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Clarifying ethics terms in public relations from A to V, authenticity to virtue
Supplementary resource (1)
... Given the core and common attributes of authenticity in many conceptualization studies in public relations (e.g., Bowen, 2010Bowen, , 2016J. S. Lim & Jiang, 2021;H. ...
... For example, according to Shen and Kim's (2012)conceptualization, an organization's behavior is perceived as being authentic when it is in accordance with its true self (i.e., truthfulness) and its behaviors are congruent with its values and beliefs (i.e., congruence). From the viewpoint of normative ethics for public relations (e.g., Bowen, 2010;Rawlins & Stoker, 2006), authenticity can be created when an organization knows its mission (i.e., transparency), discloses information in line with its core values (i.e., honesty), and demonstrates genuinely ethical motivations for its communicative actions (i.e., morally goodwill) (Bowen, 2010(Bowen, , 2016Sisson & Bowen, 2017). ...
... Another dimension of perceived authenticity in CSA identified in this study is commitment, which relates to how individual publics view an organization's efforts in ethical communication and its goodwill toward society (Bowen, 2016). For CSA to be perceived as authentic, it is crucial for organizations to clearly communicate that their CSA motives are driven by values aimed at helping people and addressing societal problems through their CSA initiatives focused on specific social issues (Austin et al., 2019;Kim et al., 2020). ...
... Pearson (1989b) described ethics as applying knowledge, experience, and logic of professional practice to public relations (p.9). This involves principles such as fairness, transparency, commitment, fair-mindedness, reverence, dignity, and direct communication (Bowen, 2016). These opinions seemingly include a defined area of ethical guidelines for the public relations profession with an adequate impression that public relations ethics has gone beyond the thought of generating a persuasive message. ...
... A public relations practitioner bridges the gap between an organisation and its stakeholders while scanning the horizon and formulating appropriate policies. Interestingly, the role of a public relations professional has shifted far from media relations to crisis and risk management through to maintaining professional leadership, ethics and organisational policy (Bowen, 2000;Bowen, 2016). ...
... Public relation is a field fraught with ethical dilemmas (Bowen 2001;2016). Ethical issues comforting public relations practice are multifaceted. ...
The dynamics of globalisation have created an opportunity for African economies, especially Nigeria, to promote public relations. Decree Number 16 of 1990 includes numerous guidelines and by-laws stated by Nigerian Institute of Public Relations. Given the presence of the constitutional guidelines, there remain several issues. Such problems vary from unethical attitudes, lack of sufficient knowledge about the code of profession and institute functions. The aim of this article is to provide a summary of public relations ethics. The principles of public relations, the current state of practice and ethical dilemma. It will provide definitions and discuss key areas of ethical dilemma and controversy from the theoretical points of view. The authors used desk research, also called secondary research, to collect data for the analysis. We collected past NIPR publications via desk study, including policy charter, NIPR News, PRs Journal and workshop papers, PR news releases, etc. Relevant information was sourced from articles indexed in scholars and Scopus. Consequences for practitioners were explored, including research that shows a strong sense of ethics and how ethical decisions will improve public relations professionals' career prospects. Recommendations are proffered for public relations professionals.
... Authenticity refers to something/somebody that is genuine and true (Johnston & Lane, 2019) while Molleda (2010) defines authenticity as somebody/something that is factually true and genuineness as actually meaning what one says (Rawlins, 2008;Shen & Kim, 2012). Bowen (2016) defines authenticity in organizations as "the concepts of honesty and follow-through" (p. 567) and Edwards (2010) argues that organizations that are authentic are viewed as delivering on their commitments and being consistent. ...
... A common thread in the aforementioned studies on public relations and psychotherapeutic relationships is that the conceptualization of both authenticity and genuineness involves a self-awareness of one's experiences, a willingness to provide information about the truth or more detailed content (Bowen, 2016;Rawlins, 2008;Shen & Kim, 2012), and being consistent in what one promises and delivers (Edwards, 2010). Yet there is scant research on a comprehensive operational framework of genuineness in CSR communication in public relations studies, particularly since genuineness in CSR communication is critical despite the fact that certain discussion related to the expression of genuineness has been revealed in therapeutic studies (e.g. ...
... Yet there is scant research on a comprehensive operational framework of genuineness in CSR communication in public relations studies, particularly since genuineness in CSR communication is critical despite the fact that certain discussion related to the expression of genuineness has been revealed in therapeutic studies (e.g. Blanco et al., 2014;Bowen, 2016;Edwards, 2010;Rawlins, 2008;Schnellbacher & Leijssen, 2009;Shen & Kim, 2012) and public relations studies. ...
Public relations professionals from global corporations have increasingly communicated corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on social media to engage publics. Yet the link between CSR communication of global corporations, particularly with regard to the dimensions of genuineness exhibited in their communication and public engagement on social media is under-researched in China. This empirical study conceptualized and operationalized the dimensions of genuineness, which encompass providing information about different CSR themes, being responsive to publics, demonstrating empathy, and being consistent in what corporations say and do, and then investigated how global corporations engaged Chinese publics through genuine CSR communication on Sina Weibo. Enhanced public engagement outcomes of comments, likes, and shares were observed for the provision of information about the community involvement and development CSR theme alongside the use of empathy. This study informs public relations scholars and practitioners about the importance of providing information on the CSR theme of community involvement and demonstrating empathy to generate higher public engagement.
... Public relations scholars have long associated ethics with professionalism in public relations (Bowen, 2016;Fitzpatrick & Gauthier, 2001;Tryner, 2017) and suggested that ethical considerations should be applied to organizational, professional and societal levels of PR activity (Bowen 2007). Ethics can be understood as a sense making device based on intrinsic moral values, which guide practitioner's conduct and choices. ...
... Ethics can be understood as a sense making device based on intrinsic moral values, which guide practitioner's conduct and choices. Applied to communication, these guidelines may be translated into such virtues as honesty, authenticity and openness (Bowen 2016) fairness, care, authority, sanctity, freedom and loyalty (Tryner 2017). However, these values are not easy to apply because PR practitioners need to reconcile their role as "a professional, an institutional advocate, and the public conscience of institutions served" (Fitzpartick & Gauthier, 2001, p.192). ...
... However, these values are not easy to apply because PR practitioners need to reconcile their role as "a professional, an institutional advocate, and the public conscience of institutions served" (Fitzpartick & Gauthier, 2001, p.192). To elaborate, when acting ethically, PR practitioners become the conscience of the organizations they represent (Fawkes, 2012;Bowen, 2016;Holtzhausen, 2012;Neill, 2016) by raising concerns about unethical behavior that can negatively affect stakeholders within and without the organization (Neill & Drumwright, 2012, p.221). As an organizational activist, the public relations practitioner acts as the internal organizational conscience and provides external stakeholders with the platform to voice their concerns and to highlight social issues, especially those experienced by marginalized groups (Wolf, 2013). ...
This paper discusses the merit of using a Value Based Education (VBE) approach to equip future public relations and communication practitioners with the values needed to adhere to ethical practice and foster these values in the organizations they will steward. The approach utilizes in-depth and sustained exposure to complex societal issues to instill an ethical, poly-contextually responsive and diversity sensitive consciousness in students. The need to sensitize future practitioners at institutions of higher learning to the professional requirements of this context and to the inclusive values needed to respond appropriately is an important priority in increasing their strategic relevance globally. This article illustrates how VBE was practically implemented through engaging public relations and strategic communication students in complex social issues such as the plight of economically marginalized communities, human trafficking, and migration. In this paper we propose a Value Based Education model for PR education, based on our experience of teaching Millennial students in South Africa.
... On the other hand, determining the precise definition of similar terminology can be more challenging, especially if the goal is to operationalize those concepts for empirical research. Bowen (2016) discussed and addressed this challenge by tackling a few of the most common ethical concepts in public relations such as transparency, disclosure, authenticity and candor, all of which were discussed in the context of ethics skills and competencies in this study. Rawlins (2009) defined transparent communication as having three key elements: "information that is truthful, substantial, and useful; participation of stakeholders in identifying the information they need; and objective, balanced reporting of an organization's activities and policies that holds the organization accountable" (p. ...
... 74). As Bowen (2016) pointed out, transparency as a virtue is problematic for several reasons in public relations practice. While information may be freely disclosed, if it lacks context or explanation, the receiver may not be fully informed (Bowen, 2016). ...
