Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Week 6- Chapter 5 Ethics

1. I think the key points to remember from this week's readings were...
- Ethics is a key aspect that every organisation needs to understand an employee.
- Without ethics a company will never survive in the public environment.
- In a nut shell, ethics is about doing the right thing, but in more complex terms it is the personal values that underpin the behaviour and moral choices made by an individual in response to a specific situation.
- Public relations ethics involve both the individual practitioner and the organisation.
- The Potter Box is an analytical tool used to resolve conflicts based on ethics.
- Ethical organisational conduct should be developed by all organisations.
- There are four major roles that PR practitioners play that have ethical implications. These are:
· Counsellor
· Advocate
· Corporate monitor
· Corporate conscience
- Ethical challenges for a practitioner can occur on a number of levels including:
· Interpersonal
· Organisational
· Stakeholder
- There are a number of professional association codes and codes of conduct that need to be followed by specific stakeholders and practitioners. These are:
· PRIA: Public Relations Institute of Australia
· MEAA: Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance
· PRSA: Public Relations Society of America
· IABC: International Association of Business Communicators
· ABA Inquiry: Australian Broadcasting Authority Inquiry
- An ethical culture is central to good corporate governance, and good ethical behaviour is encouraged by all employees.
- Employees of an organisation should be able to recognise ethical issues as they arise and be aware of the resources available to help them act ethically and according to organisational culture and policy.
- Professional ethics interacts with professional conduct and is part of an overall search for excellence.

2. The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that …
This chapter has made me think more about the extreme importance of ethics in public relations. The practitioner needs to have good personal ethics in order to be able to practice ethically in the organisation and ensure that the organisation is based on positive ethical behavior. It is crucial for an organisation’s reputation that they always act in an ethical manner, have good ethical guidelines, as well as a well structured plan to deal with ethical dilemmas. Along with the law, ethics needs to be kept at the forefront of the organisational objectives of the organisation.

1 comment:

Mel said...

In your blogs you so clearly and effectively convey the intended message. You write so well.

By setting your blog out in point form you consisely put your ideas forward, allowing others to understand them easily. You made the great point of stating that "ethics is a key aspect that every organisation needs to understand". I also liked your definition of what the notion ethics encompasses, as i agree with it completely. Our choices are driven by the ethics that we possess which are a reflection of our personal values. The ethics that each and every public relations practitioner posses will have a great impact on their career path.

Like you, the readings made me see the importance of ethics in the world of public relations and the role that they play. Great Blog. Great insight.