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Bpo 303 Notes

The document discusses various consumer types, emphasizing the importance of loyal customers and strategies for engaging them. It also covers effective face-to-face and telephone communication skills, email etiquette, and the significance of workplace dignity in fostering a positive corporate culture. Additionally, it provides strategies for handling customer complaints professionally to enhance customer satisfaction and business performance.

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Shennah Atienza
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
18 views14 pages

Bpo 303 Notes

The document discusses various consumer types, emphasizing the importance of loyal customers and strategies for engaging them. It also covers effective face-to-face and telephone communication skills, email etiquette, and the significance of workplace dignity in fostering a positive corporate culture. Additionally, it provides strategies for handling customer complaints professionally to enhance customer satisfaction and business performance.

Uploaded by

Shennah Atienza
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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BPO 303: SERVICE CULTURE

MODULE 3: RELATIONSHIP BUILDING


BPO 303: SERVICE CULTURE
MODULE 4

Different Types of Consumers

1. Loyal Customers
 make up the bedrock of any business.
 are those who have made a commitment to your product or service.
 most likely to generate the majority of your income.
 they're far more likely to recommend your company to others
 .It's essential to keep this customer base involved, engaged, and feeling as if they're valued by
your company. Consider adding reward programs and interactive social media to keep them
coming back.

2. Impulse Shoppers
 are those simply browsing products and services with no specific purchasing goal in place.
 This consumer segment generates significant revenue for most retailers.
 This type of consumer is usually receptive to upselling and has the potential to become a loyal
customer if products and services meet or exceed their expectations and desires.

3. Bargain Hunters
 are seeking the best deal, period, and most likely won't be swayed by upselling techniques — in
fact, this may cause them to move on.
 This type of customer has very little potential to become a loyal customer unless it's part of your
business strategy to offer the lowest possible price points at all times.
 Advertising sales is the best way to appeal to those in this customer group

4. Wandering Consumers
 are somewhat related to impulse shoppers, but they're much less likely to make purchases.
 This type of customer is more prevalent in brick-and-mortar locations, but they do stumble into
online retail venues on occasion.

5. Need – Based Customers


 are driven by the need for a specific product or service.
 Although these customers generally make purchases decisively and quickly once they find what
they're seeking, they're easily lured away by competing businesses.
 However, they're frequently converted into loyal customers.

FACE TO FACE CUSTOMER SERVICE

It's providing assistance to customers in a more personal manner. Rather than relying on email, the
telephone, or the internet, face-to-face customer service requires the customer and a trained representative
of the business to be physically present in the same location.

Face to face Necessities:

1. Be welcoming. Face-to-face customer service can be enhanced simply by hiring employees who smile
and welcome consumers to the store.
2. Brush up on product information. If a consumer has taken time to visit your store, be sure you have a
firm grasp of product features and company policies.
3. Watch your body language. A lot can be inferred from the way you stand, hold your arms or use your
eyes. Show that you're attentive, kind and thoughtful.
BPO 303: SERVICE CULTURE
MODULE 4
4. Listen. Be empathetic to your customer's needs and work diligently to find a solution that satisfies both
sides. You should listen more than you talk so that customers know that their questions or comments are
being heard.
5. See things from a different perspective. Try to imagine the customer service scenario from the
consumer's point of view. It will make you think twice about your own actions, in terms of both how
you'd want to be treated and how you'd want your situation to be handled.

Telephone Communication Skills Tips for Customer Service

 Adopt a positive tone


When you answer the phone, smile as you greet the person on the other line. Although it may be a
bit of a cliché, a smile can truly be heard through the telephone.
 Clear Enunciation
Whenever you are on the telephone, speak clearly. Enunciate and use simple words and phrases.
Don’t use overly complex vocabulary or jargon. Also, avoid slang and filler words.
 Be Sincere
Starting with the greeting, conversations over the phone must be sincere. Say hello and be genuine.
Try to avoid scripted greetings as most sound artificial and inauthentic. Include the company’s
name, your name, and offer your assistance as soon as you answer the phone.
 Use their Name
As soon as you receive a customer’s name, use it. Write down the individual’s initials in order to
'monogram' the call. This will help you remember the client’s name and will personalize the call
for you.
 Leave the Customer Satisfied
In order to achieve a great ending to a telephone call, make sure that the caller understands the
information you passed along before you hang up.

