Public Relations Professionals and Educators

As Michael Winkleman described, unrestricted transaction jobals and educators be presently engaged in a vigorous discussion of the region of respectable motive in spite of appearance the profession and the means by which honourable philosophy good deal be taught to twain mankind transaction students and professional persons. According to Winkleman, the rise in concern everywhere ethical issues stomach be traced to the reaction of the profession to events in the 1980s, which include high-profile instances of insider-trading and c every castt governing foreign policy activities.In addition, the ethical line is thriving because corporations ready realized that they pass to pay more attendance to tender demands and be more responsive to stakeholders. This realization has par either tolde take the move from hypothetic moral philosophy to applied morality. Winklemans conclusion is that moral philosophy are crucial for overt transaction because they will be nefit the profession and the companies for which the universe dealing work. Ultimately, morality are good for business.In addition, in that location is empirical evidence designateing that prevalent relations professionals basing their decision-making and recommendations to charge on ethical principles and social debt instrument are more likely to have a greater role in management decisions and activities. The burden of this concern over morals in the overt relations field has resulted in a vigorous debate over the pros and cons of a usual ethics code.Many writers agree, despite their differences, that non yet does ethical decision-making give semi humanity relations professionals more opportunities to participate in the management social occasion, scarcely it likewise assists the ripening of state-supported relations as a profession. moral philosophy and social business are in like manner critical issues in national relations because public relations facili tates dialogue among the c altogetherer and its some publics, including society at large.As Pratt notes, at that place are trinity main points that result from all the empirical research engineered on practician ethics. First, they underscore the notion that ethics is an crucial issue practitioners confront. Second, they suggest that practitioners cannot turn off public (and manufacturing wide) evaluation of their professional ethics and that corporal managements fatality to continually institute ethics in the workplace. tierce, they suggest that older practitioners can help descend an organizations ethical tone.However, as will be discussed later, Donald K. Wright convincingly argues that ethical behavior is performed by practitioners primarily out of a ace of personal morality and wanting to be respected by his/her mixed publics, rather than as a result of vague, codified ethical guidelines. Perhaps, what makes the return of ethics difficult to address from a prag matic point of wad within public relations is the paucity of empirical research and conjectural writing on public relations ethics.This is surprising given that 75% of the educators at a recent AEJMC conference stated that ethics was an of the essence(p) aspect of their teaching and that PRSA members, in a irresolutionnaire, voted the Code of Professional Standards to be the most important member benefit. Many educators are currently goad public relations practitioners to adopt a prevalent code of ethics. The interest in this topic is evidenced by the special issue of macrocosm Relations Re ensure from the spring of 1993 entirely devoted to the subject of ethics.Naturally, the worry will arise in development a code that can particular(prenominal)ally address each specific morally problematic situation. peradventure due to this problem, some of the writers addressing this issue have been somewhat non- specific in delineating the actual components of an ethical code. Howev er, separates such as play and Tirpok have suggested the material for a code and the strategy for its employment. Kruckeberg believes that increased sphericized trade has hastened the need for an internationalist (universal) code of ethics for communicators.In analyzing the functions of transnational corporations, he describes four social benefits these companies provide to Third World countries (1) development of benevolent resources through employment, provision, and indigenization (2) beef up the knowledge beggarly through research and development and the transfer of applied science (3) raising standards of living through the creation of wealth, encouraging local industry and providing consumer goods and (4) enhancing the quality of life by assisting schedules that raise standards in health, housing, nutrition, and education.Given that a transnational corporation is actually able to produce these benefits in Third World nations, they are indeed meeting demands of soci al responsibility. However, Kruckeberg notes that many corporations have encountered criticism relating to graft and corruption issues, consumer issues, environmental/human safety issues, and governmental/humanitarian issues. For example, clutch was embroiled in a controversy environ their marketing practices in the Third World of breast milk substitutes.Nestle responded effectively and in a socially trusty for(p) manner in 1981 by endorsing the World Health Organizations Code of Marketing for Breast take out Substitutes the day the measure was enacted and assembled experts to monitor the companys compliance with the Code. Kruckeberg suggests that a code of ethics could be developed that would be capable of guiding behavior which attempts to sink the inherent moral dilemmas of the four types of criticism previous described as closely as other dilemmas that have occurred or potentially could occur.Many of the codes currently in existence do not take into account the bad-temp ered responsibilities of transnational corporations. However, despite weaknesses in ethical codes they serve four worthful functions (1) providing guidelines for practitioner activities, (2) demonstrating what clients and supervisors should expect from practitioners, (3) providing basis for charges of wrongdoing, and (4) providing defense against charges of wrongdoing.The new code of ethics should be developed under the leadership of professional communicators from multinational companies, scarce there should be input from all members of the professional public relations associations. Hunt and Tirpok extend Kruckebergs argument and suggest that the public relations profession needs to establish a universal ethics code. In addition, they suggest an actual framework for the code and provide a strategy for its adoption.Hunt and Tirpok believe that a universal code of ethics ought to apply to all communications professions, uniting public relations and journalism in this sense, but tha t the code must(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) be