... As Bowen (2016) pointed out, transparency as a virtue is problematic for several reasons in public relations practice. While information may be freely disclosed, if it lacks context or explanation, the receiver may not be fully informed (Bowen, 2016). In addition, public relations professionals may be unable to freely share information for confidentiality or privacy reasons. ...
The 2017 Commission on Public Relations Education (CPRE) report found new professionals are not meeting employers’ expectations regarding ethics knowledge, skills and abilities. This mixed-method study identifies the most common ethical issues facing public relations professionals today, essential competencies associated with ethics in public relations, and which of those skills are lacking. The study began with a Delphi survey with public relations leaders followed by 40 personal interviews. Implications for educators and public relations professionals are provided. In addition, a model of public relations practice, drawing on virtue theory, is proposed that contrasts the role of an ethical conscience with that of a spin doctor.
... While Molleda (2010) suggests as a concept authenticity is fluid, contextual, and constantly emergent, many discussions of authenticity in the public relations literature adopt this organization-facing perspective, relating the concept to the conduct and decision-making of organizations. For example, Bowen (2016) argues authenticity is conceptualized by organizations and their leaders through "the concepts of honesty and followthrough" (p. 567). ...
... In such circumstances, organizations may be parsimonious with the truth, resulting in accusations of spin doctoring (Taylor, 2009). Organizational communication that is inauthentic is not only unethical (Bowen, 2016), but risky, as the disjuncture between reality/truth and inauthentic communication creates a space for both the organization and its message to be discredited (Cho, Martens, Kim, & Rodrigue, 2011;Edwards, 2010;Lee, 2010;Sisson, 2017). ...
... Within a community setting, Sen (2001) regards voice and its agency as central to Taylor., 2005Botan &Taylor, 2005) Genuine (in the sense that it is what it says it is). (Edwards, 2010;Molleda, 2010;Theunissen, 2014) Orientation toward other (good will) (Bowen, 2016;Furco, 2010 democracy. Voice in CE programs has been associated with positive outcomes for communities (see, for example, Cyril, Smith, Possamai-Inesedy, & Renzaho, 2015). ...
Community engagement (CE), a key area of theory and practice in public relations, has two functions: first, to maintain and enhance relationships between organizations and diverse community groups in complex settings; and second, to give voice to these groups in addressing socially-situated problems. Implicit within these functions is CE’s ability to connect organizations with a selection of stakeholder voices that represent community perspectives on a given topic. It is the claimed representational nature of these voices that gives legitimacy to the processes and outcomes of CE. The role of public relations practitioners in CE is therefore to identify and involve voices that are authentic—that is, those that truthfully represent the extent and diversity of community sentiment. Such voices include those that are quiet or silent, even though they have a contribution to make. This study uses in-depth interviews with current practitioners to explore voice and authenticity in CE, and identifies four dimensions of CE in practice. These dimensions extend CE theory, particularly in public relations, by addressing the under-considered yet central role of authenticity in CE. The paper also draws on the dimensions to develop an Authenticity Matrix that allows CE practitioners to assess and critique their past and current CE projects. The Authenticity Matrix also provides guidance to public relations practitioners seeking to enhance the conditions for achieving authenticity in CE practice.
... Antagonism and distrust appear to interfere with communication even in times of crisis or disaster (Veil, 2012). Bowen (2016) found that greater ethical expertise and articulation of those analyses by communicators could help engender more effective working relationships with journalists, which would in turn enhance crisis response effectiveness. Building relationships based on ethics, candor, and contextual disclosure can result in trust, best built before the time pressure of a disaster. ...
... Moreover, ethical concerns extend beyond the concerns of the digital divide to include the veracity of information itself. Veracity is maintained in through contextual full disclosure, frankness, authenticity, and honest communication that maintains respect for rights, fairness, and dignity (Bowen, 2016). During a disaster, we know that individuals frame communication in terms of uncertainty and have a high demand for knowledge of both the risk and of emergency response. ...
... Quelling rumors with honest information was important for both media relations and communication to publics. Congruent with arguments in our conceptualization (Bowen, 2010(Bowen, , 2013(Bowen, , 2016, these PAOs viewed honesty as the most essential component of social media communication. ...
The manuscript investigates how social media were used during a flood disaster managed by public affairs officers. We conducted high‐level “elite” interviews with the state's top emergency managers about their social media policies, practices, and use in both media relations and citizen communication. We explored the strategies and communication models implemented, challenges and barriers for effective adoption of these platforms, and ethical implications in the use social media during natural disasters. The study investigates gaps between theories and practice, adopting a multidisciplinary perspective that involves public relations, social media studies, government/public affairs, and public sector communication. Recommendations are offered to improve disaster communication via social media including dedicated staff and resources, evaluation, symmetry, and the use of ethical communication to quell rumors or misinformation during a disaster.
... Organizational ethics is the extent to which an organization acts on moral principles. They are how it defines, upholds, and enacts its core values-those values are key beliefs that govern the behavior of-and in-the organization (Bowen 2015(Bowen , 2016a. The extent to which employees perceived organizational ethics can have a tremendous impact on how much trust they place in the organization (Bowen, Hung-Baesecke, and Chen 2016) as well as how they rate its transparency. ...
... Thus, companies' ability to demonstrate a social conscience, show employees that they champion their causes and beliefs, and give them more influence, power, and opportunities to create meaningful changes has become a modern competitive advantage for organizations. Employees often express a greater commitment to the organization when that company expresses a clear and actionable set of ethical values (Bowen 2015(Bowen , 2016a. ...
... Despite the many studies that have been conducted examining supervisors' leadership communication with followers, including supervisor communication style, channels, competence, and quality, among others, a gap exists, particularly in CEO and executive communication . Growing demands for servant leadership, candor, virtue, and ethical accountability from leaders are evident (Bowen 2009(Bowen , 2016a. Future research should examine the issue by investigating senior management's internal communication role, including CEO communication style, ethical values, channels, and social media engagement, and how these factors affect employee job satisfaction, relationship quality with the organization, and other outcomes, such as feeling of empowerment and engagement. ...
... The negative perceptions regarding the oil company, reinforced by the outpouring of media reports, reflected a complete failure of private sector crisis management (Kimberly, 2010). Lessons learned from the BP oil spill crisis and similar crises: Rapid, full, and contextual disclosure with honesty and candor are now considered an organization's ethical responsibility, as well as a strategic approach of minimizing the influence of hostile media coverage and fostering relations with customers and stakeholders (Bowen, 2016). ...
... Ethical communication requires attention to numerous concerns. Much confusion exists around the terminology of ethics in professional practice (Bowen, 2016), so a concrete definition was sought from moral philosophy. The literature of moral philosophy is the natural place to turn when one seeks to understand ethics. ...
... Brunner (2017) states that public relations will 'find a moral compass' to explain its intent and pursue the public interest only by identifying its values. The literature has acknowledged the importance of fostering multifaceted professional expertise, values, and an ethical mindset amongst communication practitioners (Bowen, 2016). Brunner (2017) argues that the subject of ethics focuses on ethics regarding the way people do their work, with the emphasis placed beyond professional codes of ethics to include general morality and citizenship. ...
... Stakeholders often pressure an organisation during a crisis by demanding answers, asking for information, and looking for a resolution (Bowen, 2016). It is a rare communication practice that does not experience a 'problem of principle' and heightened clients' expectations creating an environment rampant with ethical hurdles. ...
Ethical behaviour has long been a subject of the strategic communication discipline, but in South Africa, there are few empirical studies on ethical practice to date. Using a qualitative methodology, this study examines what constitutes ethical communication and how strategic communication practitioners from diverse organisations perceive their role as a "moral compass" during a crisis. The study indicates that ethical principles of communication are employed, but practitioners still find themselves in conflict with truth-telling. Overall, the results show that respondents identify more with ethical counsel types than advocacy role types. In terms of counsel types of ethics, being authentic, empathetic, truthful, honest, owning up to mistakes, being open and transparent, and being sensitive to stakeholders' urgent needs were paramount. On the basis of this study, although marked with issues of legal challenges, as well as leaders and clients who often want practitioners to compromise on their ethical conscience roles, practitioners were insisting on performing the role of ethics counsel in their organisations. This study contributes to the strategic communication discipline by offering insights into ethical communication and provides a foundation from which future research can leverage.
... EMI is a driving force for the advancement of EP and CSR activities (Bortree, 2009). The EMI-CSR authenticity link was also studied for some industries (Bowen, 2016;Beale & Fernando, 2009). Despite the fact that EMI has a crucial role in the organizational CSR activities, this doesn't mean that it can automatically make significant changes in EP (Pham et al., 2020). ...
