Читать книгу Professional Practice for Interior Designers - Christine M. Piotrowski - Страница 162

Interior designers on occasion will come to an ethics crossroad: One path leads to behavior that is expected of a professional; on the other path are temptations that lead to behavior contrary to ethical standards. Perhaps the temptations result from an omission rather than outright commission, yet the unethical behavior occurs. The decision has consequences for the individual, his or her company and client, and the profession as a whole.

Although the unethical behavior of an interior designer is very unlikely to garner headlines, ethical standards are just as important in the interior design profession as in any other. The expectations and demands for ethical professional behavior in interior design increase as our world continues to become more complex.

If we expect other professionals who affect our lives to behave ethically, interior designers must be held to the same standards. Thus, it is imperative that ethical behavior be treated as more than just a brief discussion in class while students anticipate getting into “more important” subjects. This chapter presents an overview of ethics concepts and issues as they relate to the professional practice of interior design.

After completing this chapter you should be able to:

 Explain the importance of ethical standards.

 Explain a conflict of interest that might exist between you and your client or between you and a colleague.

 Explain why a conflict of interest can be damaging to your professional activities.

 Differentiate and explain an example of proprietary and nonproprietary employer information.

 Explain how someone's unethical behavior can affect others working in your market location.

 Discuss whether commissions or kickbacks are permissible based on professional association's code of conduct.

 Discuss why ethical behavior is important for anyone working in the interior design profession, regardless of association affiliation.

 Discuss what you should do if you discover that a colleague has breached or behaved in contradiction to the code of conduct of one of the professional associations.

 Name the three specific reasons discussed in the text why people behave unethically. Discuss how these actions negatively affect dealing with clients.