adaptable to the needs of the unmarried professions. eyepatch journalisms purpose is most often objectivity, public relations purpose is often advocacy. In this manner, public relations practitioners share the oecumenical nature of their purpose with lawyers.Nonetheless, all systems and codes of ethics seem to be rooted in the same thoroughgoing principles and similar prys. Their suggestion for an actual code is that it deal with depression nightspot concerns, such as keeping faith with the public and achieving consensus, not specific communications situations, since no code could possibly address all these situations. The timetable for developing and adopting the code would take six years. The first stage would be organizing and conducting a conference of academics and representatives of professional organizations with the purpose of drafting the code.In the second kind encompassing two years, a task force would visi t the professional organizations with the aim of obtaining suggestions for modification, slaying, and dissemination of the code. The third phase would involve the ratification and implementation of the code. In the final stage, the code would be published and publicized to predicate target publics about the code and its importance to global communication. There have been objections to the implementation of a universal ethics code on the movement that public relations cannot be seed, that anyone can practice public relations due to First Amendment-type rights, and that there are differences within the global community of interests as to what constitutes ethical behavior. Kruckeberg dismisses the criticism of cultural relativists who argue against a universal ethics code citing Asuncion-Landes recommendation that in distinguishing between what is universal and what is classifiable in the ethics of different cultures, ethicists should develop an inventory.This inventory of universal ethics would include culturally sanctioned rules of proper interpersonal conduct, i. e. rules which serve to preserve bon ton and to promote social harmony and unity and which provide stability of human kinships in a rapidly changing world. Complications in Establishing Effective Ethics Programs A significant problem in the functioning of many merged ethics programs that undermines its success is that fact that many of these programs are so general and short on specifics, as well as not world equipped to address complex problems.An ideal example is Dow Corning. For years Dow was recognized by business educators as leaders in the area of incarnate ethics programs. In 1976, Dows chairman John S. Ludington formal a trade Conduct Committee and Dow also set up ethics bringing up sessions for employees and audits every three years to monitor compliance with the companys ethical guidelines. Nonetheless, there were indications as early as 1977 that the breast implants manufacture d by Dow were unsafe. The question raised by Eric Schine was why did the audits monitoring ethical compliance not discover this information.His answer is that for the most part, ethics programs arent designed to deal immediately with complex problems. Instead, they are there totally to help cultivate an boilersuit environment of proper conduct. Similar problems occurred at McDonnell Douglas despite their extensive ethics program. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, defense contractors were accused of severe overcharging of the government and some of these contractors were required to compensate the government for the overcharging. In addition, the Iran-contra scandal provided tainted the image of defense contractors.In 1980, Sanford McDonnell became Chairman and CEO of McDonnell Douglas and established the companys ethics program because of his conviction that ethics must be interweave into the decision process at all steps through all trains of authority. In 1983, McDonnell in stigated a study to determine the best course of ethics training for MDC employees. The MDC training program developed a conceptual get for defining ethical decision making. More than 75,000 employees took part in the training seminars.Subsequent to the implementation of the program, the company discovered the following ethics became an satisfying topic for discussion, Sanford McDonnells personal participation in the videotape sent a strong message, the case study approach highlighted ethical issues with practical benefits, employees put up they did not have to face ethical issues alone, an increased sense of pridefulness developed among the employees, and MDC issued a new policy and procedures manual relative to price and contracting with the government.Some of the lessons learned by MDC that could be transferable to other entities include ethics training should be pragmatic and managerial in nature, strong leadership is needed from the top and implementation must be from the top down, managers must serve as role models, there must be a standardized training procedure and workshops should utilize a participative process. Center and Jacksons main point about the MDC case is that a caterpillar track record of exemplary conduct builds slowly. It requires constant tending. An honorable reputation is both precious and fragile.Opponents or competitors are rearmed by infractions. In 1988, investigations by the evaluator Department, FBI and the Navy, showed evidence of bribery, fraud, and kickbacks in defense contracting. MDC was among the 75 companies named in the investigation. According to Donald K. Wright, wilful ethics codes are largely ineffective because there is no enforcement implement and the codes are only as good as the people who toast to them. Much of this criticism is directed at codes of the professional associations.He notions that many codes are just filled with meaningless rhetoric. Ultimately, public relations practitioners conduct the mselves according to ethical principles because they believe in themselves and want others to respect them. good behavior is not the result of adherence to codes, but rather to the individual practitioners sense of personal morality. Wright conducted a study to examine the ethical and moral values of practitioners with the major premise of the study being that public relations never will be any more ethical than the level of basic ethical morality of the people who are in public relations.He found that the structure of moral values of American practitioners is establish on socio-economic morality, religious morality, basic morality, puritanical morality, basic social responsibility morality, and financial morality. Some corporations have addressed the problem cited by Wright, namely that ethics codes are often ineffective when they are not attach to by enforcement mechanisms. For instance, General Dynamics instituted a comprehensive ethics program aimed at situations involving an ti-trust, political plowshares, international business, inside information, and corporate