Effective telephone communication skills result in more productive relationships that lead to better
customer service and perhaps increased sales.

NATO Phonetic Alphabet


is a Spelling Alphabet, a set of words used instead of letters in oral communication (i.e. over the phone or
military radio). Each word ("code word") stands for its initial letter (alphabetical "symbol").

Written Communication – Email

EMAIL is one of the most widely used forms of communication both in and out of the workplace.
Because of its speed and efficiency, you will likely use email in some capacity no matter your role or
industry.

Six Steps for Writing Professional Emails

1. Identify your goal.


2. Consider your audience
3. Keep it concise
4. Proofread your email
5. Use proper etiquette
6. Remember to follow up
BPO 303: SERVICE CULTURE
MODULE 4

Format and Structure of Formal Email

1. Subject Line
This is a short phrase that summarizes the reason for your message or the goal of your communication. It
is important to include a subject line when sending a professional email so your audience knows exactly
what to expect and is able to locate the message easily if needed.

2. Salutation
This is the first line of your email and generally acts as the greeting.

3. Body
Just like the body of a letter, this is where you’ll share your full message.

4. Closing
This is the last line of your email before your signature and should wrap up your message. This is also
where you may reiterate any requests you’ve made in the body of your message.

5. Signature
The signature is where you identify yourself by name, title and any other information relevant to your
communications. Most email programs allow you to set a fixed signature that’s automatically added to the
end of every email you send.

How to Respond to Negative


How to Respond to Positive How to Respond to Neutral
Review
Reviews Reviews
1. Address the reviewer 1. Say thank you 1. As always, say thank you
2. Say thank you 2. Reinforce the positive 2. Reinforce the positive
3. Apologize and sympathize 3. Tell you customers you’d 3. Address the negative
4. Take responsibility love to see them again 4. Take it offline for more
5. Make things right 4. Share the review with your details
6. Take the issue offline team
7. Ask for a second chance

Non – verbal Communication

1. Facial Expressions
Facial expressions are responsible for a huge proportion of nonverbal communication.

2. Gestures
Deliberate movements and signals are an important way to communicate meaning without words.
Common gestures include waving, pointing, and using fingers to indicate numeric amounts. Other
gestures are arbitrary and related to culture

3. Appearance
Our choice of color, clothing, hairstyles, and other factors affecting appearance are also considered a
means of nonverbal communication.8 Research on color psychology has demonstrated that different
colors can evoke different moods. Appearance can also alter physiological reactions, judgments, and
interpretations.
BPO 303: SERVICE CULTURE
MODULE 5

Listening is key to all effective communication. Without the ability to listen effectively, messages are
easily misunderstood. As a result, communication breaks down and the sender of the message can easily
become frustrated or irritated.

ANTICIPATING CUSTOMER’S NEEDS

1. Look for the next problem to solve, not which product to sell.
Remember that the problem you solve is always the most important thing. It’s more important than the
product or service that you sell. It doesn’t matter if you are business to consumer or business to business –
making decisions based on solving needs will lead to a better customer experience, which will lead to
increased financial performance for your company.

2. Pay attention and mine the future demand from the next needs of current customers.
If you’re happy with the success you are having with your current customer base, it is easy to look to
expand your product or service to new customers. Consider your current customers as part of your future
initiatives. They’ve been your bread and butter to date. Deny the urge to leave them behind for the shiny
new customers preparing to knock down your door. Alienating current customers could have a negative,
if not devastating, effect on new business. Find a way to include them in the new equation. You may find
your current customers provide even more positive impetus to that new product than those new customers
waiting at your door. Your customers may not be able to tell you exactly what they need, but they can
show you with their behavior if you are paying attention.

