is emotionally excited during a conflict, which is why he perceives the situation one-sidedly. Even people with restrained behavior in this state can indulge in unworthy actions, aggressive attacks, etc. People stop noticing anything positive, for example, in the service, because confident in their righteousness and unfair attitude towards them.
In a conversation with an emotionally agitated client, the manager must show restraint and tact, otherwise the situation may worsen. Competent behavior is expressed in the absence of arrogance and retaliatory attacks. Tell the client that he does not understand something or does not know that he is wrong, etc. completely unacceptable. It is best to use words and phrases that do not humiliate someone else's dignity, do not demonstrate their own superiority.
The choice of a method for resolving the conflict is due to the professionalism of the manager and his exactingness towards himself. The seller is obliged to stop the growth of the destructive situation, to extinguish it at the initial stage. It is not allowed to enter into a squabble with the client. If a manager doesn’t have a compelling argument, this should be compensated for and tone. The words should always be soft, and the facts and arguments should be firm and as exhaustive as possible.
The sales manager or sales manager may use special techniques to resolve the conflict. Let's consider a few of them.
Prompt suppression of the conflict
The client has every right to express dissatisfaction, but only until such time as his behavior contradicts social norms and rules of public order, until he begins to disrupt the stable work of the staff. If it came to this, the conflict should be stopped quickly, but to apply this method, employees must be extremely organized and have restraint.
In practice, most attempts to call the client to order by voice or shout down the client only escalate the situation and increase tensions. You need to act calmly, but decisively and firmly. The manager must be able to justify his actions precisely by means of the established instructions and instructions, but not by his own considerations.
If even a fully reasoned impact does not calm the indignant client, it is necessary to try to attract eyewitnesses to your side or contact law enforcement officials.
Using a neutralizing phrase
Every sales manager who interacts with clients should have at least one neutralizing phrase in his arsenal of techniques. Such a phrase should speak of the absence of reasons for the conflict at all. It allows you to prevent a flaring up conflict, in which it will already be difficult to come up with something and find suitable words. Conflict situations fetter a person's thinking and bring him out of a state of rest. A neutralizing phrase just won't let that happen. Examples of such phrases: "There is absolutely no problem here", "Listen, all this is easy to solve," "Let's figure it out," etc.
Letting go of the situation
By letting go of the situation, the manager contributes to the free development of the conflict. The client speaks out completely, and the seller calmly listens to any comments, even the most unfair ones.
The buyer should not be interrupted, no matter what: the essence of the claims is clear, there is little time, bad mood, etc. The most effective way is to listen to the client for several minutes without saying anything.
The client, having noticed such an attentive, imperturbable and interested attitude towards his person, is likely to smoothly return to normal. Then it's time to get in touch and build relationships. If, on the contrary, by all means to prove to the rowdy your position, you will only cause the buyer to increase the negative, which will aggravate the situation.
Conversation with a raging customer, if followed by this method, can very well feel like driving on a one-way road. The manager or sales manager is just a listener who asks the client clarifying questions from time to time. By the way, such questions are needed to switch the client's attention to particulars and reduce his emotional stress.
It should also be remembered that no outsider should interfere in the process of such interaction, because it is dangerous with further complications.
Self-control and calmness
Now, summing up the lesson, we can conclude that the manager and the head of the sales department are not only obliged to be able to identify the essence of problems, solve them promptly and separate the main and the secondary, but must understand the intricacies of business etiquette, skillfully use psychological knowledge and skills, and form a positive image of yourself. In combination, this opens up the broadest professional horizons and allows you to achieve unprecedented success in the chosen field.
And at the end of the course, we invite you to take a little break and get acquainted with small descriptions of very interesting and useful books on sales, as well as watch entertaining and educational videos about sales. Surely you will find something for yourself that you will not fail to use in practice.
Test your knowledge
If you want to test your knowledge of the topic of this lesson, you can take a short test consisting of several questions. In each question, only 1 option can be correct. After you have selected one of the options, the system automatically proceeds to the next question. The points you receive are influenced by the correctness of your answers and the time spent on passing. Please note that the questions are different each time, and the options are mixed.
Defining etiquette as an established order of conduct anywhere gives the most general idea of it.
Business Etiquette - it is the established order of conduct in the field of business and business contacts. A kind of secular etiquette, but based on a military one. The main difference between business etiquette and secular etiquette is priority subordinationover the gender differences of employees and their age... Business etiquette is the most important aspect of the moral professional behavior of an entrepreneur. Domestic start-up businessmen fail many lucrative deals, especially with foreign firms, due to the fact that they do not know the rules of business etiquette. Many new entrepreneurs have a bad taste in their clothes and demeanor.
As a result, they become the subject of tacit and hard-hitting criticism from partners. Entrepreneurs who respect themselves and the honor of their company stop all negotiations. And the reason for this is the behavior of individual businessmen, which can be assessed by the words from the famous fairy tale “he can neither step nor speak”.
