Robert W. Cooper

Ethical Challenges in the Two Main Segments of the Insurance Industry: Key Considerations in the Evolving Financial Services Marketplace

Based on the findings of several research studies of professionals in both the property-liability insurance industry and the life insurance industry, the paper makes and supports several important points. First, ethical challenges in the insurance industry involve not only a series of ethical dilemmas frequently faced by those working in the business, but also a variety of factors that hinder those working in the industry as they seek to resolve the ethical dilemmas encountered in the course of their work. Both of these two components of ethical challenges must be understood by those in the financial services industry who will deal with insurance operations in the future. Second, whereas the life insurance business and the property-liability insurance business have traditionally been viewed as being quite different from one another and still are in terms of operations and regulation, the research findings show that they are no longer very different in terms of the key ethical challenges faced by those working in the two segments of the industry. The paper shows how during the past decade the ethical challenges in the property-liability insurance industry have become quite similar to those in the more troubled life insurance industry.

Key ethical issues encountered in healthcare organizations: The perceptions of staff nurses and nurse leaders

The authors compare the results of a May 2002 ethics issues survey of staff nurses who are members of the American Nurses Association (ANA) with those of a February 2000 survey of American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) nurse leaders. The findings reveal a common set of key ethical issues that result from the ineffective management of the conflict between clinical ethics and organizational ethics. Implications for healthcare professionals and the organizations that employ them are discussed.

Ethical issues, helps and challenges perceptions of members of The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply

Abstract This paper presents the key findings of a study cosponsored by The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply that surveyed 1,500 CIPS members in an effort to (1) identify the key ethical issues facing the profession of purchasing and supply chain management today, and (2) determine the extent to which those working in the profession tend to find various factors to be helpful or to present challenges to their efforts to act ethically in the conduct of their work. The implications of the key findings for business and the profession - both CIPS and its individual members - are discussed.

Key ethical issues encountered in healthcare organizations: perceptions of nurse executives.

By the very nature of their daily work, nurse executives find themselves at the crossroads of the changing and challenging healthcare ethical environment in which clinical ethics and organizational ethics often collide. The authors present the findings of a survey of members of American Organization of Nurse Executives aimed at more clearly identifying the key ethical issues encountered in healthcare organizations by their nurse executives and others. Implications of the findings for healthcare organizations and their managers also are discussed briefly.

Helping Professionals in Business Behave Ethically: Why Business Cannot Abdicate Its Responsibility to the Profession

This paper compares the findings of studies of seven groups of professionals in various key segments of the fields of accounting and insurance conducted during 1990 through 1994 in an effort to determine the extent to which they tend to rely on various factors in their business and professional environments for help in behaving ethically in the course of their work. Commonalities among the findings for these rather diverse groups are highlighted and their possible implications for business and the professions are discussed.

Ethical helps and challenges faced by nurse leaders in the healthcare industry.

Professional healthcare providers are held responsible for technologic and financial decisions and also for the moral ramifications of their decisions. The authors report the findings of a survey of nurse leaders conducted to determine the key factors that provide help and present challenges as they seek to respond ethically to the dilemmas encountered in the course of their work. Implications for the healthcare industry and the nursing profession are discussed.

Business and professional ethics in transitional economies and beyond: Considerations for the insurance industries of Poland, the czech republic and hungary

This paper examines several key aspects of the ethical environment facing the insurance industries of Poland, The Czech Republic and Hungary as they complete the transition from Communist insurance systems built upon state-owned monopolies to viable private domestic insurance markets, and then seek to harmonize their markets with the single insurance market of the European Union. Since many types of ethical problems encountered during the transition are unlikely to diminish significantly as a result of either privatization or regulation of the insurance markets of these countries, measures are identified that should help to improve the ethical environments of these markets.

A Cross-Cultural Comparison of the Ethical Environments of the U.S. and South Korean Life Insurance Markets

Along with competence, ethical behavior is a key component of professionalism. In carrying out their duties, all life insurance professionals encounter a variety of ethical dilemmas as well as a number of factors that can present challenges to their efforts to resolve these dilemmas in an ethical manner. By comparing the ethical environments of the U.S. and South Korean life insurance industries, this paper examines how significant differences in culture can affect the key ethical issues and the hindrances to ethical behavior faced by life insurance professionals working in the two countries.