What is the relationship between Ethics and Values?
So how do values relate to ethics, and what do we mean by ethics? Values are what we judge to be right." Individually or organizationally, values determine what is right and what is wrong, and doing what is right or wrong is what we mean by ethics. To behave ethically is to behave in a manner consistent with what is right or moral. What does "generally considered to be right" mean? That is a critical question, and part of the difficulty in deciding whether or not behavior is ethical is in determining what is right or wrong.
A short answer about the relationship between ethics and values is relatively straightforward: one’s ethics is the systematization and application of one’s values. “Ethics” is also a term for an academic discipline that studies what to value, how to systematize our values, and how to apply them. Values (respect, honesty, happiness, truth, etc.) are taken to be our fundamental commitments. Often, our values are backed up by certain conceptions of ourselves – as, say, creations of God or as rational beings. Insofar as one’s values are connected to each other in a coherent way, they are parts of one’s ethics.
In today’s society, understanding and adhering to professional values and ethics plays a big part in our society that is stressed by many organizations towards its employees. In a competitive and ever changing environment, organizations have developed and implemented strong ethical policy and procedures for its members and employees. The professional value that an individual possesses is an ideal towards his or her employer resulting in an affective regard. Professional ethics are rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group. Although some values are considered more important than others, there are some universal values that should be and usually are practiced in all professions.