3. Let customers try before they buy.


Sometimes it’s necessary for your customers to try before they buy something new. This is why most
technology applications and programs today have a free option with just enough features to make you
want the paid version with all of the bells and whistles. Make sure the customer recognizes you’re
building on mutual, shared interests before trying to sell them the next thing. This gives you stronger
relationships and additional revenue.

4. Give customers an easy way to share their ideas.


Hold a two-way conversation in multiple places and engage the customer in ways you can further
alleviate their pain points or solve problems. You must create open, inviting channels for them to use and
effective ways to capture what they say and do. This can take the form of direct customer feedback via
online forums, customer advisory boards, or phone conversations.
BPO 303: SERVICE CULTURE
MODULE 5

Dignity at work is thus created via the organization through the conditions given to the individual, while
professional pride is a feeling that is created by the individual or individuals within a particular
professional group. The core category “job satisfaction can be understood and achieved through a process
of balancing, establishing, and recreating professional pride” contains two overarching categories:
creation of meaning and task focus on the one hand and organizational dissatisfaction and demands on
the other.

Dignity is a fundamentally social phenomenon that arises through interaction, and therefore it depends on
a mix of both independence and interdependence. It involves recognition and trust, as well as autonomy
and self-mastery. In dignified work relations, people carefully avoid taking advantage of the inherent
vulnerability of the employment relationship and power differentials in organizations.

Workplace dignity is a key part of a healthy work environment. Employers are realizing that it is linked
to lower stress, improved wellbeing, higher engagement, productivity and business performance.

A broad definition of workplace dignity encompasses three dimensions:

(1) Dignity at work. Employees are treated with respect in an environment free from marginalization
(e.g., discrimination, harassment, exclusion, bullying). They feel a sense of psychological safety in their
ability to be themselves, voice concerns and be heard. A culture of dignity enables organizations to attract
and retain diverse talent. It is foundational for inclusion. And it helps address work-related stress at one of
its sources.

(2) Dignity in work. Employees find meaning and purpose in their work and understand how it
contributes to the organization’s broader goals. They take pride in what they do because it is valued, and
they see a future where they will continue to be valued even as jobs are redefined with technological
advances and other changes, and where employers prioritize reskilling and career-long learning.

(3) Dignity from work. Employees feel respected because they are paid what they are worth, can sustain
a suitable standard of living, are confident in their benefits to provide the security they need to provide for
themselves and their dependents, and have the wellbeing to thrive now and in the future.

Unleashing the power of workplace dignity

 For the sake of purpose, profit or both, a greater focus on dignity can create impact across multiple
stakeholders.
 Through greater leadership support and accountability, targeted training and communication,
focused Total Rewards reskilling and the right metrics, employers have the power to reduce abuse
of power, discrimination, bullying and harassment.
 By building a culture of dignity, employees will feel respected, empowered and less likely to leave.
And, as a result, they will likely be more productive contribute to better organizational performance.
BPO 303: SERVICE CULTURE
MODULE 5

Here are some ideas for building a positive corporate culture based on dignity and respect:

(1) Build relationships with your team


 Employees want to be led by individuals who truly care about them
 Take the time to get to know your employees on a personal level
 Lead your team to a win, never sit back and watch them fail

(2) Promote positivity


 Smiles can set the tone for the day and are very contagious
 Never underestimate the power of positive energy

(3) Have an open door policy


 Never be too busy for your employees – make sure that you not only listen to them, but really
hear what they are saying. Use active listening techniques to ensure that your employees know
that you are paying attention and understand what they are saying to you
 Engage yourself in their communication. Encourage them to elaborate so you understand what
matters to them. It is crucial for employees – regardless of their position – to feel as though their
concerns will be listened to and taken seriously. This is the cornerstone of a mutually respectful
relationship. It is equally important that employees feel that they can respectfully disagree and
that they will be heard and won’t have to fear reprisal.

