Defining the Intricacies of Professionalism

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The word professionalism is often referred to as person's attitude, behaviour , and capabilities in their job[HEATHER A. SMITH]. Maister explains, being professional does not necessary describe a person with a set of job qualifications, it is rather a status one have to earn in the eyes of others. So what describes true professionalism? There is no generally adopted norm of what constitutes professionalism, what defines professionalism in one company may not apply somewhere else, however, it is recognized that manners and appearance are inseparable part of it. Physical appearance is just as important as actual behaviour on the job. If IT employee's appearance does not fit with the professional image of the rest of the organization, he/she may be relegated by others. Wearing a casual dress may be acceptable for a small IT office with almost family like atmosphere, however, wearing the same dress to the meeting with a client is not acceptable. Tom Siebel, SEO of Siebel systems explains,
"at Siebel Systems, the notion of dressing in jeans and a T-shirt to greet the CEO of a major financial institution, who just got off the plane from Munich, is not acceptable. It’s not going to happen."[Frier, 2001]
Similarly, practicing good manners and treating one's co-workers and customers with courtesy is act of professionalism. Coming to the meeting on time, being well organized, having a good technical and business knowledge about the job he/she is working on this all indicate that employee can be trusted and relied on to deliver what he/she promises.
Effective communication helps to establish strong professional relationships and therefore it contributes to effectiveness of IT work. Communication can be broken down into number of sub ski...

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... standards when it comes to making decisions. This is in line with the fact that Microsoft is a market leader and it is their responsibility to ensure that they set a positive example for other organizations to follow. Apart from building company reputation, it plays a major role in ensuring that the company evades certain legal liabilities which come as a result of poor decision making. Ethical and well planned decision making will also have a lasting positive impact on the o0rganization. Looking at the standards of business conduct explained above while comparing them global acceptable ethical standards, it is safe to say that Microsoft is an ethical organization. Apart from just having a company values and standards of business conduct statement, the company goes a long way in applying these standards in day to day company operations including decision making.

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