In order not to get into an absurd situation, you need to know the rules of good form. In the old days, they were taught by Peter the Great. In 1709 he issued a decree according to which anyone who behaved "in violation of etiquette" was punished. Perhaps, domestic businessmen should also be punished for those who make a laughing stock not only of themselves, but also casts a shadow on Russian entrepreneurship.
So, knowledge of business etiquette is the foundation of entrepreneurial success. What it is, where did it come from and what are its features in foreign countries - this is what the lecture is about.
It's not enough just to be a polite and well-mannered person. We need specific knowledge of the intricacies of this area of human relationships. And there are a great many of them: how and when to say the right word or keep silent, to make a gift corresponding to the event, how to create a social circle useful for business, how to organize a business meal and behave at it, etc. ... - and all with the aim to these contacts and actions had a favorable effect on the affairs of the company and your own. The rules of etiquette may differ from one firm to another. It is your responsibility to know these features on a case-by-case basis. In addition, the global nature of economic ties obliges people to know the good manners of other countries. Violation of these rules leads to the severing of business ties and results in the loss of sales markets. So, let us remind once again the "golden rules" of business etiquette:
1) do everything on time; 2) do not talk too much; 3) think not only about yourself, but also about others; 4) dress appropriately for the occasion; 5) speak and write in good language.
Let us consider these provisions in more detail.
The first of these obligations is the need to arrive at work on time, and this must be done every day. If circumstances do not allow you to show up for work on time on any day, you should call the office and warn your boss - this is the only way in this situation you can maintain your reputation as a reliable person. The requirement to do everything on time also applies to all other professional and official activities. All things must be done on time! Therefore, it is important to be able to calculate the time required to complete. Always keep in mind the well-known Murphy's Law and its implications. Murphy's Law: "If something bad happens, it happens." Corollary 1: All work takes more time than you think. Corollary 2: if the four causes of possible troubles are eliminated in advance, then there will always be a fifth. Corollary 3: Left to their own devices, events tend to progress from bad to worse. Corollary 4: as soon as you start to do some work, there is always another that needs to be done earlier. It is also helpful to keep in mind Chisholm's second law: "When things are going well, something must happen in the very near future." So, the time for completing tasks should be allocated with a margin, taking into account those possible problems that are difficult to predict.
"Don't talk too much." The essence of this principle is that a person is obliged to keep the secrets of his organization. And we are talking about all the affairs of the company or institution where he works: from technological to personnel. The same can be said about those details of their personal life that colleagues can tell each other about.
“Think not only of yourself, but also of others.” Without this, there can be no question of any success. Not taking into account the opinions and interests of the buyer, client or partner is like trying to fly in a vacuum, flapping your wings. One of the businessmen said about this: “All troubles come from selfishness or self-interest. For example, sometimes they try to harm colleagues in order to gain an advantage in competition with colleagues or to be promoted within their own institution. "
You should always keep in mind that everyone has their own interests and every point of view contains a particle of truth, even if it seems to you that your opponent or interlocutor is absolutely wrong. Therefore, the immutable requirements of business etiquette are the need to respect someone else's opinion and the desire to understand it. Get rid of the inner desire for contradiction, that is, intolerance of dissent and the desire to destroy the "enemy", otherwise sooner or later there will be someone who will be forced to "destroy" you. By the way, tolerance and modesty will not prevent you from being confident in yourself. "Dress appropriately for the occasion." In this principle, the most important thing is the need to fit into the environment at the service, and within this environment - into the contingent of employees at your level. In addition to the fact that you need to "fit in", your clothes should be chosen tastefully - match the fashion in style and color scheme. The same goes for shoes and other accessories. If you have a business dinner right after work, do not dress in the evening dress, otherwise people will think that you have a personal and not professional interest in them (especially if you are dating a person of the opposite sex).
"Speak and write in good language." This principle means that everything you say and write - notes, letters, etc. - should not only carry a clear and purposeful thought, but also be expressed in good language, and all proper names should be pronounced and written without errors. If you have difficulty with grammar and spelling, use dictionaries, textbooks, and the services of more literate staff. You must forbid yourself to use abusive and obscene expressions - even strangers that you retell. There are many "substitutes" that can convey your negative attitude towards something. In addition, the option is not excluded that a boss who is too principled (especially a boss) may fire you for profanity
Closely related to the concept of business etiquette is the concept business protocol . It is he who represents is a set of rules that govern the procedure for holding meetings and negotiations, organizing receptions, formalizing business correspondence, etc. That is, if the norms of business etiquette can be regarded as a theory, then the business protocol is its practical part.
All social relations are governed by certain rules and norms. The set of these rules is called etiquette. In the business environment, as well as in any area of public life, there are rules of conduct, which are denoted by two words - business ethics. Let's take a closer look at what it is.