(4) Be considerate
 Value your employees and remember to choose your words wisely
 Your words can have a negative impact if not communicated respectfully

 Dignity and respect are imperative to building a work environment where your employees feel
valued and engaged.
 Employees who feel valued and respected by their organization will show respect for their work and
become invaluable to your team and your organization's success.
 Creating a culture that focuses on positively engaging employees, promotes a level of respect and
commitment within your organization, plus an engaging culture directly impacts your bottom line.
 Research shows a direct correlation between organizations that focus on engagement and an
increase in profitability, productivity and quality, as well as a decrease in turnover, absenteeism and
theft.
BPO 303: SERVICE CULTURE
MODULE 6

 Complaints happen every day. When a customer complains, it is usually for a good reason or
genuine concern.
 They usually have made a purchase that did not meet their expectation—a product, service, or
maybe a combination of the two.
 In the customer service industry, we cannot avoid complaints. We must take care of the customer by
listening to the complaint, and resolving it, to ensure a happy customer.
 COMPLAINTS are expression of dissatisfaction on a consumer's behalf to a responsible party.
 Customers want to know someone is listening and they are understood, and they are hoping you are
willing to take care of the problem to their satisfaction.
 No matter what the situation is, when a customer brings a complaint to your attention—even if they
do it in a less-than-desirable way—be thankful. We must realize that improper handling of a
customer complaint can be costly to the business.

Here are five strategies that will help you handle a customer complaint in a smooth and professional
manner:

1. Stay calm. When a customer presents you with a complaint, keep in mind that the issue is not personal;
he or she is not attacking you directly but rather the situation at hand. “Winning” the confrontation
accomplishes nothing. A person who remains in control of his or her emotions deals from a position of
strength. While it is perfectly natural to get defensive when attacked, choose to be the “professional” and
keep your cool.

2. Listen well. Let the irate customer blow off steam. Respond with phrases such as, “Hmm,” “I see,” and
“Tell me more.” Do not interrupt. As the customer vents and sees you are not reacting, he or she will
begin to calm down. The customer needs to get into a calm frame of mind before he or she can hear your
solution—or anything you say, for that matter.

3. Acknowledge the problem. Let the customer know you hear what he or she is saying. If you or your
company made a mistake, admit it. If you did not make a mistake and it is a misunderstanding, simply
explain it to the customer: By repeating to the customer what you think you heard, you lower his or her
defenses, and win the right to be heard.

4. Get the facts. After listening, take the initiative in the conversation. Now that the customer has calmed
down and feels you have heard his or her side, begin asking questions. Be careful not to speak scripted
replies, but use this as an opportunity to start a genuine conversation, building a trusting relationship with
your customer. To help you understand the situation, get as many details as possible.

5. Offer a solution. This happens only after you have sufficient details. One thing to keep in mind: Know
what you can and cannot do within your company’s guidelines. Making a promise you cannot commit to
will only set you back. Remember, when offering a solution, be courteous and respectful. Let the
customer know you are willing to take ownership of the issue, even if it was out of your control. Take
charge of the situation and let the customer know what you are going to do to solve the problem.

A quick follow-up phone call a few days later to make sure everything is OK is icing on the cake.
Even a small gesture of apology can turn this interaction from disaster to legendary. The cost could be
minimal—maybe a simple upgrade on the customer’s next purchase or a small gift certificate. A simple
gesture like this could result in a future referral or a positive word-of-mouth marketing recommendation.
BPO 303: SERVICE CULTURE
MODULE 6
When you resolve customer complaints successfully, you will better understand their needs, retain
them as loyal customers, and enhance your business.

CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS EXAMPLES:


1. Product issues
One of the most common types of complaints are issues with your product or service. Generally these
complaints have to do with a product not functioning as expected, or perhaps something was damaged
during shipping.
2. Long wait times to get a response
Waiting to get a response about an issue is usually a very frustrating experience for customers. And over
the years, customers’ expectations of how long a response should take have steadily increased.
3. Incomplete or lacking support resources
Customers today are more than willing to try to help themselves. Around 70% of people will actually try
to find an answer on their own before contacting support, and not being able to find the answer they’re
looking for can be really frustrating.
4. Having to repeat information
Being bounced around and having to retell an issue multiple times is a bad experience.
5. Difficulty connecting with a live agent
Even though people do want access to self-service tools like a knowledge base and an FAQ page, they
also still want access to live agents when struggling with an issue. Sometimes customers have to jump
through hoops and endless IVR phone menus to get to a live person, which creates a less-than-ideal
customer experience and often leads to customer complaints.
6. Bad agent experience
Though it’s certainly almost never intentional, sometimes customers don’t have great experiences with a
support agent. Most of the time it comes down to some sort of miscommunication. But, as the saying
goes, “perception is reality.”
7. Feature/product request
It's common for customers to ask for new features or products. If you get these, you should take it as a
great sign. When customers make these types of requests, it shows they’re invested in your company and
engaged with what you're doing, so it's good to show gratitude.

8. Out of stock item


It's a total bummer when you're excited about a product only to find out that it's out of stock. In these
cases it's pretty normal for customers to reach out and inquire about when something might be back in
stock.

Service Recovery
 Service recovery is a company's resolution of a problem from a dissatisfied customer, converting
them into a loyal customer.
 It is the action a service provider takes in response to service failure. By including also customer
satisfaction into the definition, service recovery is a thought-out, planned, process of returning
aggrieved/dissatisfied customers to a state of satisfaction with a company/service.
 Service recovery differs from complaint management in its focus on service failures and the
company's immediate reaction to it.
 Complaint management is based on customer complaints, which, in turn, may be triggered by
service failures.
BPO 303: SERVICE CULTURE
MODULE 6
 However, since most dissatisfied customers are reluctant to complain, service recovery attempts to
solve problems at the service encounter before customers complain or before they leave the service
encounter dissatisfied.
 Both complaint management and service recovery are considered as customer retention strategies.
BPO 303: SERVICE CULTURE
MODULE 7: CATEGORIES OF PROFESSIONAL NORMS

DEFINITION OF PROFESSIONAL NORMS

Norms for professional behavior help groups to move the work forward. Teams need to be granted
decision-making authority so that they can create meeting protocols to guide their tasks. Once norms are
established, all members of the team have made a commitment to honor the norms.

NORMS
▪ are a fundamental concept in the social sciences.
▪ They are most commonly defined as rules or expectations that are socially enforced.
▪ sometimes used to refer to patterns of behavior and internalized values.

Norms may be:

1. prescriptive (encouraging positive behavior; for example, “be honest”)


2. proscriptive (discouraging negative behavior; for example, “do not cheat”).

 The full content of these norms is the fruit of an ongoing dialogue between the expert group and the
larger community, on whose recognition of expertise and grant of professional autonomy the expert
group depends for its status as a profession.

NINE CATEGORIES OF QUESTIONS ABOUT PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATION:

1. Who is (are) this profession's chief client(s)?


2. What are the central values of this profession?
3. What is the ideal relationship between a member of this profession and a client?
4. What sacrifices are required of members of this profession and in what respects do the obligations of
this profession take priority over other morally relevant considerations affecting its members?
5. What are the norms of competence for this profession?
6. What is the ideal relationship between the members of this profession and co-professionals?
7. What is the ideal relationship between the members of this profession and the larger community?
8. What ought the members of this profession do to make access to the profession's services available to
everyone who needs them?
9. What are the members of this profession obligated to do to preserve the integrity of their commitment
to its values and to educate others about them?

(1) THE CHIEF CLIENT.


