Ethics

Ethics is the basis of civilised living.

I must thank my family and my teachers as they first made me understand and then taught me morality and ethics.

Morality (from the Latin mos moris: behaviour, custom) is all about ‘doing right or wrong’.

Ethics (from the Greek ethos: usage, custom) is all about the idea of right and wrong, a set of generally recognised rules of behaviour. It therefore refers to codes of conduct for individuals, private and social groups, organisations and institutions, professional and scientific groups.

With regard to professional ethics, every activity has its own codes of conduct.

Ethics in the field of event and project management consists of defining what is permissible and socially acceptable in a project, beyond the achievement of its goals; I firmly believe that nothing needs to be done necessarily if there are no prerequisites. 

Responsible behaviour is characterised precisely by the moral, social and human aspect, respect for the laws in force, for the regulations in force and for the stakeholders that revolve around a project: ‘he who does his own good and that of others is intelligent, he who does his own good and the evil of others is a scoundrel, he who does the good of others and his own evil is clueless, he who does his own evil and that of others is stupid’ (quoting Carlo Cipolla).

To my students of the Carlo Porta Institute in Milan I give the example of a bank robbery: it is certainly a complex project that requires detailed and careful planning, but ethically it is reprehensible.

Many organisations, in order to make their ethical values transparent both internally and externally, draw up codes of ethics, ethical conduct or behaviour and require employees, and often suppliers to sign them.

At Colloi Plus the guiding ethical values, also posted on our website, are integrity, responsibility, diligence, respect and sustainability.

Ethical obligations can be both tangible and intangible. The first ones concern, in general, the respect of agreements such as the contract that regulates the project, the commitments made in terms of budget and quality, partnership agreements, supply contracts, compliance with regulations, including those relating to tax, labour and safety legislation. The others are about improving the reputation, both of the organisation and of the investors.

In conclusion, professional ethics implies behaviours that are always characterised by responsibility, respect, fairness and honesty, towards stakeholders, society as a whole and the environment, as well as by the awareness of the importance of constituting a reliable reference, an example and an educational function.