Our Policy as adopted 11-01-2008 as it relates to Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct is as follows:
Commitment to ethical and professional conduct is expected
of every Member, employee or affiliate of Clear Vision Advisors.
This Code, consisting of imperatives formulated as statements of
personal responsibility, identifies the elements of such a commitment.
It contains many, but not all, issues members, employes or affiliates of Clear Vision Advisors are likely to face.
The Code shall be supplemented by a set of General Guidelines, which provide
explanation to assist Members, employees or affiliates in dealing with the various issues contained
in the Code. It is expected that the General Guidelines will be changed more frequently
than the Code.
The Code and its supplemented General Guidelines are intended to serve as a
basis for ethical decision making in the conduct of professional work.
Secondarily, they may serve as a basis for judging the merit of a violation of Member, employee or affiliate ethical standards.
It should be noted that although it is not mentioned in the imperatives
of Section
1, the Code is concerned with how these fundamental imperatives apply
to one's conduct as a member, employee or affiliate. These imperatives are expressed
in a general form to emphasize that ethical principles which apply to business ethics are derived from more general ethical principles.
It is understood that some words and phrases in a code of ethics are
subject to varying interpretations, and that any ethical principle may
conflict with other ethical principles in specific situations. Questions
related to ethical conflicts can best be answered by thoughtful consideration
of fundamental principles, rather than reliance on detailed regulations.
Contents & Guideline
1. General Moral Imperatives.
2. Member, Employee or Affiliate Responsibilities.
3. Organizational Leadership Imperatives.
4. Compliance with the Code.
5. Acknowledgments.
1. GENERAL MORAL IMPERATIVES.
As a Member, Employee or Affiliate of Clear Vision Advisors I will ....
1.1 Contribute to society and human well-being.
This principle concerning the quality of life of all people affirms
an obligation to protect fundamental human rights and to respect the diversity
of all cultures. An essential aim of Members, employees or affiliates is to minimize
negative consequences of systems, including threats to health
and safety. When designing or implementing systems, Members, employees or affiliates
must attempt to ensure that the products of their efforts will be used
in socially responsible ways, will meet social needs, and will avoid harmful
effects to health and welfare.
In addition to a safe social environment, human well-being includes
a safe natural environment. Therefore, members, employees or affiliates who design
and develop systems must be alert to, and make others aware of, any potential
damage to the local or global environment.
1.2 Avoid harm to others.
"Harm" means injury or negative consequences, such as undesirable
loss of information, loss of property, property damage, or unwanted environmental
impacts. This principle prohibits use of technology in ways that
result in harm to any of the following: users, the general public, employees,
investors. Harmful actions include intentional destruction or modification
of files and programs leading to serious loss of resources or unnecessary
expenditure of human resources such as the time and effort required to
purge systems of "viruses."
Well-intended actions, including those that accomplish assigned duties,
may lead to harm unexpectedly. In such an event the responsible person
or persons are obligated to undo or mitigate the negative consequences
as much as possible. One way to avoid unintentional harm is to carefully
consider potential impacts on all those affected by decisions made during
design and implementation.
To minimize the possibility of indirectly harming others,
Members, employees or affiliates must minimize malfunctions by following generally accepted
standards for system design and testing. Furthermore, it is often necessary
to assess the social consequences of systems to project the likelihood
of any serious harm to others.
In the work environment the Member, employee or affiliate has the additional
obligation to report any signs of system dangers that might result in serious
personal or social damage. If one's superiors do not act to curtail or
mitigate such dangers, it may be necessary to "blow the whistle"
to help correct the problem or reduce the risk. However, capricious or
misguided reporting of violations can, itself, be harmful. Before reporting
violations, all relevant aspects of the incident must be thoroughly assessed.
In particular, the assessment of risk and responsibility must be credible.
It is suggested that advice be sought from other Members, employees or affiliates.
See principle
2.5 regarding thorough evaluations.
1.3 Be honest and trustworthy.
Honesty is an essential component of trust.
