The Cobalt Group is the company I work for. In researching our company handbook for our ethics statement I was shocked at what I discovered. I revealed a couple of items; the first one being that our ethics statement was not very long, and the second item was that it did not explain to me clearly what the company's ethics were. The statement I found was the following: "Cobalt is dedicated to serving our customers and the public using only the highest ethical standards. Gaining and keeping the trust and goodwill of our customers and the public are our highest goals. Each Cobalt employee is an ambassador to our customers and to the public. It is important that in performing your duties and in representing Cobalt, you always do so honestly, fairly, legally and ethically. This means you should keep our customers' interests as your top priority. You should deal with co-workers, customers and members of the public cheerfully and respectfully"(Cobalt Handbook, 2000, p. 7).
             In interviewing Julia Pizzi, Vice President of Human Resources, I found she thought the handbook ethics statement did not state very much either. She believed the statement in the handbook was "a way for the company to state the company's values in a tangible way, so there was no misunderstanding relative to the moral and ethical expectations of the company" (J. Pizzi, personal communication, July 15, 2003). With regards to the ethics, Julia believed the ones that should be adhered to, were the following: Honestly, integrality, approach people fairly and respectfully in the company.
             In my opinion, the purpose of the ethics statement is to have something written down for employees and vendors to understand how we feel people of the community should be treated. I believe actions speak louder than words; you can have a one-page e
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