What it is?
Business ethics is a set of moral and moral principles and rules that should be inherent in a business person. They must be respected without fail.
Business ethics arose from a mixture of secular and military etiquette. In the context of globalization of economic relations, so that there is no misunderstanding between representatives of different cultures, they tried to make the code of business ethics common for all participants in business relations, regardless of their culture, nationality, religion. Every self-respecting businessman is obliged to know and apply the principles and rules of business ethics.
In addition, a person who is far from business should at least familiarize himself with these rules - ignorance of them can provoke embarrassing situations if he suddenly finds himself in an organization with strict rules of conduct.
Research shows that modern business etiquette serves a number of functions.
- Informational. Etiquette is primarily aimed at informing a person about the rules and norms of behavior in society.
- Standardization of models of individual and group behavior. Knowledge of the rules enables us to act in accordance with the rules in each specific situation, allows us to more easily join the team, and reduces the feeling of psychological tension in business relationships.
- Ensuring social control... With the help of rules and regulations in society, unwanted deviations in behavior that can harm normal relationships are prevented.
- The function of diplomacy, political struggle. Compliance or non-compliance with business etiquette allows the interlocutor or opponent to understand the attitude towards himself. Deliberate non-observance of the rules speaks of a manifestation of ill will, the exact observance of all the rules can indicate respect and an attitude towards a positive outcome of the negotiations.
- Identification with others, creating psychological comfort. Business etiquette is, first of all, a manifestation of the corporate culture, corporate team spirit, it helps the employee to feel like a part of the organization.
Like any information system, business ethics has its own structure - it consists of macroethics and microethics. Business macroethics implies the interaction of organizations at the national and international levels.
The higher the level of negotiation, the more serious attention is paid to the study of etiquette. But microethics is intra-organizational etiquette. It includes the rules for interaction between subordinates, with customers, with partners and even competitors.
Peculiarities
Business etiquette is a relatively young direction of etiquette, but nevertheless it has a number of its own characteristics that define business communication. Let's consider these features in more detail.
- The importance of reputation in business communication. Losing a reputation in the business world practically means the collapse of the company. Each leader should value his name, since it takes a lot of time and effort to gain a reputation among partners and clients. Business etiquette plays an important role in building a reputation. An unethical leader or employee can easily damage a company's image. Therefore, it is extremely important to provide the entire team with knowledge of at least the basics of business etiquette.
- Concreteness and clarity Is another important component of business communication. Setting a goal is of particular importance in the activities of an organization, since all its activities are carried out for the sake of the set goal. Uncertainty in the formulation of a goal or its inaccurate setting can lead to negative consequences. An organization that has no purpose has no meaning, therefore it cannot exist for a long time.
- Mutually beneficial cooperation is also an essential element of the art of business communication. Every successful businessman knows that mutually beneficial cooperation is the best way to a profitable partnership. Business relationship always implies the concept of a mutually beneficial relationship.
The importance of business etiquette should not be underestimated. If you show unethical behavior in everyday life or in a secular society, then your reputation as a well-bred person is at stake.
But in a business area, behavioral mistakes can cost jobs and income.
Views
In business etiquette, the following types can be distinguished:
- etiquette of live communication with clients;
- etiquette of electronic communication;
- phone call etiquette;
- etiquette of the leader.
Communication with customers
Customer communication etiquette begins with the following fundamental rule: the customer is always right. Correct communication with clients presupposes extremely polite, friendly, respectful communication. You can't interrupt, raise your voice, get angry with the client... The employee must always remain calm and give people the same attention while providing equal service. It is necessary to give the client an understanding that he is being listened to, his problem is important for the company. All these rules are achieved through employee intonation, gestures, facial expressions.
Every customer-centric company should pay attention to training its employees to communicate with customers. The culture of communication with clients directly affects the income of the organization: no clients - no income.
The development of the network gives us more opportunities for communication. Electronic communication etiquette is one of the main types of business distance communications in the modern world. The following rules are observed in e-mail correspondence:
- filling in all fields of the email;
- clear address and name of the sender;
- obligatory indication of the subject of the letter;
- compliance of the text of the letter with the rules of business correspondence;
- a mandatory response to an incoming business letter, except for spam;
- confidential information cannot be sent by mail.
The requirements for the text of the letter itself are about the same as for oral speech - politeness and courtesy. But, in addition, there is a certain specificity. For example, you cannot write words in the "caps lock" register, it can be perceived as a cry. The rule of good manners will be the presence of an electronic signature. You also need to specify several ways to contact you (phone, fax, email)
Also, in an internal mail or in a letter to a familiar person, to give an emotional coloring to the letter, you can use the so-called smiles - graphic images of a face with different emotions. It is not recommended to use emoticons in business letters and letters to clients, so as not to give the impression of a frivolous person.