Without trust an organization
cannot function effectively.
The honest Member, employee or affiliate will not
deliberately make false or deceptive claims about a system or product design,
but will instead provide full disclosure of all pertinent system or product limitations
and problems.
Any Member, employee or affiliate has a duty to be honest about his or her own
qualifications, and about any circumstances that might lead to conflicts
of interest. Clear Vision Advisors may at times place individuals in situations where their statements or actions could be interpreted
as carrying the "weight" of Clear Vision Advisors as a whole.
All Members, employees or affiliates of Clear Vision Advisors will exercise care to not misrepresent the positions and
policies of Clear Vision Advisors, its clients or any Clear Vision Advisors' service, system or product.
1.4 Be fair and take action not to discriminate.
The values of equality, tolerance, respect for others, and the principles
of equal justice govern this imperative. Discrimination on the basis of
race, sex, religion, age, disability, national origin, or other such factors
is an explicit violation of Clear Vision Advisors policy and will not be tolerated.
Inequities between different groups of people may result from the use
or misuse of information and technology. In a fair society, all individuals
would have equal opportunity to participate in, or benefit from, the use
of resources regardless of race, sex, religion, age, disability,
national origin or other such similar factors. However, these ideals do
not justify unauthorized use of resources nor do they provide
an adequate basis for violation of any other ethical imperatives of this
code.
1.5 Honor property rights including copyrights and patent.
Violation of copyrights, patents, trade secrets and the terms of license
agreements is prohibited by law in most circumstances. Even when software
is not so protected, such violations are contrary to professional behavior.
Copies of software should be made only with proper authorization.
Unauthorized
duplication of materials must not be condoned.
1.6 Give proper credit for intellectual property.
Members, employees or affiliates are obligated to protect the integrity of intellectual
property. Specifically, one must not take credit for other's ideas or work,
even in cases where the work has not been explicitly protected by copyright,
patent, etc.
1.7 Respect the privacy of others.
Communication technology enables the collection and exchange
of personal information on a scale unprecedented in the history of civilization.
Thus, there is increased potential for violating the privacy of individuals
and groups. It is the responsibility of Members, employees or affiliates to maintain the privacy
and integrity of data describing individuals. This includes taking precautions
to ensure the accuracy of data, as well as protecting it from unauthorized
access or accidental disclosure to inappropriate individuals. Furthermore,
procedures must be established to allow individuals to review their records
and correct inaccuracies.
This imperative implies that only the necessary amount of personal
information be collected in a system, that retention and disposal periods
for that information be clearly defined and enforced, and that personal
information gathered for a specific purpose not be used for other purposes
without consent of the individual(s). These principles apply to electronic
communications, including electronic mail, and prohibit procedures that
capture or monitor electronic user data, including messages,without the
permission of users or bona fide authorization related to system operation
and maintenance. User data observed during the normal duties of system
operation and maintenance must be treated with strictest confidentiality,
except in cases where it is evidence for the violation of law,
organizational regulations, or this Code. In these cases, the nature or
contents of that information must be disclosed only to proper authorities.
1.8 Honor confidentiality.
The principle of honesty extends to issues of confidentiality of information
whenever one has made an explicit promise to honor confidentiality or,
implicitly, when private information not directly related to the performance
of one's duties becomes available. The ethical concern is to respect all
obligations of confidentiality to investors, clients, and users unless
discharged from such obligations by requirements of the law or other principles
of this Code.
2. MEMBER, EMPLOYEE AND AFFILIATE RESPONSIBILITIES.
As a Member, Employee or Affiliate of Clear Vision Advisors I will ....
2.1 Strive to achieve the highest quality, effectiveness and dignity
in both the process and products of professional work.
Excellence is perhaps the most important obligation of a Member, employee or affiliate.
All Members, employees and affiliates must strive to achieve quality and to be cognizant
of the serious negative consequences that may result from poor quality
in a system or product.