resources.Crucial to this program is the possibility of sanctions for infractions, including penalties ranging from warnings to dismissals and criminal proceedings. In terms of professional associations, PRSA developed its first statement of principles in 1950 and its code of professional standards in 1959. Between 1952 and 1985, 168 cases were investigated, with only 10 cases resulting in sanctions.However, the chairman of PRSAs Board of Ethics and Professional Standards, Donald McCammond, claims the enforcement procedure gives the Code its teeth, makes it a deterrent in addition to a set of guidelines. Greater Opportunities for Participation in Management Policy Decisions A classifiable benefit of improving social responsibility and ethical decision- making among public relations practitioners is that it will enhance their credibility and increase their opportunities for participating in man agement policy decisions. Judd conducted a study to test the hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between public relations recommending socially responsible actions and public relations participating in policy decisions. ace hundred members listed in the 1986-87 Register of the Public Relations Journal were asked, argon you aware of situations where public relations has recommended changes in what the organization does or what it produces in order to satisfy the responsibility of the organization to society? In addition, respondents were asked whether responsibility to the client/employer or to society is more important and were asked a cast of questions addressing public relations credibility in relation to other professions and ways in which credibility could be improved.The study did find a significant relationship at the statistical significance level of . 05 that recommendations of socially responsible actions translated into higher(prenominal) participation in po licy decisions. Judd connects these findings to Bernays opinion that feeling more responsible to society and less motivated by financial rewards marks the development of a profession. This increase in involvement in policy decisions also illustrates public relations strong credibility with management in these cases.Hence, the value of Judds study is that it shows concern for socially responsible actions among public relations practitioners define public relations as a profession, involve practitioners more easily in management policy decisions, and improve the credibility of the profession. Judds study also found that 65% of the respondents viewed responsibility to society as more important than responsibility to the client/employer in effect, they view themselves as a corporate conscience.In this sense then, public relations practitioners, at least those surveyed, view their ultimate purpose as that of a counselor as impertinent to the traditionally assigned role of public relati ons people as advocates. Grunig fundamentally conceives of public relations as a critical share of the management function. Public relations is an essential management function because of its contribution to the long-term, strategic management of the organization.In particular, public relations is involved in the planning process in the sense that it enables communication and building of relationships with publics that ache or can divert the mission of the organization. As a result of public relations capabilities to facilitate communication among publics and its intrinsic role within the management function, it has a unique responsibility to act according to social and ethical considerations. In fact, Grunig asserts that adherence to the requirements of this responsibility is the only way in which public relations can be considered to be an important element of the global communication system.If public relations is practiced according to the principles of strategic management, pu blic responsibility and the two-way symmetrical model, it is an important element of the global communication system facilitating symmetrical communication that helps to build relationships among organizations and publics and to develop policies that are responsible to those publics. Ethics Code as a Requirement for Professional office Thomas H. Bivins asserts that professionalism requires autonomy, but that autonomy comes with the expectation of objectivity.This presents a problem for public relations because not all public relations practitioners serve the role of counselor, many fill the role of advocate. Bivins describes how these two different roles result in the necessity for different ethical guidelines, which involve the degree of responsibility or obligation to the client/employer, degree of objectivity, and degree of autonomy. However, as Judds study showed, public relations practitioners increasingly view their role as that of counselor, given that they feel more bound to social responsibilities rather than client/employer obligations.This will place a more stringent ethical impetus upon public relations practitioners because the responsibilities of counselors are broader in the sense of having to be concerned with both larger and a greater number of publics. Although both the advocate and the counselor must practice within the bounds of the truth, good taste and the law, the counselor must also practice within the moral boundaries of, and with ethical consideration for, all concerned publics.Purpose, therefore, becomes a factor which must be decided upon, to a greater degree, by the counselor. Bivins stresses that it is the move towards professionalism in the field which has actually led to a concern over ethical principles. Center and Jackson likewise connect ethical concerns with the development of a profession. The public relations function has sought to fulfill its aspirations by exerting an ethical and moral force as well as technical sk ill and, by doing so, developing an individualism and a professional discipline of its own.As Winkleman noted, the ethical debate began with Watergate and has gained pulsing in the public relations community with the scandals involving Michael Deaver (indicted for perjury) and Anthony Franco (insider trading). Despite the lack of square empirical research literature on public relations ethics to date, there appears to be an increased interest in the subject of ethics among educators and researchers. For example, Public Relations Review devoted entire issues to the subject of ethics in 1989 and 1993.Regardless of whether the public relations profession institutes a universal code as some are advocating, empirical evidence has shown that practitioners who base their decision-making on social responsibility and within ethical guidelines, whether personal or structural, will be more likely to be involved in policy decisions. In turn, practitioners will enhance their credibility with m anagement and the public at large. Furthermore, observance of ethical principles demonstrate the mark of a profession.