... EMI is a driving force for the advancement of EP and CSR activities (Bortree, 2009). The link between EMI and CSR authenticity was also studied for some industries (Bowen, 2016;Beale & Fernando, 2009). Despite the fact that EMI has a crucial role for the organizational CSR activities, this doesn't mean that it can automatically make significant changes in EP (Pham et al., 2020). ...
Environmental Management Initiatives (EMI), as part of the sustainability management movement, have become an integrated part of the organisational management practices and of the current research. Since the implementation of Environmental Management System (EMS), there have been many studies analysing this relationship with the environmental performance. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) also gained a great importance for the organisations’ performance, including their performance in the environmental area. However, previous studies analysed the direct link between those variables and environmental performance, while the mediating effect of those variables has not been tested yet because using a mediator in the relationship between two variables is a rather new approach in the research area used in the behavioural sciences area. This research analyses the role of EMI in defining the Environmental Performance (EP) of hotel industry, given the strong relationship between those two variables and the importance of the tourism sector for the economic development, both in the developed, but especially in the developing countries. It also investigates the CSR authenticity as mediator between EMI and EP link. Data was collected through a questionnaire of managers of the hotels in Pakistan. Correlation, Structural Equation Model and linear regressions were applied for testing the hypotheses and for checking the viability of the model. Findings revealed that EMI and CSR authenticity are important and significant determinants of EP in the hotel industry. Findings show that CSR authenticity acts as a mediator for the EMI and EP link. The stakeholder pressures and customers’ environmental awareness have forced the hotel industry to implement environmental standards and this shift of focus is more important in the hotel industry. The current research demonstrates that efforts of EMI is a prerequisite for enhancing CSR authenticity in the environmental area, and this, in its turn, contributes to the increase of the EP of hotel and tourism sector in a developing country. Given the lack of large financial resources of the developing countries, this model is an important outcome for the tourism industry that helps hotels to become green, to attract more clients and to gain competitive advantages.
... 3). Likewise, scholars who discussed using ethical behavior as a way to build trust concurred that consistency was key to fostering trust as a longterm relationship outcome (Bowen, 2010) and that honesty, candor, and responsibility also factored into assessments of trustworthiness (Bowen, 2016). Men and Bowen (2017) argued that internal communication fostering ethical awareness was more efficacious and allows the organization to meet expectations consistently and create employee engagement. ...
... While the terminology of ethical and strategic listening were quite novel for many of our participants, their conceptions regarding normative or ideal forms of ethical listening were quite similar to those described by scholars (Lewis, 2020;Macnamara 2016aMacnamara , b, 2018Macnamara , 2019 with a focus on being intentional, present and open-minded. This finding reinforces the results of similar studies (Bowen, 2016;Van Dyne, et al., 2003) and demonstrates that while communication professionals may not use the same terminology as scholars, they do have some understanding of how organizational listening should be practiced. The term ethical strategic listening did not arise on its own, but the ideals of this concept were present and described in their own terms by the participants. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to identify new challenges to organizational listening posed by a global pandemic and how organizations are overcoming those barriers.
Design/methodology/approach
The researchers conducted 30 in-depth interviews with US communication management professionals.
Findings
Communication management professionals value listening, but do not always make it the priority that it merits. They listed lack of desire of senior management, time, and trust of employees as barriers to effective organizational listening. The global COVID pandemic has made it more challenging to connect to employees working remotely and to observe nonverbal cues that are essential in communication. Organizations are adapting by using more frequent pulse surveys, video conferencing technology and mobile applications. Most importantly, this pandemic has enhanced moral sensitivity and empathy leading organizations to make decisions based on ethical considerations.
Research limitations/implications
The researchers examined organizational listening applying employee-organization relationships (EOR) theory and found that trust is essential. Trust can be enhanced through building relationships with employees, ethical listening and closing the feedback loop by communicating how employers are using the feedback received by employees to make a positive change.
Practical implications
Communication managers need to place a higher priority on listening to employees. Their listening efforts need to be authentic, morally autonomous or open-minded, and empathetic to respect the genuine concerns of employees and how organizational decisions will affect them. Listening is essential to serving as an ethical and effective strategic counselor.
Originality/value
The study examines organizational listening in the context of a global pandemic.
... Because of the prevailing distrust in government, public sector organizations including the White House should work to instill trust and build relationships with constituencies, stakeholders, and publics. In building relationships, ethical behavior is a precursor (Bowen, 2016) to commitment, satisfaction, and trust leading to the positive relationship outcomes that can be built over time (Grunig & Huang, 2000). Instilling trust with internal publics through ethical leadership within the agency is also a crucial variable to creating motivated and engaged employees (Men & Bowen, 2017). ...
... During times of change or uncertainty, individuals have a high demand for knowledge of both information and the credibility of its source (Heath & Abel, 1996). It is highly important to maintain veracity through contextual full disclosure, frankness or candor, authenticity, and honest communication that maintains respect for rights, fairness, and dignity (Bowen, 2016). ...
This exploratory study examines approaches the world’s top public relations agencies used to respond to the risks posed by a new U.S. administration during President Trump’s first 100 days in office.
Public relations agencies discussed the Trump victory in a few ways, including such approaches as Columnist/Blogger, PR Counsel, and Expert.
A few prominent themes emerged from the data as agencies’ attempted to reflect on the Trump victory: Populism Wins; Trump as a Wildcard; Trump as a Disruptor or as a Reality Check; and Risk: The New Caution.
Overall, the response of the public relations industry to the unknowns and collective risk posed by the Trump administration appeared to be rather haphazard than strategic. While believing that the Trump presidency would affect crisis management at their clients’ companies, global agencies missed opportunities to act as issues managers and ethics counselors in a critical time.
... Society, markets, and related laws require organizations to use transparent financial and nonfinancial communications with stakeholders (Brønn, 2010). Ethics requires an often higher standard-the candid, frank, and honest contextual disclosure of relevant information (Bowen, 2016). Because investing is connected to numerous environmental issues that are unstable and unpredictable for organizations, transparent financial information could be a major issue of financial communication. ...
... or unconsciously underscore the core values that are operationalized in an organization. The core values that drive communication in an organization, and in the FC & IR sense, must include virtuous ethical principles such as honesty, veracity, candor, reflexivity, duty, and justice (Bowen, 2016). Organizational cultures that include ethical consideration as part of their mission and vision for their strategic management tend to have more thoroughly considered, stable, and consistent decision-making over time, resulting in a heightened reputation (Bowen, 2004b;Goodpaster, 2007). ...
Refining the way we understand and discuss ethics is particularly important in the public relations subfunction of financial communication and investor relations (FC & IR) because it is on the front lines of interactions that create financial solvency, enhance economic stability, and generate growth potential for an organization. The credibility of an organization is often explored by investors and other economically motivated stakeholders. The ethics supporting financial disclosure are often questioned by stakeholders, and responsibilities to both communities and governments are explored in this chapter. Recommendations are offered from the moral philosophy literature to clarify and increase precision in analyses across the FC & IR function; such improvements should result in consistency, knowability, decreased uncertainty, and more trusting relationships between organizations and stakeholders.
... Transparency was present, but occurred too late to allay the furor surrounding tax fraud allegations. As recommended in Bowen (2016), early, contextual full disclosure could have aided Starbucks UK in preventing this crisis. The deontological duty, dignity and respect for publics, and intention tenets were difficult to locate in communication surrounding honesty: ...
... Findings revealed there was a perceived lack of transparency. If Starbucks had proactively used contextual full disclosure (Bowen, 2016) of its special tax arrangements, the crisis may have been diverted. ...
Purpose
Following a report released by the United Kingdom Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, multinational corporations like Starbucks, Google, and Amazon found themselves in a firestorm of criticism for not paying or paying minimal taxes after earning significant profits in the UK for the past three years. Allegations of tax evasion led to a serious crisis for Starbucks in the UK, which played out in a public forum via social media. The researchers explored whether Starbucks’ corporate ethics insulated its reputation from negative media coverage of alleged tax evasion evidenced in its “hijacked” social media “#spreadthecheer” campaign.
Design/methodology/approach
Using an exploratory case study analysis of news articles, Starbucks’ annual reports, #spreadthecheer Tweets, and David Michelli’s The Starbucks Experience, data collection helped to inform the discussion of authenticity and whether it helped to insulate Starbucks’ reputation during its crisis in the United Kingdom.
