Professional and Business Ethics : Narrowing the Gap

As a manager of professionals, how often have you wanted to ask your professionals: "are you with us or agin us?" Few would question the technical expertise offered by the professional, but loyalty is a different matter. Some professionals march to a different drummer. Sometimes their efforts are valuable to the corporation; other times they are not. One area where their inclinations may conflict with management is that of corporate ethics. Professionals are guided by a separate code of conduct which predisposes them to professional standards often in conflict with managerial standards. But, are the ethics governing professional work really that different from business ethics? Are not managers professionals as well with their own professional standards?