 Every profession has a chief client or clients, which is a category or categories of persons who’s
well-being the profession and its members are chiefly committed to serving.
 For some professions, the identification of the chief client seems quite easy. Surely, one might say,
the chief client of a physician and a nurse, for example, is the patient. But who is the chief client of
a lawyer? Is it simply the party whose case the lawyer represents or to whom the lawyer gives
advice? Lawyers are told and they announce in their self-descriptions and codes of conduct that they
have obligations to the whole justice system; therefore, there are things that they as professionals
may not ethically do, even if doing them would advance the situation of the party they represent or
advice.
 So it appears that the answer to the question about the chief client of the legal profession is
complex, involving not only the persons lawyers represent or advise but also the whole justice
system and/or perhaps the whole larger community served by that system.
BPO 303: SERVICE CULTURE
MODULE 7: CATEGORIES OF PROFESSIONAL NORMS
(2) THE CENTRAL VALUES OF THE PROFESSION.
 Every profession is focused only on certain aspects of the well-being of its clients. The professions'
rhetoric to the contrary, no professional group is expected by the larger community to be expert in
their clients' whole well-being or to secure for its clients everything that is of value to them.
 There is, rather, a certain set of values that are the focus of each profession's expertise, and it is the
job and obligation of that profession to work to secure these values for its clients. These values can
be called the profession's central values.
 Most professions are committed to pursuing more than one central value for clients. For example,
whatever other values are central for a given profession, the value of client autonomy is ordinarily a
central value as well.
 For example, the values proposed as the central values that the dental profession is committed to
pursuing for its patients, in order of decreasing importance, are: life and general health; oral health
(understood as appropriate and pain-free oral functioning); patient autonomy (i.e., patient control),
whenever practicable, over what happens to her body; preferred patterns of dental practice; aesthetic
considerations; and efficiency in the use of resources (Ozar and Sokol).

(3) THE IDEAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PROFESSIONAL AND CLIENT.


 The point of the relationship between a professional and a client is to bring about certain values for
the client that cannot be achieved without the expertise of the professional.
 To achieve involving not only the persons lawyers represent or advise but also the whole justice
system and/or perhaps the whole larger community served by that system.

(4) SACRIFICE AND THE RELATIVE PRIORITY OF THE CLIENT'S WELL-BEING.


 Most sociologists who study professions mention "commitment to service" or "commitment to the
public" as one of the characteristic features of a profession.
 Similarly, most professional organizations' codes of ethics and other self-descriptions give clients'
best interests or service to the public a prominent place.
 But these expressions are subject to many different interpretations with significantly different
implications for actual practice.
 This is called a minimalist interpretation because if any less consideration than this were given,
the client's well-being could not be said to have any priority at all for the professional.
 On the other hand, according to a "maximalist" interpretation, the professional has an obligation
to place the well-being of clients ahead of every other consideration, both the professional's own
interests and all other obligations or concerns that the professional might have.
 Professional obligation almost certainly requires that members of a profession accept certain
sacrifices of other interests in the interest of their clients.

(5) COMPETENCE.
 Every professional is obligated both to acquire and to maintain the expertise needed to undertake
her professional tasks, and every professional is obligated to undertake only those tasks that are
within her competence.
 Competence is probably the most obvious category of professional obligation. It is also the easiest
to describe in a general way. For if a professional fail to apply his expertise, or fails to obtain the
expertise for undertaking some task, these failures directly contradict both the point of being an
expert and the very foundation of the larger community's award of decision-making power to the
professional in the first place.
 But determining what counts as competence on the part of a member of a given profession, both in
general and in relation to specific tasks, is a complex matter.
BPO 303: SERVICE CULTURE
MODULE 7: CATEGORIES OF PROFESSIONAL NORMS
(6) IDEAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CO-PROFESSIONALS.
 Each profession also has norms, mostly implicit and unexamined, concerning the proper relationship
among members of the same profession in various matters and also among members of different
professions when they are dealing with the same client.
 Some aspects of these relationships are dictated by each professional's obligation not to practice
beyond her competence and so to seek assistance from other professionals when a particular matter
requires expertise that the first professional does not possess.
 But other aspects of co-professional relationships are also governed by professional norms, though
they are rarely explicit.