Findings
Authenticity is key when organizations face a turbulent environment and active publics and stakeholder groups. Findings from this study also suggested proactive reputation management strategies and tactics, grounded in the organization’s corporate culture and transparency, could have diffused some of the uproar from its key publics.
Originality/value
Authentic corporate cultures should align with corporate business practices in order to reduce the potential for crises to occur. It is possible that ethical core values and a strong organizational approach to ethics help to insulate its reputation among publics during a crisis.
... Bowen çalışmasında halkla ilişkiler etiğini incelerken tutumlar yerine erdemlerden, şeffaflık yerine kamuoyunu bilgilendirme, gerçekçilik yerine açık sözlülük, değerler yerine önceliklendirilmiş değerler, yasallık ve yönetmelikler yerine etik kavramlarının kullanılması önermiştir. Bowen araştırmasının sonuç kısmında; elde ettiği bulgular içerisinde en hayal kırıklığı yaratan sonucun firmaların etik ve yasal sorumlulukları birbirine karıştırması olduğunu belirtmektedir (Bowen, 2016). Sonuç olarak, halkla ilişkiler profesyonelleri tarafından temsil edilen kurumların değerleri ve etiği, genellikle toplumun değerleri ve etiği ile karıştırılmaktadır. ...
HALKLA İLİŞKİLER VE ETİK:BELL POTTINGER ÖRNEK OLAY İNCELEMESİ
... Authenticity. The concept of authenticity, as perceived by different individuals involved, pertains to the extent to which an organization's communicative actions are deemed true, real, and genuine, based on the public relations literature (e.g., Bowen, 2010Bowen, , 2016Lim et al., 2022;Lim & Jiang, 2021;Molleda, 2010;Shen & Kim, 2012). ...
This study focuses on the impact of authenticity in organizational advocacy for polarizing sociopolitical issues. The study examined how individual publics’ perceptions of authenticity influence the quality of the relationship between an organization and the public, as well as the level of support for the organization. The study also compared these effects across different polarizing sociopolitical issues. Through an online survey ( N = 387), findings revealed a positive association between authenticity in organizational advocacy and the quality of an organization’s relationship with individuals, which led to increased support. Furthermore, the multigroup analysis highlighted the heightened importance of authenticity when organizations advocate for more polarizing issues.
... All these social and technological processes require public affairs officers to strategically monitor, manage, and engage with communication flows produced by PSOs, media, and digital publics with candor, responsibility, and authenticity (Bowen, 2016). In fact, they operate in an environment crowded with conflicting messages and dystonic voices, mainly spread over the web, where it is imperative that their voice be accountable and guided by ethical principles. ...
... As pointed out by Bowen et al. (2019), a crucial element of issues management is to conduct ethical analyses and incorporate those into issue priorities. Therefore, we propose a revised version of the classic issues management process: We note that in public affairs ethical responsibility is heightened and stakeholders expect accountability and explanation that go far beyond simple transparency (Bowen, 2016) into integrity, contextual disclosure, frankness, and responsibility or 'moral judgement, discernment' (p. 570). ...
... Third, this study provides a cross-national comparison of care-based CSR communication in response to a global health emergency. Our findings contribute to the ethical business communication scholarship (Bowen, 2008(Bowen, , 2016L'etang, 1994) by stressing context-sensitive care ethics in the context of CSR communication. We argue that the best application of communicative care ethics should take the institutional, political, and cultural impacts on CSR into account in order to meet and strategically address stakeholder expectations and generate meaningful public engagement. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzes new opportunities for CSR development, and companies in both China and the US, the two largest economies severely impacted by the pandemic, are seeking innovative ways to engage with publics on social media through CSR communication. This study draws on the care ethics theory to examine different manifestations of care values in corporations’ CSR messages and their relationships with publics’ behavioral and emotional engagement on social media. A quantitative content analysis of Weibo and Twitter posts from Fortune 500 companies in China (n = 30) and the United States (n = 30), respectively, revealed that companies in both countries employ multifaceted care-based CSR messages, but in distinct ways and with varying types and levels of public engagement on social media. We interpreted the differences from institutional, cultural, and relational perspectives. The results of this research add to theorizing CSR communication from a feminist ethical viewpoint and with contextualized interpretations. Our findings also guide post-pandemic CSR communication development, particularly relevant to public relations practitioners in the Chinese and US markets.
... Ethical behavior helps everyone to do their job with honesty and integrity (Freeman & Stewart, 2006;Menbarrow, 2021;Yukl, 2010). The ethical values of the organization support the mission and vision (Bowen, 2016), but some leaders with ethical values may cause unethical outcomes due to their incompetence (Ciulla, 2005). ...
School principals are expected to possess modern leadership abilities that place an emphasis on ideas like collaboration, innovation, technological advancement, and egalitarianism. The objective of this study was to establish the psychometric features of the scale of current leadership behaviors of school principals (SCLBSP) developed in accordance with teacher perspectives. For the scale's content validity, eight experts were contacted, and for each item, the content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI) were computed. Two different samples served as the basis for the scale development investigation. 253 teachers' worth of data were utilized in the exploratory factor analysis (EFA), whereas 215 teachers' worth of data were used in the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and measurement invariance studies. Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's omega, Split-Half method coefficients, composite reliability (CR), and average variance extracted (AVE) values were determined to determine the scale's reliability. The studies produced a single-factor structure with 34 items that explained 74.4% of the total variation. All SCLBSP items were found to have high levels of discrimination, and the reliability and validity of the entire scale were also found to be high.
... This study answers the call from strategic communication scholars (Bowen, 2008(Bowen, , 2016 for research that explores risk and crisis communication in developing regions like Africa (Brunner, 2017). The article examines SCPs' perspectives of ethical issues with regard to decision-making during crisis communication. ...
Purpose
This study answers the call for research and theorising exploring ethical communication and brand risk from the African continent. The study's purpose was to identify the challenges that strategic communication practitioners face in enacting ethical crisis communication in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
The researchers conducted ten in-depth interviews with South African strategic communication professionals.
Findings
The dominant theme emerging from the study is the marginalisation and exclusion of the communication function in decision-making during crisis situations. Communicators were viewed as implementers, technicians and not strategic counsel. The protection of organisational reputation was done at the expense of the ethics and moral conscience of practitioners. Practitioners were viewed and deployed as spin doctors and tools to face unwanted media interactions.
Originality/value
The article sheds light on the concepts of ethical communication and decision-making in a multicultural African context using the moral theory of Ubuntu and strategic communication. It demonstrates the tension professionals experience as they toggle between unethical capitalist approaches and African values. The practitioner's role as organisational moral conscience is hindered, suppressed and undermined by organisational leadership's directives to use opaque, complex communication, selective transparency and misrepresentation of facts.
... Our data show that employees can intuitively perceive and identify inauthentic approaches to listening, (Table 2) which may undermine the overall EOR. Candor, frankness, and modeling of desired behaviors by leadership can rectify that credibility gap (Bowen, 2016;Men & Bowen, 2017). ...
Through a national online survey with 300 U.S. employees, this study revealed that nonmanagers and women are not satisfied with their organization’s listening efforts. Using the lens of employee-organization relationship theory, problematic issues were identified related to transparency, communication climate, and employee silence. Some of the barriers to effective listening were limited ability to share insights from listening with supervisors and other employees, poor or absent training for collecting and analyzing intelligence that can be gained from listening, and employees who were unwilling to speak up due to perceptions that management was not sincerely interested in what they have to say. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
... Words such as truthfulness, veracity, honesty, transparency, consistency, intention or morality, good will, and genuineness are associated to EB and authenticity by several authors (Shen and Kim, 2012;Bowen, 2016). When consistently implemented, the EB will develop an authentic communication element and increase the level of its sincerity (van Rekom et al., 2014). ...
All organizations rely on their reputation to strengthen their image and increase consumer trust and credibility in their products and/or services. In this context, developing an Ethical Brand (EB) and a Corporate Reputation (CR) continues to be a major challenge. Therefore, this research aims to investigate empirically how trust affects EB and CR. This study used secondary data from the Authenticity Gap Report (AGR), collected on-line in 160 Brazilian organizations, using a structured questionnaire to a non-probability sampling from 20 different industries with 1.328 Engaged Consumers. Different references were used for analysis: (i) the Trust model in buyer-seller relationships; (ii) the Ethical Reputation Brand model; and (iii) the CR Ranking Index (MERCO). The results indicated that three of five dimensions of the Trust model represented good CR indicators. From the 20 different industries analyzed, three have the best average, according to the MERCO Ranking and the three combined indicators from the AGR. Results demonstrated the role of authenticity, trust, and industry as a fundamental element to EB and CR.
