Boundary Ethics

Civilization is built on an intricate set of protocols that define behavior when money changes hands. When a businessman crosses a boundary with their clients the response could be unpleasant and unproductive. More of this is discussed under the subject of "taking liberties." An example of this might be seen as follows. A computer repair person is given a computer to fix. His initial assessment is that there is a software problem. But without notifying the owner he replaces the entire hard drive. The repairman has crossed a boundary here. He made a choice that was an expensive one for the owner. The repair person could have simply reformatted the hard drive. Even though the hardrive had problems it was still usable. But, in business, it is common to "beg forgiveness than to ask permission." It is a profitable, but unethical practice to cross boundaries.

Making decisions for customers can lead to crossing boundaries. Since asking permission all the time would be time consuming repairmen of all descriptions take liberties. But, when taking liberties is highly profitable there is a conflict of interest here that requires the computer owner to be notified prior to fixing the computer.

Service Industry

When service people work inside their client's house there are many boundaries to be observed. You would not expect a workman to open the homeowner's refrigerator but you would expect then to have access to the bathroom. When a remodeling project is in the process many construction workers are walking all around house. This gives rise to another boundary problem; aggressively peeking into the lives of the homeowners. For instance, leafing through papers, magazines, picking up things lying around and the like are all intrusions into the client’s space. The problem with businesses’ that do not strictly defining the behavior of workmen when in a clients’ house is that lax oversight encourages crime to flourish in the shadows. Aggressive peeking can escalate into theft. Employees who start peeking sooner or later discover that they can seal small valuable objects without getting caught because the object will not be immediately discovered. A poorly managed construction company in a sense enables certain crimes and boundary crossing that surly are unethical.

• Constructive Taking
• Overpowering the Client