2.2 Acquire and maintain professional competence.
Excellence depends on individuals who take responsibility for acquiring
and maintaining professional competence. All Members, employees and affiliates must participate
in setting standards for appropriate levels of competence, and strive to
achieve those standards. Upgrading technical knowledge and competence can
be achieved in several ways: doing independent study; attending seminars,
conferences, or courses; and being involved in professional organizations.
2.3 Know and respect existing laws pertaining to Members, employees and affiliates work.
Members, employees or affiliates of Clear Vision Advisors must obey existing local, state,province, national, and
international laws unless there is a compelling ethical basis not to do
so. Policies and procedures of the organization must be obeyed at all times, especially during direct execution of duties. But compliance must be balanced with the recognition
that sometimes existing laws and rules may be immoral or inappropriate
and, therefore, must be challenged. Violation of a law or regulation may
be ethical when that law or rule has inadequate moral basis or when it
conflicts with another law judged to be more important. If one decides
to violate a law or rule because it is viewed as unethical, or for any
other reason, one must fully accept responsibility for one's actions and
for the consequences.
2.4 Accept and provide appropriate professional review.
Quality professional work depends
on Members, employees and affiliates reviewing and critiquing the work of others. Whenever appropriate, individual Members, employees or affiliates of Clear Vision Advisors should seek and utilize peer review as well as provide critical
review of the work of others.
2.5 Give comprehensive and thorough evaluations of systems
and their impacts, including analysis of possible risks.
Members, employees or affiliates of Clear Vision Advisors must strive to be perceptive, thorough, and objective
when evaluating, recommending, and presenting specific system descriptions, company operations and alternatives. Members, employees or affiliates of Clear Vision Advisors are in a position of special trust, and therefore
have a special responsibility to provide objective, credible evaluations
to investors, clients and the public. When providing evaluations
the member, employee or affiliate must also identify any relevant conflicts of interest,
as stated in imperative
1.3.
As noted in the discussion of principle
1.2 on avoiding harm, any signs of danger from any particular system, product or any unit of Clear Vision Advisors, must be reported
to those who have opportunity and/or responsibility to resolve them. See
the guidelines for imperative
1.2 for more details concerning harm, including the reporting of Member, employee or affiliate
violations.
2.6 Honor contracts, agreements, and assigned responsibilities.
Honoring one's commitments is a matter of integrity and honesty. For
the member, employee or affiliate this includes ensuring that system elements and products perform
as intended. Also, when one contracts for work with another party, one
has an obligation to keep that party properly informed about progress toward
completing that work.
Each Member, employee or affiliate has a responsibility to request a change in
any assignment that he or she feels cannot be completed as defined. Only
after serious consideration and with full disclosure of risks and concerns
to the investor or client, should one accept the assignment. The major
underlying principle here is the obligation to accept personal accountability
for Member, employee or affiliate work. On some occasions other ethical principles may take
greater priority.
A judgment that a specific assignment should not be performed may not
be accepted. Having clearly identified one's concerns and reasons for that
judgment, but failing to procure a change in that assignment, one may yet
be obligated, by contract or by law, to proceed as directed. Each Member's, employee's or affiliate's ethical judgment should be treated as the final guide in deciding whether
or not to proceed. Regardless of the decision, one must accept the responsibility
for the consequences.
However, performing assignments "against one's own judgment"
does not relieve the member, employee or affiliate of responsibility for any negative consequences.
2.7 Improve public understanding of Clear Vision Advisors' services, systems and products.
Members, employees or affiliates all have a responsibility to share technical knowledge
with the public by, encouraging understanding and the impacts of, Clear Vision Advisors' services, systems, products and their limitations. This imperative implies
an obligation to counter any false views of Clear Vision Advisors, its services, systems or products.
2.8 Access to communication resources only when authorized
to do so.
Theft or destruction of tangible and electronic property is prohibited
by imperative
1.2 - "Avoid harm to others." Trespassing and unauthorized
use of a computer or communication system is addressed by this imperative.
