Ethics: Finding a Beacon to Follow Through a Sea of Ethical Dilemmas

It’s easy to confuse unethical practice with stupid behavior and bad business decisions,” according to Randy Pennington, an ethics consultant who shared his insights with an ASHI task force last year.

Calling on Pennington continued a tradition of ethical inquiry that began with ASHI’s founding Members. While whole-heartedly endorsing capitalism’s directive to go forth and realize profits, the founders also foresaw the need for a Code of Ethics to serve as a beacon for those seeking to do “the right thing” as they defined their fledgling profession by the way they did business day to day.   

As technological advances and increased public demand confirmed the value of home inspections, ASHI Membership continued to voice a desire to define ethical business practices for the profession.

With this place of honor, with this position of pride, comes responsibility. When an organization professes to represent a profession, its membership must rely on more than personal opinion to guide it through uncharted waters. There is a need to understand both the power and the limitations of codes of ethics.

In response to interest in the topic, The ASHI Reporter will publish a variety of articles on business ethics and alert readers to additional sources of information.