... Had an ethical analysis been conducted at these organizations, outcomes would have been altered in favor of ethical responsibility; public relations would have been far more effective in each case. Using the ethical standards of honesty, contextual disclosure, candor, respect, and good intent offered in moral philosophy (Bowen 2010(Bowen , 2016 could have prevented some of the largest public relations problems of our age. Now that the normative forms of ethical analysis have been reviewed, we turn to exploring the areas that are common sources of ethical problems and the factors that influence how we understand ethics in public relations. ...
... However, some of the loyal customers like American and Southwest airlines continued to operate the 737 Max (Herkert et al, 2020). According to Bowen (2016), if a company established and maintained an authentic relationship based on trust ad ethical communication with their stakeholders, it is unlikely to lose those stakeholders. ...
Crises are inevitable and it can be happened at any point of the organization process. Thus, it is worthwhile for the organization to identify the early plan of issue or potential risk occurring within organizations as it is not easy to win the reputation warfare. Thus, this paper aims to review the Boeing 737 Max case from the perspective of crisis communication and management approaches. The discussion of the case surrounded on the chronology of the case, crisis communication and management strategies carried out by Boeing 737 and lessons learned from it. This has called upon the management, especially the public relations or corporate communication department for aviation industry to look into it to form a strategic solution to safeguard the organization's reputation when the crisis strike.
... Toisaalta tavoitteet voivat koskea viestintää itsessään ilman selvästi ilmaistua kytköstä organisaation tavoitteisiin. Nämä voivat näyttäytyä esimerkiksi viestinnän periaatteiden, arvojen tai etiikan sisällyttämisenä viestinnän tavoitteisiin (Fawkes 2007;Bowen 2016). Myös itse viestintä sekä yhteisöllisyyden ja vuorovaikutuksen rakentaminen voivat sellaisenaan olla tavoitteita, samoin kuin tunnettuus, näkyvyys, maine tai brändi päämäärinä itsessään. ...
Strateginen viestintä on 2000-luvun viestinnän tutkimuksessa noussut PR:n, yhteisöviestinnän, viestinnän johtamisen ja integroidun viestinnän rinnalle sekä osittain korvaamaan niitä. Tässä artikkelissa tarkastelemme, miten organisaatiot määrittelevät viestinnän tavoitteitaan ja millaisia strategisen viestinnän näkemyksiä ne kuvastavat. Tarkastelemme kysymystä sekä tutkimuskirjallisuuden että empiirisen aineiston valossa. Erittelemme tutkimuskirjallisuuden käsityksiä strategisen viestinnän käsitteestä ja sen kytköksestä organisaation tavoitteisiin sekä strategisen viestinnän ongelmista. Empiirisen aineiston osalta tutkimme, miten organisaatiot itse määrittelevät viestintänsä tavoitteet ja mikä viestinnän tavoitteiden suhde on organisaation strategiaan ja strategisiin tavoitteisiin.
... The core ethical values of an organization are essential to determining how it sees itself in the competitive marketplace, and its strategic strengths become the very building blocks of a vision statement. According to Bowen (2016), values describe the core beliefs that guide every decision and offer a priority order for consideration. The organization's core ethical values support both its vision and mission. ...
... The theory is based more heavily on hindsight and reflection than on attempting to mitigate current ethical dilemmas. As such, it can be used to retroactively study ethical behavior in order to ascertain the virtues to which strategic communicators should aspire (Bowen, 2016). Viewed from a global perspective, there are several cultural traditions that can be classified as virtue ethics that are important regarding the analyses of ethics in strategic communication. ...
Strategic communication holds power to define issues, interactively create understanding , envision options for solutions, and implement policy at organizational and public policy levels. The ability to construct issues and policy creates a responsibility to communicate ethically. Ethics of strategic communication refers to that which is morally worthy in the communicative context. Right versus wrong communication, furthering an innate good, serving the greater good, and facilitating social discourse are all perspectives that can be used to define morally worthy communication. In this encyclopedia , strategic communication is defined not as the self-interested perspective of an organization's management, but as the integration of perspectives that allow an organization to be adaptive and reflexive. In that approach, heavily influenced by moral philosophy and Chicago School sociology, ethical communication is part of the fabric of society that allows for the creation of meaning between stakeholders, organizations, and social systems. Ethics and ethical communication are essential to the existence of a stable society. Ethical communication allows groups to understand one another, facilitating economic and social relationships and continued coexistence through the exchange of information. The most basic or foundational level of ethics considers right or wrong via normative or ideal actions, including communication. Even from the historical origin of ethics, scholars argued that the obligation of dialogue is an implicitly ethical one, present in all communication (Heath, 2005). Max Weber's conception of the Protestant work ethic offered an application of ethics to business management through diligence, entrepreneurial spirit, and individual rectitude. As a management function, business ethics provides an understanding of interdependent relationships between businesses, stakeholders, and publics, conceived as fairness, duty, virtue, justice, and social value within the society, and that value transcends private objectives. Due to regulatory relationships, obligations to stakeholders and varied publics, accountability demands, governance and fiduciary duties, and an expectation of truthful communication, ethics in strategic communication is essential to an organization's continued existence. This reflexive management approach contextualizes the responsibilities of organizations not only to strive for profit but also to act as organizational "citizens" who understand their role in society and seek to fulfill duties ethically. Before the main approaches to ethics are reviewed, a more basic question is inherent in this discussion: Is ethical strategic communication even possible? Is the act of communication in a "strategic" manner one that precludes the possibility of ethics?
... The core ethical values of an organization are essential to determining how it sees itself in the competitive marketplace, and its strategic strengths become the very building blocks of a vision statement. According to Bowen (2016), values describe the core beliefs that guide every decision and offer a priority order for consideration. The organization's core ethical values support both its vision and mission. ...
Vision statements and mission statements are both based on the core ethical values of an organization and are essential to its success because they give it direction. Vision statements drive the long‐term goals that determine where the organization would eventually like to be in the competitive landscape. Mission statements are more concrete and specific to an organization's competitive advantage, and are used to prioritize activities. A vision statement thus specifies where an organization is going and a mission statement gives an organization direction on how to get there. Mission statement construction and numerous benefits of a well‐conceived mission are delineated in the entry.
... The theory is based more heavily on hindsight and reflection than on attempting to mitigate current ethical dilemmas. As such, it can be used to retroactively study ethical behavior in order to ascertain the virtues to which strategic communicators should aspire (Bowen, 2016). Viewed from a global perspective, there are several cultural traditions that can be classified as virtue ethics that are important regarding the analyses of ethics in strategic communication. ...
Ethics is an essential component of how organizations define issues, conduct research on problems, and interact with stakeholders to maintain their obligations within society. Strategy is examined in a context that does not preclude the possibility of ethical communication. However, the argument is made for additional development beyond establishing basic professional standards or using only cultural norms. Three schools of moral philosophy—virtue ethics (character, experience), consequentialist ethics (utilitarianism), and non‐consequentialist ethics (deontology)—are applied to strategic communication. Using multiple philosophical frameworks for ethical analyses is recommended for strategic communicators to maintain a state of reflexive management, consistently meet the expectations of stakeholders and publics, build trust, and further develop the relationships upon which an organization depends.
... Ethics in persuasive and organizational communication has been studied by public relations scholars as an important research area (Barney & Black, 1994). Topics have ranged from ethical decision-making in communication practice (Holtzhausen, 2015) and issues management (Bowen, 2005), moral development (Lieber, 2008), public relations program evaluation (Place, 2015), the role of public relations in the institutionalization of ethics (Fitzpatrick, 1996), and ethical leadership (Lee & Cheng, 2010), to conceptual framework development of public relations ethics (1994( , 2016( , Bowen, 2004Pratt, 1993). ...
This study explored how financial crisis history can inform corporate crisis communication
practice across industries and over time. Thirty-eight interviews with chief communications officers
(CCOs) and their counselors were conducted to explore what lasting lessons these corporate
communication leaders learned from their crisis communication practice during the 2008
Financial Crisis. Key lessons learned include: 1) the importance for corporations to tailor their
financial communication strategies according to victim vs. perpetrator perception and ethical
response expectations held by stakeholders; 2) the importance of stakeholders, and employees in
particular, when creating and implementing the plan; 3) the balance between speed and legal
concerns, as well as the need for reducing complexity by making sure stakeholder communications
are delivered with clarity and accessibility; and 4) a recipe for success includes honesty,
transparency, trust/integrity, taking action to reform questionable practices, and abiding by one’s own
personal morals. Insights from this study shed light on how learning contributes to ethical corporate
communication practice in times of crisis and crisis spillover.