Phone conversation
The protocol of a telephone business conversation assumes the following sequence of actions:
- think over the topic of conversation in advance;
- start with a laconic greeting;
- introduce yourself and introduce the company;
- Demonstrate a respectful reaction to questions and comments from the interlocutor;
- end the conversation briefly and politely.
During a telephone conversation, try to ask again as little as possible, not to be distracted from the conversation. Any business conversation assumes that the time spent on it will be minimal. To gain favor and loyalty, it is recommended that you refer to the interlocutor by name as many times as possible. Watch your intonation - you can always hear a positive or hostile attitude from it.
Leader etiquette
The essence of a leader's etiquette lies in the art of communicating with business partners, subordinates, senior management, and clients. The bosses should always be distinguished by calmness, high self-control and politeness. The leader must be able to listen and hear his subordinates, in difficult situations to meet and help them.
In Russia, it is relatively recent to observe ethical standards in business communication. We can say that more than half of the failures of domestic companies are due to a lack of understanding of the essence of etiquette and failure to comply with its norms.
Fundamental rules
There are not many rules of business etiquette, but their observance represents an open door to concluded deals and new partners.
- Time is money: a business person must necessarily master the basics of time management, take care of both his own and the time of his business partners. Violation of the punctuality rule in the business environment leads to the breakdown of business ties, the refusal of new contracts and the termination of agreements.
- Dress code: people around you always form their first opinion about you by your appearance - business style in clothes, accessories, hairstyle will tell about you as a person with a status and position in society.
- Desktop: keeping order on the desktop is an important component of a business person's image. All items must be in place. Remember: a mess on your desktop is a mess in your head.
- Literacy: business literate speech, in essence, should be an indispensable quality inherent in every businessman.
Business ethics is one of the youngest and fastest growing branches of science. Courses in this discipline are taught in the West, in the United States, not only in business schools, but also in reputable universities, becoming an integral part of the training of economists, managers, specialists in the field of public organizations management and public service. Gradually, interest in business ethics arises in Russia as well.
Business ethics in a broad sense, it is a set of ethical principles and norms that should guide the activities of organizations and their members. It includes phenomena of various orders: ethical assessment of both internal and external policies of the organization as a whole; the moral principles of the members of the organization, i.e. professional morality; the moral climate in the organization; business etiquette, etc.
An interesting fact is that the general basis business ethics is the understanding of labor as a moral value. And labor becomes a moral value if it is perceived not only as a source of livelihoods, but also as a way of forming human dignity. This solves traditional ethical problems: the problem of moral choice turns into a problem of choosing a profession, the so-called problem of vocation; the problem of the meaning of life becomes the problem of the meaning of professional activity; moral duty is regarded as professional duty; moral responsibility is refracted through professional responsibility, the professional qualities of a person receive a moral assessment.
In general, the set of ethical rules and norms of behavior shared by the participants of one or another corporate society (shareholders, directors, managers, employees) is drawn up through documents of business ethics, thanks to which certain models of behavior and joint activities are created, as well as internal corporate mechanisms that ensure their application members of the corporate society in relations with each other and with the external environment (government, business partners, etc.).
Since the documents of business ethics are approved by the board of directors or the general meeting of shareholders, they become internal (local) documents of the company and acquire a certain legal meaning. Failure to comply with them may entail the application of sanctions for violators provided for by the charter and internal documents of the company.
Business ethics documents perform a wide range of tasks, which can be reduced to the implementation of two main functions: reputation and management.
Reputation function is to increase confidence in the company from potential investors (shareholders, banks, investment companies) and business partners (customers, suppliers, contractors, etc.). The presence of a document of business ethics for a company is already becoming a kind of brand, a sign of its success and a prerequisite for a high business reputation. As a result of the adoption and implementation of the document of business ethics in the activities of the company, its investment attractiveness is growing, the image of the company is reaching a qualitatively higher level.
Management function documents of business ethics consists in regulating and streamlining corporate behavior in complex and ambiguous situations in terms of compliance with the principles of ethics, honesty and integrity. The management function is provided by:
1) the formation of ethical aspects of corporate culture between stakeholders within the corporation (shareholders, directors, managers and employees). A document of business ethics, introducing corporate values within a company, crystallizes the corporate identity of a given company and, as a result, improves the quality of strategic and operational management in it;
2) regulation of priorities in relations with external stakeholders (suppliers, consumers, creditors, etc.);
3) determining the order and procedure for developing and making decisions in difficult ethical situations;
4) listing and specifying forms of behavior that are unacceptable from the standpoint of ethics.
The most common types of business ethics documents are declarations and codes, which are a kind of codes of laws for internal corporate use - one of the effective forms of regulation and control of the activities of an enterprise or organization.
| Previous |