(7) THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PROFESSION AND THE LARGER COMMUNITY.
 The activities of every profession also involve diverse relationships between the profession as a
group, or its individual members, and persons who are neither co-professionals nor clients. These
relationships may involve the larger community as a whole, various significant subgroups, or
specific individuals.
 Each profession has an educational obligation to the larger community. The reason is that both
through actions of its individual members and through collective actions, every profession functions
as the principal educator of the community regarding those elements of the profession's expertise
that the lay community needs to understand in order to function effectively in ordinary life.
 Thus, for example, the health professions have obligations regarding public education in matters of
ordinary health self-care and hygiene; and the engineering and scientific professions have
obligations to educate regarding safety practices that the lay community needs to know in daily life.

(8) ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL SERVICES.


 Professional services are distributed within a society by a complex system of economic, legal, and
social structures. These structures principally determine who in the society will have access to the
services of the professions when they need them.
 But because every professional is committed to the values that are central to his profession, no
professional can consistently be indifferent when a significant number of people in the society need
professional assistance to achieve these values and their need remains unmet.
 Individual professionals will respond to this aspect of their professional obligation in different ways.
For some it will involve pro bono or charity service of one sort or another.
 Others may focus on the value judgments being made by public decision makers who are arguably
giving too low a priority to the kinds of well-being the profession provides.
 But in any case, access to the profession's services on the part of those in the society who need them
is a matter that deserves special notice and explicit attention in the articulation of every profession's
ethic.

(9) INTEGRITY AND EDUCATION.


 Finally, there is that very subtle component of conduct by which a person communicates to others
what she stands for, not only in the person's acts themselves but also in how these acts are chosen
and in how the person presents herself to others in carrying them out. The two words that seem to
communicate the core of this concern are integrity and education, especially when the two words are
paired.
 Each profession stands for, or "professes," certain values that it is committed to bringing about both
for its clients individually and for the community at large.
 But a professional's personal priorities may communicate a different set of values, even though the
professional's choices of interventions for clients and his efforts to secure appropriate relationships
with clients all conform to accepted standards.
BPO 303: SERVICE CULTURE
MODULE 7: CATEGORIES OF PROFESSIONAL NORMS
THE ALTERNATIVE VIEWS OF PROFESSION

 The account just given explains the institution of profession in terms of its function in society, as a
means by which a society secures the benefits of specialized expertise for its members and prevents
or at least limits its misuse by those who possess it. Like every account of a thing's function, this
account is both descriptive and normative.
o It describes how professions and their members act, at least for the most part, and it
identifies sets of standards by which their successes and failures to act in those ways are
to be judged.
 The principal alternative ways of explaining the institution of profession can be described under
four headings: historical, critical functionalist, radical democratic, and personalist.
o Each of these approaches separates the descriptive and normative elements that are
interwoven in a functionalist account, with the first and second stressing the descriptive
elements and the third and fourth the normative elements.
 The personalist explanation of profession identifies the individual professional's act of personal
commitment upon entering a profession as the basis of everything morally significant about the
institution of profession.
 As centuries ago a solemn vow initiated a person's membership into a profession—a vestige of
which remains, for example, in the ceremony in which new physicians speak the Hippocratic Oath
—so today the act of personal commitment by each member of a profession is what brings the
profession continually into being and gives it its character.
 The contents of a profession's norms are determined by the contents of these personal acts of
commitment; and the professional who falls short in conduct fails above all to honor her own
commitment to serve others, rather than failing to follow a norm created and sustained principally,
according to the account proposed here, by the mutual effort of the profession and the community at
large (Pellegrino; Pellegrino and Thomasma).
 Each of these approaches stresses a feature of the institution of profession that standard
functionalist accounts are held to overlook or underestimate:
o the developmental patterns by which professions and professionals are formed; the
extent to which professions' and professionals' actual conduct falls short of the
functionalist's proposed norms;
o the undemocratic character of exclusive expertise; and the centrality of the act of
commitment by which a person becomes a professional.
 More complex functionalist accounts could incorporate much that is stressed in these other
approaches, as more complex versions of each of them could incorporate emphases and concerns
from the others. From the point of view of understanding professions as they exist, in other words,
each of these approaches teaches something of importance and all deserve careful study

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