Professional Ethics is defined as the personal and corporate rules that govern behavior within the context of a particular profession. Professional ethics are the professionally accepted standards of personal and business behavior, values, and guiding principles. It may be understood as professionally acknowledged measures of individual and business conduct, 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. In a word, Professional ethics encompass the personal. Organizational and corporate standards of behavior expected of professionals. It must extend beyond moral principles. They include standards of behavior for professional people that are designed for both practical and idealistic purposes. There are principles that govern the behavior of a person or group in a business environment. Like values, professional ethics provide rules on how a person should act towards other people and institutions in such an environment.
However, there are some universal ethical principles that apply across all professions, including:
- honesty
- trustworthiness
- loyalty
- respect for others
- adherence to the law
- doing good and avoiding harm to others
- accountability.