... Lamenting that public relations practitioners often confuse legal and ethical issues in their practices, Bowen (2016) concluded, "Legalism can result in a mentality of simple compliance rather than of ethical responsibility. Moral analyses pave the way for other considerations of respect, duty, virtue, dialogue, and matters of public interest" (p. ...
The Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, which went into effect on September 28, 2016, strictly prohibits gift giving to journalists, thereby making a traditional media relations practice in Korea illegal. A survey of 342 public relations practitioners revealed that providing monetary gifts, performing formal responsibility, building informal relationships, receiving paid media coverage, and giving and accepting informal support were found to be significant subdimensions of media relations. After implementation of the anti-graft law, public relations practitioners expressed a belief that the practice of providing monetary gifts would shrink the most and that performing formal responsibility would experience the most growth. The formal responsibility factor was significantly positively related to support for the new law and public relations ethics, while giving and accepting informal support was negatively linked to public relations ethics. Paid media coverage showed a positive relationship with public relations practitioners’ perceptions about difficulties of increasing outputs of media relations. Finally, this empirical study shows how new external regulations arising from implementation of the anti-graft law can affect the personal influence model of media relations in Korea.
... In her interviews with members of the Arthur W. Page Society, Bowen (2016) found that public relations practitioners associated the term core values with other words such as norms, codes of ethics, and consistency. Because of their strong communication skills, public relations practitioners may exercise ethical leadership by promoting internal ethics programs and resources such as the code of conduct, employee training, reward systems and ethics hotlines (McDonald & Nijhof, 1999). ...
Research has found that ethics are most likely to be integrated throughout the curriculum rather than taught as a stand-alone course in public relations. However, this study identified substantial differences in the types of content taught in the two formats on the basis of survey research with 96 educators. Some of the topics that are less likely to be taught outside of an ethics course included other codes of ethics beyond those of the Public Relations Society of America, classical theories by philosophers, decision-making models, the effect of organizational culture and values, and global perspectives on ethics. In addition, few educators reported that they discuss raising ethical concerns in their courses.
The development of communication and information technology supports the use of various media to convey messages or information to the public. Therefore, the National Police of the Republic of Indonesia, as one of the largest institutions in Indonesia, is expected to be proactive in utilizing new media to utilize information. Various new policies will be implemented, including using the NCO as the spearhead of public communication in this digital era. However, these non-commissioned officers are uncomfortable sitting in their position as public relations officers who act as police communicators with digital technology that accompanies their work. This study explores the adaptation process carried out by young non-commissioned officers who manage police communications through social media and the obstacles they face in the adaptation process. To explore these activities, the researchers will use two theories: technological adaptation and the Social Construction of Technology. This research is a case study research with the descriptive data type. Data collection is based on interviews, observation, and also documentation. The results and discussion of this research show that public relations personnel at the West Java Police must adapt because they do not have a qualified educational background in public relations, especially communication in the digital era. SOPs and management for communication depend on what the leader is inclined to do. Public Relations personnel attended training from within the police organization. However, the training cannot improve their abilities in the short term. Ensuring that our Regional Police have SOPs in managing social media and conducting training could be the problem-solving needed.
Though non-human animals, like humans, are sentient, cognitive individuals, they often have few to no rights within a business context, whether they are owned and used as products or live freely but are impacted by business activity in their habitats. As part of the larger push toward corporate social responsibility, the authors take the stance that corporations should consider non-human animals as stakeholders whose interests must be considered in deciding business policies. This is in line with the increased public interest in non-human animal treatment and the growing understanding of species’ ecological interdependence and vulnerability in an age of human-caused environmental crisis. In an effort to promote corporate transparency regarding how non-human animals are used and/or affected by business practices, the authors propose a Corporate Disclosure Initiative for Animal Welfare (CDIAW). Such a communication initiative is intended to facilitate the exchange of information with the public which would, in turn, improve consumers’ ability to make informed decisions while educating and encouraging companies to incorporate animal welfare into their overall structure and operations.KeywordsCorporate disclosureAnimal welfareNon-human animalsStakeholderCorporate transparency
Авторы рассматривают развитие стратегических коммуникаций в медиатизированном обществе и анализируют один из важнейших, но малоизученных аспектов деятельности стратегических коммуникаций – этику. В современном технологически развитом медиатизированном обществе этика стратегических коммуникаций приобретает все большее значение не только для профессиональных коммуникаторов, но и для целевой аудитории. Этика в данном случае выступает как фактор взаимоотношений организации с заинтересованными сторонами в ходе стратегических коммуникаций.
The use of chatbots to manage online interactions with consumers poses additional ethical challenges linked to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications and opens up new ethical avenues for investigation. A literature analysis identifies a research gap regarding the ethical challenges related to chatbots as non-moral and non-independent agents managing non-real conversations with consumers. It raises concerns about the ethical implications related to the progressive automation of online conversational processes and their integration with AI. The conversational approach has been explored in the organisational and management literature, which has analysed the features and roles of conversations in managing interactions ethically. This study aims to discuss conceptually the ethical challenges related to chatbots within the marketplace by integrating the current chatbot-based literature with that on conversation management studies. A new conceptual model is proposed which embraces ethical considerations in the future development of chatbots.
crisis management, risk management, disaster and emergency communication social media for crises
The issue of transparency in public relations, or as it is more often referred, the conflict of interest, belongs to the group of the crucial ethical issues. Nevertheless, among scholars, there exist the question of how strict the imperative of transparency should be, not just concerning the cultural differences or the areas in the world where public relations professionals come from. Given the reputation of the public relations profession, which is still partially marked with negative labels, the issue of transparency in self-regulation of professionals in PR is of utmost importance. Aiming to explore the importance of transparency for PR professionals, and how this issue is regulated, the research was conducted through a method of qualitative content analysis based on 13 ethical codes, delivered by 18 major associations of public relations professionals at national and international levels, which belong to the Western Circle: United States, Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain and Croatia. Although the value of transparency is articulated in all ethical codes, there exist some differences, especially if a distinction is made between conflicts of interest and financial interests. In this respect, few differences emerged with regard to the character of membership in associations (individual/corporative/mixed membership), or their type (national or international) and much less within the geographical milieu of the association. The core finding is actually “the struggle” between the principle level and the operational level of transparency in PR-field: is it possible to be “ethically correct” just if PR-professionals announce that they are in conflict of interests and the client has nothing against?
This paper discusses the merit of using a Value Based Education (VBE) approach to equip future public relations and communication practitioners with the values needed to adhere to ethical practice and foster these values in the organizations they will steward. The approach utilizes in-depth and sustained exposure to complex societal issues to instill an ethical, poly-contextually responsive and diversity sensitive consciousness in students. The need to sensitize future practitioners at institutions of higher learning to the professional requirements of this context and to the inclusive values needed to respond appropriately is an important priority in increasing their strategic relevance globally. This article illustrates how VBE was practically implemented through engaging public relations and strategic communication students in complex social issues such as the plight of economically marginalized communities, human trafficking, and migration. In this paper we propose a Value Based Education model for PR education, based on our experience of teaching Millennial students in South Africa.
This entry introduces the concept and scope of the dominant coalition and discusses how it is important in the practice of strategic communication in three main ways: (i) The values and perspectives of the dominant coalition influence the practice of strategic communication; (ii) strategic communication practices influence the perceptions of the dominant coalition; and (iii) the strategic communication of organizational members themselves influences the formation of and access to the dominant coalition. Changes in this concept are discussed, followed by the main current focus and future directions in research.
Interviews with media relations officers in Quebec reveal the extent to which they must constantly reconcile their profession’s core values (transparency, rigour, due diligence and fairness) with institutional and organizational demands. Across the board, the aim of media relations officers is to provide journalists with information that is timely and accurate. However, they find themselves juggling tight deadlines, questions of access and the expectation that they are there to serve their clients’ best interests. Compromises must be made and professional standards sometimes slip. The risk, here, is that PR’s core values end up being paid mere lip service : ceasing to be actual rules of conduct and becoming, more, a conduit for pro-public relations advocacy.
