1. Topic 12 Ethics in Communication

2. Ethics in Management Communication
Core values in making ethical communication
Perspective in communication ethics
Communication code of ethics

3. WHAT IS ETHICS?

4. Ethics is the discipline dealing with what is good or bad and with moral duty and obligation – the principles of conduct governing an individual or group.

5. What Is Ethical Behavior?
Ethics
Right and wrong, good and bad, in actions that affect others
Ethical Behavior
Conforming to generally accepted ethical norms

6. Ethics In The Workplace
Beliefs in Right/Wrong & Good/Bad Actions
Ethical- Conforms To
Social Norms
Unethical Behavior
Business Ethics

7. Individual Ethics Ambiguity/Law/Real World
Sources of Individual Values & Codes
Parents
Peers
Experience
Personal Priorities
Financial Gain
Family/Friends

8. Business Ethics Managerial Behavior Toward Employees Organization
Others

9. The Operative Words of Ethics
Discipline – guides, directs and gives order to one’s actions.
Good or bad – an issue of choice.
Obligation – the implication of choice. After all is said and done, everything is a choice between alternatives (sleeping in class).
Principles – rules, norms, and standards.
Governing – this is not politics. This is about conscience that is always our counsel.

10. What is Ethical Behavior?
Competing Fairly
and Honestly
Communicating
Truthfully
Not Harming Others
In business, besides obeying all laws and regulations, practicing good ethics means competing fairly and honestly, communicating truthfully, and not causing harm to others.
Businesses are expected to compete fairly and honestly and not knowingly deceive, intimidate, or misrepresent customers, competitors, clients, or employees. While most companies compete within the boundaries of the law, some do knowingly break laws or take questionable steps in their zeal to maximize profits and gain a competitive advantage.
Placing one’s personal welfare above the welfare of the organization can cause harm to others. For instance, every year tens of thousands of people are the victims of investment scams. Insider trading is illegal and is closely checked by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Another way that businesspeople can harm others is by getting involved in a conflict of interest situation. A conflict of interest exists when choosing a course of action will benefit one person’s interests at the expense of another or when an individual chooses a course of action that advances his or her personal interests over those of his or her employer.

11. Steps in Making Ethical Judgments
Figure 2–1

12. Ethical Considerations
Regarding a particular act…
Utility: Does it optimize what is best for those who are affected by it?
Rights: Does it respect the rights of the individuals involved?
Justice: Is it consistent with what we regard as fair?
Caring: Is it consistent with people’s responsibilities to each other?

13. Expanded Model of Ethical Judgment Making
Data Gathering
Gather the facts concerning the act or policy
Is the act or policy acceptable according to the four ethical norms?
• Utility: Does it optimize the satisfaction of all constituencies?
• Rights: Does it respect the rights and duties of the individuals involved?
• Justice: Is it consistent with the canons of justice?
• Caring: Is it consistent with the responsibility to care?
Analysis
No on all
criteria
No on one or two criteria
Yes on all
criteria
Is there any reason for overriding one or two of the ethical norms?
Is one ethical norm more important than the others?
Is there any reason why a person may have been forced into committing an act or following a policy? No
Yes
Judgment
The act or policy is not ethical.
The act or policy is ethical.
Figure 2–2

14. Factors Influencing Ethical Behavior
Cultural Differences
Knowledge
Organizational
Behavior
Legislation
Although a number of factors influence the ethical behavior of businesspeople, four in particular appear to have the most impact: cultural differences, knowledge, organizational behavior, and legislation.
Globalization exposes businesspeople to a variety of different cultures and business practices. What does it mean for a business to do the right thing in Thailand? In Africa? In Norway? What may be considered unethical in the United States may be an accepted practice in another culture.
In most cases, a well-informed person is in a position to make better decisions and avoid ethical problems. Making decisions without all the facts or a clear understanding of the consequences could harm employees, customers, the company, and other stakeholders.
The foundation of an ethical business climate is ethical awareness. Organizations that strongly enforce company codes of conduct and provide ethics training help employees recognize and reason through ethical problems. Similarly, companies with strong ethical practices set a good example for employees to follow. On the other hand, companies that commit unethical acts in the course of doing business open the door for employees to follow suit.
Recent government legislation is another factor. A 2002 corporate accountability bill signed by President Bush set new standards for prosecuting wrongdoers, gave corporate whistleblowers broad new protections, and created an independent regulatory board to oversee the accounting industry. It also required corporate executives to certify their companies’ financial statements and set new penalties for securities fraud and document shredding.