Trespassing includes accessing communication networks and systems,
or accounts and/or files associated with those systems, without explicit
authorization to do so. Individuals and organizations have the right to
restrict access to their systems so long as they do not violate the discrimination
principle (see
1.4). No one should enter or use another's system, software,
or data files without permission. One must always have appropriate approval
before using system resources, including communication ports, file
space, other system peripherals, and time.
3. ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP IMPERATIVES.
As a Member, Employee or Affiliate of Clear Vision Advisors and as an organizational leader, I will ....
BACKGROUND NOTE: The ethical obligations of organizations tend to
be neglected in most codes of professional conduct, perhaps because these
codes are written from the perspective of the individual member, employee or affiliate. This dilemma
is addressed by stating these imperatives from the perspective of the organizational
leader. In this context"leader" is viewed as any organizational
member, employee or affiliate who has leadership or educational responsibilities. These imperatives
generally may apply to organizations as well as their leaders. In this
context "organizations" are corporations, government agencies,and
"investors," as well as volunteer organizations.
3.1 Articulate social responsibilities of members, employees or affiliates of an organizational
unit and encourage full acceptance of those responsibilities.
Because organizations of all kinds have impacts on the public, they
must accept responsibilities to society. Organizational procedures and
attitudes oriented toward quality and the welfare of society will reduce
harm to Members, employees or affiliates and to the public, thereby serving public interest and fulfilling
social responsibility. Therefore,organizational leaders must encourage
full participation in meeting social responsibilities as well as quality
performance.
3.2 Manage personnel and resources to design and build information
systems that enhance the quality of working life.
Organizational leaders are responsible for ensuring that systems
enhance, not degrade, the quality of working life. When implementing a
system, organizations must consider the personal and professional
development, physical safety, and human dignity of all workers. Appropriate
human-ergonomic standards should be considered in system design
and in the workplace.
3.3 Acknowledge and support proper and authorized uses of an organization's
and communication resources.
Because systems can become tools to harm as well as to benefit
an organization, the leadership has the responsibility to clearly define
appropriate and inappropriate uses of organizational resources.
While the number and scope of such rules should be minimal, they should
be fully enforced when established.
3.4 Ensure that users and those who will be affected by a system
have their needs clearly articulated during the assessment and design of requirements;
later the system must be validated to meet those requirements.
Current system users, potential users and other persons whose lives
may be affected by a system must have their needs assessed and incorporated
in the statement of requirements. System validation should ensure compliance
with those requirements.
3.5 Articulate and support policies that protect the dignity of users
and others affected by a system or product.
Designing or implementing systems that deliberately or inadvertently
demean individuals or groups is ethically unacceptable. Members, employees or affiliates
who are in decision making positions should verify that systems and products are designed
and implemented to protect personal privacy and enhance personal dignity.
3.6 Create opportunities for Members, employees or affiliates of the organization to learn
the principles and limitations of systems and products.
This complements the imperative on public understanding (2.7).
Educational opportunities are essential to facilitate optimal participation
of all Members, employees or affiliates. Opportunities must be available to all Members, employees or affiliates
to help them improve their knowledge and skills in , including
courses that familiarize them with the consequences and limitations of
particular types of systems and products. In particular, Members, employees or affiliates must be made aware
of the dangers of building systems or designing products around oversimplified models, the improbability
of anticipating and designing for every possible operating condition, and
other issues related to the complexities of this profession.
4. COMPLIANCE WITH THE CODE.
As a Member, Employee or Affiliate of Clear Vision Advisors I will ....
4.1 Uphold and promote the principles of this Code.
The future of Clear Vision Advisors depends on both technical and
ethical excellence. Not only is it important for Members, employees or affiliates of Clear Vision Advisors to adhere to the principles expressed in this Code, each individual should
encourage and support adherence by other Members, employees or affiliates.
This Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and the supplemental General Guidelines were developed for Clear Vision Advisors.
Jeffrey L. Garon,
Founding Principal
Please feel free to send suggestions for additional content to information@clearvisionadvisors.com
