ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICSPR ETHICS: NOT THE SAME THING


ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICS/PR ETHICS: NOT THE SAME THING

Before going any deeper into this quagmire, we need to clarify the difference between organizational ethics and its role in corporate social responsibility, and public relations ethics.

It has often been said, and increasingly so in recent years , that good ethics is good business. It certainly seems logical that ethical business practices are better than unethical ones when it comes to reputation and public image and enhancing the trust that oils the machinery of relationships between organizations and their publics. Thus, since public relations is in the reputation management and relationship-building business, there seems to be a clear relationship between PR and corporate ethics. What is less clear is whether some public relations practitioners believe that this is the same as ethical public relations practice. In my view, they are two different ”albeit related ”things.

Public relations ethics focuses on the ethical implications of the strategies and tactics that are applied to solve the public relations and communications problems of organizations. It refers specifically to the PR function . Indeed, Section 3 of this book focuses sharply on some of the most ethically problematic of these functions. It focuses on the ethical issues that emanate directly and sometimes indirectly from the strategic decisions that are made to meet public relations objectives.

Corporate ethics , on the other hand, is more broadly related to overall business practices and focuses on the ethical implications of the operational policies and practices of the business itself. While there is a relationship between public relations and corporate ethics, to imply that a public relations tactic that involves the institutionalization of ethics in a business is by definition an ethical public relations practice is a fallacy.




Ethics in Public Relations. A Guide to Best Practice
Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practice (PR in Practice)
ISBN: 074945332X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 165

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