In their effort to attain legitimacy, corporations are tempted to resolve ethical dilemmas that arise from conflicting stakeholder expectations by ambiguous and misleading communication. Such processes of organizational decoupling may in turn threaten corporate legitimacy. Therefore this article explores public acceptance of deceptive corporate practices that range between the poles of veracity and lying: They involve half-truths and concealment but no blatant lies and they neglect veracity only to conform to conflicting ethical values. The analysis builds on the assumption that specific types of corporate deception fulfill protective functions, such as privacy protection, self-defense, and social cohesion, and are therefore socially accepted. Results from an experimental online survey (n = 1,417) indicate that protective functions are ascribed to corporate deception, yet participants show only moderate levels of acceptance and advocacy on behalf of the corporation. Corporate deception is most likely to be perceived as legitimate when it serves privacy protection and when it involves altruistic intentions. These findings point out limits of organizational decoupling and emphasize the need for pluralistic ethics in strategic communication that provide a framework for the resolution of ethical dilemmas under consideration of situational conditions.
Guided by authenticity, organization-public relationship, and relationship management literature, this exploratory study uses content analysis to examine the impact of news coverage surrounding astroturfing as a means to understand whether astroturfing, or inauthentic communication, undermines the authenticity of and trust within online organization-public relationships. Findings suggested that positivity and networking strategies have significant associations with dimensions of trust. Strategic implications are discussed.
Studies in public relations often conclude that the field is misunderstood [Kopenhaver, L. L. (1985). Aligning values of practitioners and journalists. Public Relations Review, 11(1), 34–42; Stacks, D. W., Botan, C., & Turk, J. V. (1999). Perceptions of pubic relations education. Public Relations Review, 25, 9–29] and misrepresented in media [Spicer, C. (2000). Public relations in a democratic society: Value and values. Journal of Public Relations Research, 12(1), 115–130]. Public relations professionals themselves often do not know what is involved in or support public relations education [Wright, D. K., & Turk, J. V. (2007). Public relations knowledge and professionalism: Challenges to educators and practitioners. In E.L. Toth (Ed.), The future of excellence in public relations and communication management: Challenges for the next generation (pp. 571–588). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum]. Both the special issue (Public Relations Review, 1999) on public relations education and a following study published in this journal [Bowen, S. A. (2003). I thought it would be more glamorous: Preconceptions and misconceptions of public relations among students in the principles course. Public Relations Review, 29, 199–214] argued that public relations majors often do not realize what is involved in the academic discipline or the professional field. This research builds on the findings of those studies to ask: are public relations educators doing any better in communicating the core competencies, responsibilities, knowledge requirements, skills, and abilities of the discipline and the public relations major? Through the use of 10 focus groups across majors at a top research university, we can see that little is known about public relations among non-majors, but public relations majors can articulate the requirements and functions of the field. Several primary areas of confusion emerged about public relations related to: marketing or promotion, spinning the truth, image, and public relations as a career choice. These ideas show a critical lack of transparency in public relations. Credibility of the public relations function is hampered by this failure to communicate about the functions and core competencies of the field. Implications for both the public relations practice and for public relations education are discussed.
abstract This article responds to Neil Levy's recent suggestion that: (1) the use of pharmaceutical enhancers can be understood as promoting our authenticity, no matter which of the two main contemporary conceptions of authenticity we adopt; and that (2) we do not need to decide between these two rival models (the ‘self-discovery’ and the ‘self-creation’ conception) in order to assess the common worry that enhancements will undermine our authenticity. Levy's core argument is based on a comparison between cases of people with ‘Gender Identity Disorder’ (GID) seeking sex reassignment surgery, and cases of enhancement via pharmaceuticals. While conceding the plausibility of Levy's claim (1), I offer reasons to resist (2), by pointing out structural differences between GID cases and some paradigmatic cases of pharmacological enhancement. I argue that these differences prevent the latter sort of cases from counting as authenticity-promoting on the self-discovery view. I conclude that Levy's proposed way of ‘breaking the stalemate’ in this debate is unsuccessful: we cannot avoid settling the dispute between the two models if we are to adequately address the authenticity worry about pharmacological enhancement.
Utilitarianism and its principal architect, John Stuart Mill, are staples of media ethics teaching and analysis. However, utilitarianism, in its usual presentation, is offered as a simplistic arithmetic formula: Do the greatest good for the greatest number. This quantification approach, when attached to Mill, misinterprets this philosopher and robs media ethics discussions of the rich reflection that an important classical theory can bring. Mill is a particularly suitable philosopher for presentation to students of journalism and mass communication. Mill provides a strong argument in favor of freedom of expression in addition to espousing a moral theory that is simultaneously protective of individual rights while promoting communitarian principles. But it is imperative to get Mill right. This essay attempts to do so and to offer a utilitarian decision tree for those who wish to properly apply Mill's theory in teaching and practice.
Symmetrical public relations theory acknowledges primacy of the dominant coalition in making organizational decisions and influencing public relations practices but reveals little about this powerful inner circle. Drawing from interviews with 21 public relations executives, this article opens up the dominant coalition and reveals its complex power relationships and a matrix of constraints that undermine and limit the function, rendering it difficult for practitioners to do the "right" thing, even if they want to. If public relations is to better serve society, professionals and academics may need to embrace an activist role and combine advocacy of shared power with activism in the interest of shared power.
The central purpose of this article is to provide a theory and model for ethical issues management based on the principles of excellence in public relations. Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management (J. E. Grunig, 1992b) assumed an ethical approach but omitted ethics as one of the generic principles of excellence in the public relations function. In 1996, the researchers added ethics as the 10th generic principle of excellence, but the concept deserves further exploration. This research expands on ethics as the 10th generic principle by using the deontological philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). Issues management, as the highest decision-making function of public relations, is discussed in relation to ethical decision making. Based on this conceptual theory, a normative model of ethical decision making is proposed. That model allows for rational, symmetrical, and consistent analysis of ethical dilemmas. This theoretical model is based on Kantian autonomy, the categorical imperative, and the symmetrical model (J. E. Grunig & Hunt, 1984) of public relations.
Ryan and Martinson (1983) and other scholars argued that the corporate conscience role should belong in the public relations function. But, how common is the use of ethics counsel among public relations professionals? This qualitative research found that many public relations practitioners indeed perform the role of ethics counsel or corporate conscience in their organizations. However, a state of neglect of this role exists in terms of education and support—even lacking support among some public relations practitioners! The well-being of both organizations and publics could be enhanced through both academic study and professional attention to public relations managers performing the role of ethics counsel to the dominant coalition. This research was funded by the International Association of Business Communicators, and I would like to thank them for their support and for having the foresight to study communication ethics. The author would like to thank journal editor, Dr. Linda Aldoory, for her insightful feedback and comments on this research.
A complex relationship exists between journalists and public relations practitioners. A number of researchers claim that prejudice against public relations is not due to negative personal experiences, but is rooted in journalism culture. This study explores if academic programs may be in part responsible for perpetuating stereotypes and contributing to negative perceptions of public relations, and whether journalism and public relations programs belong in the same academic department. A web-based survey was completed by 187 journalism and public relations educators. Both samples had professional experience, which allows the assumption that attitudes and perceptions measured in the survey would reasonably apply to practitioners as well as educators. The study found journalism educators do not differ as substantially and negatively in their opinions of public relations as previous literature suggests.
This article reports the results of a qualitative survey question asking New Zealand journalists for their thoughts on public relations. The findings provide the first empirical support for the widespread anecdotal suggestion that there is a deeply held antagonism between these two professions in this country, but also indicate that the antagonism is not straightforward. Overall, the results show that many New Zealand journalists are profoundly conflicted about the value of public relations, often holding two dissonant views and expressing each passionately. These findings indicate New Zealand attitudes mirror international historical attitudes in most respects, but depart from them in some notable ways. The research gives a clearer picture of the origin and nature of some of the stereotypes and resentments that characterise the relationship between these two professions. It also raises important questions about the implications for both journalists and public relations practitioners of working within a relationship in which there are forceful and dichotomous conceptualisations by one party of another. The strength of ambiguous feeling evident in many of the statements suggests that there is a need to consider the impact on individuals and on professional decision-making processes of such entrenched, ardent, and in many cases hostile, views, as well as to question the applicability of this kind of longstanding professional cultural 'stance' to today's changing media landscape.
Public relations literature emphasizes gaining membership in the dominant coalition. However, we know little about the ways that successful practitioners have garnered dominant coalition membership. By combining 32 interviews with public relations executives, four focus groups, and open-ended responses on a larger survey of communicators, this study sought to uncover patterns explaining routes to the dominant coalition. Routes found include organizational crisis, ethical dilemma, credibility gained over time, issues high on the media agenda, and leadership. The positive and negative aspects of each route are discussed and an ethical analysis of findings is offered.
