According to Making Sense of Ethics article "Ethics refers to principles that define behavior as right, good and proper. Such principles do not always dictate a single "moral" course of action, but provide a means of evaluating and deciding among competing options.".
The first ground rule of an ethical decision making process would be Trustworthiness. As others trust us, they tend to give us more freedom. They feel that we do not need to be monitored as often as those who are not trusted. People believe in us, they look to us for guidance, when they ask our advice and we give it to them they will believe us over someone that they do not trust. Although there is one downside to being trusted, we must live up to everyone else's expectations. Which would mean keeping ourselves in check, no lying, not even a little white lie. A lie tends to break down the cycle of trust. .
Of the six ethical values, trustworthiness is the most complicated and it encompasses many other qualities. We will cover some of those qualities here:.
Honesty: Honesty is bar far the most important ethical quality in any business or personal setting. Without honesty we would find that some people would try to get away with things like: insider trading, stealing from the company, and working both sides of the coin.
Integrity: A person of integrity is undivided and complete. To me this means that an ethical person will act according to his/her beliefs, and not according to what is expected. They are also consistent, there is no difference in the way they makes decisions from one situation to another. They principles do not vary at work at home, in public or alone. They know who they are and what they value. In the time of a crisis be it home or work they can think rationally and not let the day to day routine interfere with their responsibilities.
Reliability: When you think of reliability you think of someone that is always there, who never breaks a promise, someone that keeps his or her word.