Communication and Ethics

Kant’s “Categorical

Imperative”

 The categorical imperative is Kant’s

famous statement of this duty:

“Act only according to that maxim by which you

can at the same time will that it should become

Ethical Choices: Exercise

 Explain why each of the following is ethical or not ethical:

 _{Keeping quiet about a possible}

environmental hazard you’ve just discovered in your company’s processing plant

 _{Overselling the benefits of instant messaging}

to your company’s management; they never seem to understand the benefits of

Ethical Choices:

Exercises

 _{Telling an associate and close friend that}

she’d better pay more attention to her

work responsibilities or management will fire her

 _{Recommending the purchase of excess}

equipment to use up your allocated

Ethics

 Accepted principles of conduct

 Define the boundary between right

and wrong

 “Knowing the difference between

what you have a right to do and what is the right thing to do.” US

Ethical Communication

 Includes all relevant information

 Is true in every sense

Impact of Ethics

 The costs of unethical conduct are

high

 Good people like to work for good

organizations

 There is a correlation between

Ethical Leadership and

Communication

 What role does communication play

in ethical leadership?

 What are the three components of

Communication and

Ethics

 Every Communication Decision has

an Ethical Dimension:

 _Speak  _Listen

 _{Remain Silent}

 Communication Ethics Involves both

Motives and Impacts

 Fundamental Principles Should Guide

Exercise

 Knowing that you have numerous

friends throughout the company,

your boss relies on you for feedback concerning employee morale and

Ethical Communication: Key

Elements

 Ends (What one hopes to achieve

through communication)

 Means (How one chooses to

communicate)

 Consequences (The real world

Role Play: Peter Reed

 Peter Reed couldn’t believe his eyes. He read

the memo and the new product list that it

introduced. As Vice President of Marketing he knew that the products on the list were not new at all. They were in fact the existing

products renamed and discounted to be offered in an attempt to stimulate new

Role Play: The President

 The President’s view: “Our existing

customers will never know and we

don’t have the time or the resources to create a totally new product

series. Don’t worry Peter, you won’t have to do anything. This is my

decision! All you have to do is to brief the new sales force that will

Four Steps to Ethical

Communication

 What are the four steps to ethical

Ethics of Power, Influence and

Persuasion

 Power

 _{It is exercised to benefit the entity from}

which power is derived and that it is responsible to serve.

 _{It conforms to cultural or legal standards}

Ethics of Power, Influence and

Persuasion

 Influence and Persuasion

 _Manipulation

▪ _{Exaggerating demands in negotiation.} ▪ _{Concealing true intentions.}

The Language of Ethics for

Managers

 Four Traditions of Ethical Theory:

 _{Principles or Standards of Conduct}

 _{Character or the Person or Company}

 _{Consequences of a Particular Action}

Standards of Conduct

 To function effectively, societies as well as

organizations must have shared standards of conduct

 Fosters detached and legalistic approach.

 Key questions:

 _{What SOC are relevant to this Case?}

 _{How do SOC help clarify the moral tension I feel in this}

case?

 _{Do different stakeholders have different viewpoints}

Character

 Focuses on Virtues and Vices

 Virtues have to be seen in context

 May induce us to make too much of ourselves.

 Key Questions:

 _{What do the choices in the case say about me?}  _{What would a person of my character do in this}

case?

Consequences

 Focuses on Purposes and Outcomes

 Can make us ignore SOC and

character

 Key Questions:

 _{Which stakeholders will be affected by}

my action?

 _{For whom value will be created or}

destroyed?

 _{Which stakeholders are likely to oppose}

Relationships and Care

 Focuses on stakeholder relationships

 Can be costly and can lead us to ignore

other priorities

 Key Questions:

 _{Which relationships are most important in this}

case?

 _{Which relationships are at risk in this case?}  _{What can I do to protect and/or repair}

Ethical Dilemmas

 Secrecy

 _Justifiable

 _{Unjustifiable}

 Dissent

 _{Managers’ concerns (creating ways to}

express concerns, and ways of responding to them)

 _{Employees’ concerns (should they voice}

Voicing Dissent

Power of Resolution

Low High

Externa l

Audienc e

Family and Friends

(Venting) Government Agencies(Whistleblowing)

Internal Audienc e

C0-workers

Ethical Dilemmas

(Contd.)

 Leaks

 _{Alternative to}

whistleblowing

 _Feelers

 Rumour and Gossip

(Grapevine)

 _{Events and Information}  _People

 Lying

 _{Stark lies}  _{White Lies}

 Euphemisms

 _{Consideration fee}

(bribe)

 _{Permanently borrowing}

(stealing)

 Ambiguity

 _Intention

 _{Interpretation}

 Apology

 _{Reform (denying)}

Your company plans to reduce local staffing by as much as 50 % over the next 5 to 10 years, starting with a small layoff next

month. The size and timing of future layoffs have not been decided, although there is

little doubt more layoffs will happen at some point. In the first draft of a letter aimed at

the community, you write that “this first layoff is part of a continuing series of staff reductions anticipated over the next several years”. However, your boss is concerned

Strategic Approach to Corporate

Ethics: Corporate Culture

 Code of Ethics/Values

 Distribution

Exercise

 Your supervisor has asked you to

withhold important information that you think should be included in a

report you are preparing. Disobeying him could be disastrous for your

relationship and your career.

Obeying him could violate your

Strategic Approach to Corporate

Ethics: Organizational Policy

 What information should the organization

gather?

 How should the organization gather the

information? ( about employees, about competitors)

 How should the organization use the

Organizational Policy

Information

Possessed By Information Desired By

Employee Organization External Groups

Employee Medical records

Purchasing patterns Marital status Off-job behaviours Personality tests Social Security No. Drug abuse history Corporate misconduct Trade secrets Corporate strategy Policy disputes

Organization Personnel Files Appraisals Salary Projections Promotions Employee performance history Product information Personnel directory Customer databases External Groups Professional

Strategic Approach to Corporate

Ethics: Personal Commitments

 Discretion

 Relevance

 Accuracy

 Fairness

Role Play

 You and a coworker are members of the same

marketing department in a Fortune 500 company. You have worked closely with this coworker for the past 8 months and have developed casual relationship

outside of working hours. However, you have started to feel that your coworker doesn’t share information essential for you to be an effective department

member. In fact, you suspect s/he occasionally

withholds information (changes in meeting time and location, feedback from field visits, etc) so that you

don’t look good in the eyes of the supervisor. You have asked to meet with your coworker to talk about the