Decision making is the critical key to survival in the future. It is the contention of this book that we must increase our understanding of organizational decision making in general and ethical decision making in particular. Ethics underlies much of what happens in modern organizations. Organizations, which institutionalize ethics, develop a culture based on ethical values and consistently display them in all their activities. They derive a number of positive benefits: improved top management control, increased productivity, avoidance of litigation and an enhanced image that attracts talent and the public's good will.
The major aim of this book is to provide a better understanding and integration of the variables that are important to institutionalizing ethics within any organization. It pays particular attention to decision making, organizational culture, the role of management, and groupthink. Clear lessons from real firms' experiences are drawn: firms can counteract and turnaround unethical behavior by learning to cope with inevitable conflicts, by introducing disagreement as part of the decision making process, by installing an effective training program and by changing employee-employer contracts. The author takes corporate CEOs, human resource managers and scholars from understanding the problem, to what it takes to establish, institutionalize and maintain ethics in organizations.
Sehleiermaeher's Soliloquies not only represent a pivotal work in this classically modern theologian's development as a moral philosopher. They are also arguably the principal moral writing of the early German romantic movement and therefore a significant, if widely overlooked, contribution to the history of ethics in the West. This essay provides a comprehensive interpretation and modest retrieval of this unusual and difficult work by bringing Sehleiermaeher's early "ethics of individuality" into conversation with Charles Taylor's conception of "expressivist" understandings of human selfhood. It argues that the Monologen are a signal instance of what Taylor has subtly characterized as romanticism's expressivist impulse.
The paper explores a theoretical scenario designed to describe the ideal social community based on ethics and communication, in search for a perspective of an axiological hierarchy, which will characterize the society of tomorrow, based on an analysis of the relationship between Ethics and organizational culture.
Gaining Influence in Public Relations explores how professionals can increase their influence in practice to help their organizations achieve success. This provocative book explores the largely uncharted territories of power, resistance, dissent, and activism in public relations, arguing that practitioners can increase their power and social legitimacy by developing and using a wider range of influence resources, strategies, and tactics. Authors Bruce K. Berger and Bryan H. Reber talked with hundreds of practitioners, analyzed original survey data, and examined a detailed case study to develop a theory of power relations. Ultimately, the book seeks to advance the ethical and effective practice of public relations. Intended for scholars and graduate students in public relations, it also has much to offer practitioners, as well as scholars and students in organizational communication, organizational theory, human resources, and leadership. © 2006 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
Virtue ethics has emerged from a rich history, in which both Aristotle and Aquinas have played an important role, to become one of the fastest-growing fields in contemporary ethics. In this volume of newly commissioned essays, leading moral philosophers offer a comprehensive overview of virtue ethics. They examine the theoretical structure of virtue ethics and its place in contemporary moral theory and other topics discussed include the history of virtue-based approaches to ethics, what makes these approaches distinctive, what they can say about specific practical issues and where we can expect them to go in the future. This Companion will be useful to students of virtue ethics and the history of ethics and to others who want to understand how virtue ethics is changing the face of contemporary moral philosophy.
When philosophers address personal identity, they usually explore numerical identity. When non-philosophers address personal identity, they often have in mind narrative identity. This book develops accounts of both senses of identity, arguing that both are normatively important, and is unique in its exploration of a wide range of issues in bioethics through the lens of identity. Defending a biological view of our numerical identity and a framework for understanding narrative identity, David DeGrazia investigates various issues for which considerations of identity prove critical. © Cambridge University Press 2005 and Cambridge University Press, 2010.
This study of a large sample of public relations educators (n = 342) found substantial evidence that professional prejudice and discrimination towards public relations and public relations education exists. More than half (56.6%) of the respondents said they have had a dean, director or department chair who was prejudiced against public relations, and many of these administrators evidently have made use of exaggerations and stereotypes about public relations while criticizing it. Results also suggest this prejudice is more pronounced among print journalists and journalism faculty than it is among other groups of communication educators and practitioners. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier Inc.
This paper examines sections of Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations with a view to exposing trail-effects of psychology in educational and social practice today. These are seen in understandings of the relations between mind and body, and language and thought, and their influence is identified in such contemporary preoccupations as accounting transparency and the new science of happiness. A Wittgensteinian critique is offered, with attention paid to the idea that ‘nothing is hidden’. Finally a question is raised as to how far it is the imperviousness of these practices to criticism that is the key to understanding them.
Journalists’ own job problems have been found to be detrimental to media recognition of public relations: journalists vent frustration from their worsening job conditions at public relations practitioners. This outlook of occupational psyche casts a shadow over the bright prospect for media recognition of the profession. Journalists’ problems operate outside media relations, thus beyond direct attempts of public relations practitioners at media recognition via enhancing professionalism in their practices. There have been, however, only a few qualitative studies on this significant issue, all pointing to journalists’ occupational psyche running against media recognition. The purpose of this study is to determine quantitatively whether journalists’ own job satisfaction and their envy of public relations practitioners lead to their negative attitude. A survey of 128 Korean off-line journalists was conducted, and its results suggested that occupational psyche has little influence on media attitude—contrary to the findings of previous qualitative studies. For future study, this paper issues a call for cross-country, comparative research on the subject of journalists’ occupational psyche.
Public relations practitioners provide information subsidies to the media on behalf of their clients to influence the media agenda and potentially affect public opinion. McManus (1994) stated that news media are using more public relations information subsidies to contain costs and increase profits. Through in-depth interviews and a nationwide survey, this study of editors' perceptions of the phenomenon suggests that increasing economic constraints have led to an increased use of public relations materials only in specific instances that often do not support the agenda-building goals of the sponsoring organizations.
The teaching of qualitative analysis in the social sciences is rarely undertaken in a structured way. This handbook is designed to remedy that and to present students and researchers with a systematic method for interpreting qualitative data', whether derived from interviews, field notes, or documentary materials. The special emphasis of the book is on how to develop theory through qualitative analysis. The reader is provided with the tools for doing qualitative analysis, such as codes, memos, memo sequences, theoretical sampling and comparative analysis, and diagrams, all of which are abundantly illustrated by actual examples drawn from the author's own varied qualitative research and research consultations, as well as from his research seminars. Many of the procedural discussions are concluded with rules of thumb that can usefully guide the researchers' analytic operations. The difficulties that beginners encounter when doing qualitative analysis and the kinds of persistent questions they raise are also discussed, as is the problem of how to integrate analyses. In addition, there is a chapter on the teaching of qualitative analysis and the giving of useful advice during research consultations, and there is a discussion of the preparation of material for publication. The book has been written not only for sociologists but for all researchers in the social sciences and in such fields as education, public health, nursing, and administration who employ qualitative methods in their work.
This study addresses how moral judgment development, authenticity, and nonprejudice account for variance in scores pertaining to various motivational functions underlying volunteerism in order to clarify certain problems associated with previous research that has considered such relationships. In the study, 127 participants completed measurements that pertain to these constructs. Correlations revealed that moral judgment had a negligible relationship with both authenticity and nonprejudice, thereby affirming that the former construct is distinct from the latter two. Linear regression analyses supported that moral judgment development and nonprejudice provided the strongest contributions to the variance of the considered indices of volunteer motivation. The motivational function underlying volunteerism was also recognized as an important factor that pertains to the observed contributions of variance. Findings are discussed in concert with and compared to prior considerations of relationships between moral judgment development and considerations of the moral self. Implications where moral education is concerned are also considered.
The misunderstanding of philosopher Immanuel Kant's principle of morality—the categorical imperative—by journalism professionals, professors, and students comes in many forms. To better understand Kant's ethical theory, however, one must go beyond Kant's Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals and study his Doctrine of Virtue: Part 2 of The Metaphysics of Morals; to apply the categorical imperative, one must also understand the importance Kant placed on moral education.
Twenty years of research indicates that journalists hold a negative, often antagonistic, attitude toward the public relations field and public relations practitioners. The research reported herein examines how those attitudes influence print re- porters' connotative use of the terms public relations and PR in their stories. Eighty-four published examples containing the term public relations or PR were analyzed revealing seven different connotative themes or definitions: distraction, disaster, challenge, hype, merely, war, and schmooze. In over 80% of the cases, the journalist used the terms in a negatively embedded context, thus supporting recent research indicating that journalists are far from being objective in their use of linguistic descriptors.