15. Ethical Communication
Recognize
Ethical Choices
Make
Ethical Choices
Ethics are the principles of conduct that govern a person or a group. Ethical communication includes all relevant information, is true in every sense, and is not deceptive in any way. By contrast, unethical communication can include falsehoods and misleading information (or withhold important information).
Every company has responsibilities to various groups. However, what’s right for one group may be wrong for another. When people must choose between conflicting loyalties and weigh difficult trade-offs, they are facing a dilemma. An ethical dilemma involves choosing among alternatives that aren’t clear-cut (perhaps two conflicting alternatives are both ethical and valid, or perhaps the alternatives lie somewhere in the vast gray area between right and wrong). An ethical lapse is making a clearly unethical or illegal choice. How do you decide between what’s ethical and what is not? You might ask yourself:
Is this message legal?
Is this message balanced?
Is it a message you can live with?
Is this message feasible?
Some companies lay out an explicit ethical policy by using a written code of ethics to help employees determine what is acceptable. In addition, many managers use ethics audits to monitor ethical progress and to point up any weaknesses that need to be addressed.
Motivate
Ethical Choices

16. The Influence of Ethics
What a candidate tells a prospective employer.
The information a company reveals.
How companies handle consumer complaints.
How confidential information is used.
How people respond to business pressure and respect privacy.
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17. Where Ethical Conduct Is Important?
Customers
Quality
Contacts
Problem-solving

18. Where Ethical Conduct Is Important?
Employees
It will allow you to put the right people in the right place.

19. Where Ethical Conduct Is Important?
Peers – A little white lie! Will it really hurt anything?
Suppliers
Competitors

20. Managerial Mistakes
Most unethical or unprincipled behavior found in organizations happens for one of these five reasons:
1.Favoring the organization’s interest over the interest of its stakeholders: customers, employees, the community, etc.

21. 2. Rewarding behavior that violates. ethical standards, (i. e
2. Rewarding behavior that violates ethical standards, (i.e. rewarding managers who are ‘under budget,’ even though it meant they pushed employees too hard to cut corners when they should not have)

22. 3. Creating a corporate environment that
3. Creating a corporate environment that encourages separate standards of behavior for work and home (i.e., punishing people for being honest about mistakes – thereby encouraging secrecy and deceit or rewarding individuals who grandstand while ignoring solid, but quiet, team players)

23. 4. Allowing individuals to abuse power to
4. Allowing individuals to abuse power to further their own interest, i.e., executives who promote ‘friends’ over more qualified employees in order to surround themselves with friendly faces
5. Creating managerial values that undermine integrity. This is the believe that anything is right if the public can be convinced it is right

24. Critical Queries for Ethics
Is it legal?
How do I feel about this? Am I feeling unusually anxious? Am I fearful?
Will any rules, policies or regulations be violated?
Is the proposed action consistent with past practice?

25. Critical Queries for Ethics
Does my conscience bother me?
How would I feel if the details of this situation appeared on the front page of the local newspaper?
Does this situation require that I lie about the process or the results?
Do I consider this to be an “extraordinary” situation that demands an unusual response?

26. Critical Queries for Ethics
Am I acting fairly? Would I want to be treated this way?
Would I be able to discuss the proposed situation or action with my immediate supervisor? My family? My company’s clients? The president of the company?

27. Critical Queries for Ethics
If a close friend of mine took this action, how would I feel?
Will I have to hide or keep my actions secret? Has someone warned me not to disclose my actions to anyone?

28. Ethical Checklist Run every managerial decision through
this ‘ethical checklist:’
1. Is it legal? Will you be violating either company policy or civil law?
2. Is it fair and balanced? Are all people involved in the decision being treated fairly – in both the short and long term? Will certain individuals get hurt?

29. Ethical Checklist
3. How will I feel when it’s done? How will the decision make you feel about yourself? Will you be proud of what you did? If it was published in the newspaper, would you feel good about your friends and family reading it?

30. Lessons Learned – 1
Management/leaders have to really, genuinely, walk the talk, practice what they preach, live out what they say

31. Lessons Learned – 2
Be fair. You’re not going to have an ethical workplace and have people perceive that it is ethical unless people perceive there is a general sense of fairness

32. Lessons Learned – 3
Spend money where it counts. Find out what is impacting your outcomes and put your money where it’s going to do some good, where you’re really affecting how people are feeling

33. Lessons Learned – 4 Doing the Wrong Thing:
assuming compliance with the law is good enough, it isn’t
assuming an ethics code is sufficient
lacking support from on high – top management

34. Company Practices and Business Ethics
Best Approach: Open, Honest, Responsive!
The Coca Cola Scare Case
The Tylenol Scare Case

35. Core Principles and Organizational Values
Figure 2–3

36. Commercial Break
Be right back………

37. Code of Ethics
Provides the organization with a set of guidelines that outline what constitutes appropriate behavior.
Allows a safe environment for all organizational members.
Defines the organization’s uniqueness.

38. Code of Ethics
Culture fosters mutual respect, trust, and honest communication among coworkers, customers, and vendors.
The code of ethics provides a “big picture” statement of principles and values.

39. Five Advantages to an Ethical Office
Productivity
Predictability
Accountability
Confidentiality
Communication

40. Communication Code of Ethics

41. Greeting and Handshaking Customs
U.S. persons are informal in their
greetings, often saying “Hi” to complete
strangers.
U.S. greeting behavior is ritualistic; upon arriving at work, one person says: “Good morning, how are you?” to which the other person responds: “Fine, thank you, and how are you?”
Embracing is inappropriate as a form of greeting in the U.S., but in Latin America people embrace after a handshake.
Bowing is the customary form of greeting in Japan.

