Chapter 4

Business Communication and the Ethical Context

Effective Business Communication
Herta A Murphy Herbert W Hildebrandt Jane P Thomas ed. (SIE) Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi

7th

Chapter Objectives
To understand and Appreciate Ethics as a Communication Issue To understand the influences on personal ethics To consider communication and ethical issues

Background to ethical contexts Ethics is about making right and wrong decisions. Ethical principles, that we shall discuss now, assist in making those decisions. These principles centre around fairness, service, quality, excellence, compassion, honesty and dignity.

Background to ethical contexts

There are following 3 aspects to it:

Ethical situations Ethics as a Communication Issue Ethics in Corporations An Historical Perspective

Background to ethical contexts

Ethical situations
Every individual builds on a concept of right and wrong and establishes certain ethical principles. Right in one situation may be wrong in other. Context of a situation influences the ethicality of a decision.

Background to ethical contexts

Ethics as a Communication Issue

An individual communicates values and beliefs to others via verbal and nonverbal behavior. One is defined in the eyes of others according to the way one behaves. One needs to communicate to others the importance and necessity of good ethics.

Background to ethical contexts

Ethics as a Communication Issue

Corporate leaders and managers set a corporations ethical tone. Leaders actions demonstrate corporate values, whether the organization is corrosive, manipulative, and prone to deviousness or whether is honest, open, and willing to admit possible failures.

Background to ethical contexts

Ethics in Corporations An Historical Perspective

Rightly or wrongly, the public has doubts about the ethics of corporate America. Publicity via the news media often alerts the public to corporate ethical crises.

Influences on personal ethics

Everyone makes ethical decisions.

Have you kept information from someone who would benefit from the knowledge? Were you quiet when you were aware that facts were omitted? Reflect for a moment: How did you react to the above questions; what influenced your final decision?

Influences on personal ethics

Personal ethics are shaped by:

People influence in life Cultural Norms Philosophical Position Laws at local, State and Centre Religious Views

Influences on personal ethics

Personal Ethics

Religion

People

Law

Individual Ethics

Culture

Philosophy

Influences on personal ethics

People
Family members and friends exert strong influence on personal ethics. Teacher, especially when you were younger, may have laid the foundation for ethical decisions.

Influences on personal ethics

Culture
Every culture teaches certain ethical values. Expected cultural behaviors are taught through the stories. In America, if someone finds a penny on the street, s/he would keep if for good luck. In china, the penny belongs to government.

Influences on personal ethics

Philosophy

Descriptive ethics and normative ethics are two major types of philosophical inquiry. Descriptive ethics reflect facts about the moral judgments or beliefs of a person or group of people. Normative ethics talks about discovering, formulating, and defining fundamental moral principles. It talks about actions that are good and right, and thus be perfomred.

Influences on personal ethics

Philosophy

A number of normative philosophical perspectives exist, but four important ones are as follows:

Theologism that attempts to pattern actions according to Gods will. Deontology considers moral obligations and duties. Teleology is the study of evidence of design in nature Utilitarianism is a form of teleology that argues that an act is morally right if it maximizes utility that is, if the number of people helped is greater than the number of people harmed.

Influences on personal ethics

Law
Laws expect compliance to the minimum standard of behavior. Ethics is beyond law. Codes of ethics for various professions, such as accounting, law, and medicine, require standards of behavior that exceeds law.

Influences on personal ethics

Religion

Using religion as the grounding for the ethical behavior means acting according to what God wants. Religions do provide moral guidelines to ethical behavior. The concept of Islamic banking has emerged out of the religious beliefs of Muslims pertaining to interest on money.

Influences on personal ethics

Different ethical decisions usually require inputs from multiple perspectives. A manager facing ethical dilemma would consider calling a meeting or would consult some experts. In sum, ethical problem solving is shaped by these five factors that we discussed.

Communication and ethical issues The ethical issues that we discussed challenges a communicator at various levels. Major ones are as follows:

Legal Issues Key Areas for Ethical Communication Ethics and Organizational Responsibility

Communication and ethical issues

Legal Issues

Major legal concerns are defamation and privacy. Written defamation is libel; oral defamation is slander. Individual privacy is protected by law. Market researchers are not permitted to collect data an individual is unwilling to share. It is illegal to share certain private information about employees.

Communication and ethical issues

Legal Issues

Discrimination and harassment are major legal issues firms are facing today. Plagiarism is also another legal issue. It involves taking the ideas or written materials of someone and using it as ones own. Violation of copyrights could be another serious legal issue of communication and one must be cautious about it.

Communication and ethical issues

Key Areas for Ethical Communication

As a communicator, one needs to take care of following key areas:

Written

and spoken Messages Cross-cultural Messages Advertising Messages

Communication and ethical issues

Ethics and Organizational Responsibility

Firms should communicate ethics formally and informally. Formal ways of communicating corporate ethics are:
Public

Message Employee Manuals or Policy Statements Mission Statements and Ethical codes

Communication and ethical issues

Ethics and Organizational Responsibility

Organizations produce symbols of values, such as rituals, customs, and legends, that reinforce their meanings. Awards for safety, outstanding customer service, etc. may symbolize organizational ethics. Symbolic acts of managers can create culture and corporate values.