[2] Administrative Professionals Put in Compromising Positions; OfficeClick.com Survey Shows That Nearly Half of FORTUNE 1000 Admins Have Been Asked To Lie.PALO ALTO Palo Alto, city, California Palo Alto (păl`ō ăl`tō), city (1990 pop. 55,900), Santa Clara co., W Calif.; inc. 1894. Although primarily residential, Palo Alto has aerospace, electronics, and advanced research industries. , Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Dec. 1, 1999-- Admins - they're the masters of the office, but until now a darker side of their workday has remained silently hidden: the ethical dilemmas that they constantly face. A recent survey commissioned by OfficeClick.com, the first Online Workcenter(SM) for admins, has revealed that nearly half of Fortune 1000 administrative professionals have been asked to tell a lie to protect their supervisors. In addition, over half have had to run personal errands for their managers. About one in five has experienced verbal, sexual, or emotional harassment, and ten percent have notarized a document without actually witnessing a signature. Their CEO's do not agree that ethical indiscretions are commonplace. In the same survey, an overwhelming 90 percent of Fortune 1000 CEOs asserted that their admins had not been put in such a compromising position in the past year. "Most managers are simply unaware of these transgressions," said Nan DeMars, a consultant on office ethics and author of "The Office Conscience", a weekly career column for admins on OfficeClick.com. "Even at this stage of nationwide awareness of corporate ethics, the typical manager often sees ethical problems elsewhere, not in his or her office. Nonetheless, such situations are cause for concern," she said. Nan DeMars is a member of OfficeClick's editorial board, a group of writers and consultants who work with the nationwide community of administrative professionals and who contribute fresh, insightful daily columns written exclusively for OfficeClick.com members. Columns cover issues such as office etiquette, business ethics business ethics, the study and evaluation of decision making by businesses according to moral concepts and judgments. Ethical questions range from practical, narrowly defined issues, such as a company's obligation to be honest with its customers, to broader social , career management, best work practices and workplace stress. "Persistent ethical dilemmas cripple employee morale," added DeMars. "Managers must consider the difficult position that their admins face when they are asked to tell even the smallest `white lie'. Administrative professionals feel frustrated, compromised and powerless because they are put in uncomfortable situations, yet lack the authority to control their outcomes," she said. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. DeMars, however, there is hope for resolving such conflicts. "There needs to be no mystery about the kinds of conduct and behaviors that are acceptable and unacceptable. With proper communication, ethical dilemmas can be resolved positively," she said. "I choose to believe that in most cases managers are simply unaware of the ethical dilemmas confronting their staffs. It's important to start discussing these ethical issues as they come up." Nan DeMars, author of "You Want Me To Do What? When, Where & How to Draw the Line at Work" (Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster U.S. publishing company. It was founded in 1924 by Richard L. Simon (1899–1960) and M. Lincoln Schuster (1897–1970), whose initial project, the original crossword-puzzle book, was a best-seller. ) is president of Executary Services, a consulting firm Noun 1. consulting firm - a firm of experts providing professional advice to an organization for a fee consulting company business firm, firm, house - the members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments; "he worked for a in Minneapolis, Minnesota “Minneapolis” redirects here. For other uses, see Minneapolis (disambiguation). Minneapolis (pronounced IPA: /ˌmɪniˈæpəlɪs/) is the largest city in the U.S. . The survey, of 178 Fortune 1000 CEOs and 148 of their administrative professionals, was conducted in October and November 1999 by Wirthlin Worldwide Wirthlin Worldwide was an influential political and business consulting firm founded by Dick Wirthlin. It operated from 1969 to 2004. It ceased to operate as a separate company on September 8, 2004 when it was acquired by Harris Interactive for a combination of stock and cash , and addressed the changing role of administrative professionals in the workplace. About OfficeClick.com, Inc. OfficeClick.com, Inc. has developed the first Online Workcenter(SM) (http://www.officeclick.com) designed specifically for office administrative professionals, an audience that is large, growing, and online. It is the first time this important, previously overlooked group has been addressed by a technology company. OfficeClick.com, which is free to users, consolidates daily administrative tasks into one place, allowing admins to keep track of their tasks, meetings, schedules and deliveries, make travel arrangements, buy office supplies Office supplies is the generic term that refers to all supplies regularly used in offices by businesses and other organizations, from private citizens to governments, who works with the collection, refinement, and output of information (colloquially referred to as "paper work"). and keep their departments informed. OfficeClick.com, Inc. is a privately held company privately held company A firm whose shares are held within a relatively small circle of owners and are not traded publicly. based in Palo Alto, Calif. Founded in 1998, the company's investors include St. Paul St. Paul as a missionary he fearlessly confronts the “perils of waters, of robbers, in the city, in the wilderness.” [N.T.: II Cor. 11:26] See : Bravery Venture Capital, Sigma Partners Sigma Partners is a major venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley and Boston. Sigma Partners invests in early-stage information technology companies (semiconductor, software and hardware). The firm was founded in 1984 by J. Burgess Jamieson and C. Bradford Jeffries. and Doll Capital Management. OfficeClick.com(SM), the OfficeClick.com logo(SM), and Online Workcenter(SM) are service marks of OfficeClick.com, Inc., which may be registered in some jurisdictions. Other trademarks/service marks are the property of their respective owners. |
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