42. Handshakes
U.S •Firm
Asians •Gentle (except for Koreans who have a firm handshake)
British • Soft
French • Light and quick; repeated upon arrival and departure
Germans • Firm; repeated upon arrival and departure
Hispanics • Moderate grasp; repeated frequently
Middle Easterners • Gentle; repeated frequently

43. Verbal Expressions
“Don’t mention it” and “Think nothing of it,” in response to a courtesy or favor, are viewed by persons of other cultures as rude. When being thanked for a courtesy, a response of “You are welcome” is preferable.
“What’s up?” and “How’s it going?” make no sense to persons for whom English is a second language.

44. Verbal Expressions
A newcomer to the U.S. did not accept a job on the “graveyard shift” since he thought he would be working in a cemetery.

45. Humor in Business
Using humorous anecdotes is a way of breaking the ice and establishing a relaxed atmosphere prior to getting down to business in international meetings.
In the U.S., presentations are often started with a joke or cartoon related to the topic.

46. Humor in Business
Most European countries also use humor during business meetings.
Asian humor finds little merit in jokes about sex, religion, or minorities; they take what is said quite literally and do not understand American humor.
Germans, too, find humor out of place during business meetings.

47. Dress and Appearance
The general rule everywhere is that for business you should be “Buttoned up”: conservative suit and tie for men, dress or skirted suit for women.

48. Dress and Appearance
In Canada, people dress more conservatively and formally than people in the U.S.
In Europe, business dress is very formal; coats and ties are required, and jackets stay on at all times.
In Japan, dress is also formal. Women dress very conservatively and wear muted colors to the office. Casual attire is usually
inappropriate.

49. Dress and Appearance
In Saudi Arabia, the traditional Arabic white, flowing robe and headcloth may be worn. However, U.S. persons should not attempt to dress in a like manner.
Color of clothing is an important consideration. Do not wear black, purple, or solid white in Thailand. Avoid wearing all white in the People’s Republic of China as white is the symbol of mourning.

50. Dress and Appearance
At a Washington firm, a group of Japanese businessmen who came for a meeting on a Friday found a room full of casually dressed people. They made a hasty retreat, believing they had the wrong office.

51. Demeanor/Behavior
Be punctual. Most persons in the U.S. will feel offended if you are more than 10 minutes late.
If you agree to meet someone, keep the appointment.
Treat females with the same respect given males.
Treat clerks, waiters, secretaries, taxi drivers with the same courtesy you would show someone of rank and position.

52. Demeanor/Behavior
When talking, keep an arm’s length away. U.S. persons do not like for people to get too close.
Avoid bowing and other behavior that is intended to display respect as most Americans are most uncomfortable with such displays.
Do not speak loudly in public places except at sports events and similar outdoor events.
Keep to the right when walking in malls or on the street.

53. Demeanor/Behavior
Do not touch other people in public. (Pushing your way through a crowd is considered quite rude.)
Wait your turn when standing in line at the post office, bank, or theatre. Give priority to the first person who arrives (rather than to people who are older or wealthier).
Do not block traffic; do not block someone’s view at a ballgame or other public events.

54. Bribery
Bribery is the giving or promising of something, often money, to influence another person’s actions.
While bribery is not officially sanctioned or condoned in any country, it is unofficially a part of business in many cultures and is considered neither unethical nor immoral in a number of countries.

55. Bribery
As business becomes more globalized, different perceptions exist regarding the appropriateness of certain incentives.
What is considered a tip (to ensure promptness) in one culture is
considered illegal in another.

56. Applying Ethical Standards to Communication
CONCLUSION
Applying Ethical Standards to Communication
Oral communication
Organizational policies
Correspondence
Rituals, ceremonies, and celebration
Slogans and symbols

57. Applying Ethical Standards to Communication
Evaluations, promotions, and rewards
Interaction with other organizations
Interaction with the government, the press, and the public

58. Improving On-the-Job Ethical Behavior
Serve as a role model and screen potential employees
Develop a meaningful written code of ethics
Provide ethics training
Reinforce ethical behavior
Create positions, units, and other structural mechanisms

59. Promoting Ethical Behavior
Top executives
Written code
Ethics training
Ethics officer
Reporting system
Ethical behavior starts at the top. The CEO and other senior managers must set the tone for people throughout the company.
More than 80 percent of large companies have adopted a written code of ethics, which defines the values and principles that should be used to guide decisions. By itself, however, a code of ethics can't accomplish much. To be effective, a code must be supported by employee communications efforts, a formal training program, employee commitment to follow it, and a system through which employees can get help with ethically difficult situations.
Some companies have created an official position—the ethics officer—to guard morality. Originally hired to oversee corporate conduct—from pilfering company pens to endangering the environment to selling company secrets—many ethics officers today function as corporate coaches for ethical decision making.
Another way companies support ethical behavior is by establishing a system for reporting unethical or illegal actions at work, such as an ethics hot line.

60. The Right Way
“Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest.”
Mark Twain

61. “The more I help others to succeed, the more I succeed. ”
“The more I help others to succeed, the more I succeed.” — Ray Kroc, Founder, McDonald’s