There are many times you'll find yourself in a situation with a customer; either in support, sales, fulfillment, or even in accounting. You'll find yourself in the same situations in your personal life outside the office. How we deal with them will allow you succeed in business or your personal life. Lets use our corporate code of ethics to understand how we need to show our company.

Remember that the principles of our corporate code of ethics are expressed in broad statements, communications to our Partners and users to guide ethical decision making. These statements provide a framework; they cannot and do not dictate conduct to cover particular situations.

Point 1: Above all; honesty and integrity.

When we review this we may laugh and say, we're all honest and have integrity. A case in point of when someone asks you if you're really going to do something and you say yes, while in the back of your mind you're thinking "What are you crazy?". When dealing with a customer, you should always display honesty with integrity. When you answer a question, ask yourself that if I answer this question in one manner or another is that answer accurate? As I write this I can remember specific situations in my personal life and my business career that I can recall that little white lies are OK. The problem here is that most of use don't have a good enough memory to recall all these "white lies".

Point 2: We provide the highest level of service to all Technology Alignment product users through appropriate and useful resources; equitable service policies; equitable access; and accurate, unbiased, and courteous responses to all requests for assistance.

Lets understand what equitable is here. Equitable means implying justice dictated by reason, conscience, and a natural sense of what is fair to all; "equitable treatment of all citizens"; "an equitable ...

Understanding that we want to equitable treatment of all our customers from the smallest consumer to the largest business customer, we treat them all equally regardless of purchase or size of the company or even if its a single user on dialup. We need to make certain that our customers are wanting to return and making certain they are treated fairly and equally.

Point 3: We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom.

Intellectual freedom is the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. But to do so responsibly we must be be well-informed. Talking to others in the company in other areas of the Technology Alignment supply chain provide the ideas and information, in a variety of formats, to allow people to inform themselves. The Intranet Website you are on now attempts to supply information to you also.

Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive and disseminate ideas. Lets make certain we are all informed and just talk to each other on a regular basis!

Point 4: We protect each user's right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted.

Privacy has no definite boundaries and it has different meanings for different people in different cultures, societies, and even in religious groups. For example in France they protect privacy explicitly in their constitution. In the United States, the situation is quite different. In 2005 for example, a survey of more than 500 U.S. companies found that over half had disciplined and about one in four employers had terminated (fired) an employee for "inappropriate" use of the Internet, such as sending an inappropriate e-mail message to a client or supervisor, neglecting work while chatting with friends, or viewing pornography during work hours.

Use common sense here and you will be fine. If you have any questions about privacy, please contact your human resources department or manager with any questions.

Point 5: We recognize and respect intellectual property rights.

Intellectual Property (IP) is any invention (product or process), creative, literary or artistic works such as novels, films, music architectural designs or web pages, names, symbols, industrial designs, images, proprietary formulas, ideas, and geographic indications used in trade. IP can also include anything from a particular manufacturing process to a product launch, a chemical formula, a trade secret, or a list of countries where patents are registered. If you're working with a customer, please be aware if they are sharing information with you and explains that it their IP, it belongs to them and not you. Even if you are not non-disclosed on something they are explaining to you, make certain you keep it to yourself as confidential unless that customer or prospect wants you to share the information.

Technology Alignment takes Intellectual Property rights very seriously. Technology Alignment will prosecute individuals and companies who steal our IP. If you are coming from another company, you'll need to make certain when communicating information, that you are not stealing from your previous employer. Protecting IP is crucial to the survival and long-term growth of Technology Alignment. Innovation is the essence of IP.

Ensure that sensitive and confidential data is stored is under lock and key, secured on a workstation or server, or not shared with others. Technology Alignment employees educated and enlightened about the importance of IP and its protection, and also the tremendous damage caused by piracy and counterfeiting. When proper information is disseminated to all employees, especially sales, support, and development personnel as to what constitutes IP, and the amount of time invested to develop it, you need to take extra care to protect it.

Point 6: We Users, Partners and coworkers with respect, fairness and good faith, and advocate conditions of support that safeguard the rights and welfare of all users, coworkers and Partners.

Protecting and promoting the rights and welfare of customers and employees - whether individuals, enterprises or groups within society - is a key objective of Technology Alignment. Your objective is to always treat your coworkers, customers, prospects, and individuals with respect, and good faith.

Point 7: We do not advance private interests at the expense of users, colleagues, Partners or our employing institutions.

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