I'm not sure how this refutes anything along these lines. Going to a trade show and picking up a freebie is one thing. Accepting a title and accepting continued compensation is quite another. There is no relationship implied with the first, there is with the second.
There are very specific things that denote a profession. One is having an independent governing body that defines and enforces the "rules" and ethics of the profession. The IT industry is a horrible failure in this regard. And, if you want to get specific, the only real professions that meet all of the definitions are military, medical, lawyers and to a lesser degree accounting and engineering. If you want to get technical, the military is the only profession that truly meets all of the requirements. In terms of their management of individuals in their profession, they are answerable to no one, have their own legal and ethical code of conduct and enforce those rules. This is why there is the justice system and the military's justice system. We work with lawyers all the time. We even host partner companies on our Exchange server for free. The lawyers that we work with FORCE us to bill them because they cannot ethically accept this service for free. It creates a conflict of interest for them. Our IT partners have no such ethical constraints. Go talk to lawyers, doctors and architects. Talk to them about their governing bodies, their ethics, etc. Talk to them about vendors in their industry. Getting things for free is viewed as bribery and a conflict of interest. Some of these industries are more lax than others. Look at the medical industry and how drug reps are viewed treated. Then compare that with IT's views on vendors. The difference is stark. In one, drug reps giving away free samples is seen as a huge problem, in IT it is not. > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Greg Deckler [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > Sent: Friday, February 07, 2003 12:55 PM > > To: Exchange Discussions > > Subject: RE: Shortcuts to Outlook objects > > > > > > You're missing the point Ed. Any form of compensation is a conflict of > > interest. Period. > > Nice absolute statement there, but this isn't an absolute subject. I've had > a pink squeezie pig with a Motorola logo on my monitor for six years now. > Sometimes I bounce it against the wall to help me think. But no-one accuses > me of being a Motorola apologist, and I've bought a sum total of $0 worth of > Motorola kit in that time. > > As for that making us "tradespeople" and not "professionals," have a look > around your doctor's office next time you go there. > > > The discussion is not being advanced in any regard. The view > > that I have > > is that the IT industry's focus on vendors and tools will keep the IT > > industry from becoming a profession. > > What on earth is that supposed to mean? Is there a ISO9001 definition of > "profession" that "the IT industry" has failed to apply for? Some people who > work in the IT field can indeed be seen as tradespeople, others as > professionals - the guy who assembles PCs on the line versus Michael Dell, > for example. But if you try to tell a CTO with an MBA that he's not in a > "profession" s/he will most likely still be laughing by the time the > security people have carried you out of the bulding. > > > > And, accepting any form of > > compensation is a fundamental conflict of interest. > > Sure it is. That's why Congresspeople, doctors, lawyers, or architects > aren't allowed to do it. Oops, they all are, aren't they? Just usually there > is a limit on it. > > > > In all of > > the posts, > > nothing refutes theses points. > > I hope I've rectified that. _________________________________________________________________ List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm Archives: http://www.swynk.com/sitesearch/search.asp To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
