What is ethics? Ethics deals with the standards and principles that a single individual lives up to.

Alternatively, it studies the standards of groups or societies. Regardless of the distinction, there are three main ways to think about ethical obligations.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

eHow Business Business & Society Business Ethics What Are Key Principles of Ethical Communication?

What Are Key Principles of Ethical Communication?

X By Andrew Button, eHow Contributor

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Ethical communication is important in business.

Communication is ethical when it is upfront, honest and cooperative. Communication that is intended to conceal the truth or harm another person cannot be described as ethical. While ethics are not the same as morals, there is a strong relationship between the two: morals are ideas of what is right and wrong, while ethics are behavioral principles influenced by moral beliefs. The ethics of communication are therefore strongly influenced by moral principles.

What do ethics have to do with communication?

How can ethics (the consideration of right and wrong) help us in crafting our communications? It is possible to be an effective communicator and yet not an ethical communicator. (The classic example is that of charismatic, but immoral, leader who understands how to persuade his followers with dazzling rhetoric that appeals to their emotions.) A common term used in political and corporate circles these days about communication that always attempts to put the candidate or corporation in the best light is "spin." But if "spin" means obfuscating or hiding the truth, then it is not an ethical practice. The Ethics Resource Center has a simple three-part guide for ethical business communication: 1. 2. 3. Be honest; Be respectful; Show sensitivity to cultural differences

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct.[1] The term comes from the Greek word ethos, which means "character"

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION IN SMALL GROUPS

Generally in small group work our concern is focused on getting the job done while still maintaining reasonable relationships among group members. Although ethical communication is implicit in small group work, we seldom discuss it openly. Ethics in small groups involves three levels: - Individual group member "I didn't complete the research on time for my part of the project. Should I think up an excuse? Or tell my group what happened: that I went to Las Vegas for the weekend instead of doing my research?" - Group Group A finds a published study that is identical to its project. Group members are pressed for time to complete their report. Should they just copy the study, making a few minor changes? - Group environment An organizational task force on safety identifies several current practices that put organization members at risk. Changing all those practices will cost the organization millions of dollars. Should the task force report all the findings to management? Report only those that would be less costly?

Although some ethical dilemmas are more easily solved than others, all involve making evaluations and judgments about what is morally right and wrong, what is fair and what is not fair, and what will cause harm and what will not cause harm. What is Ethical Communication? Ethics in small groups refers to the moral aspects of group interaction. The National Communication Association (NCA) states: "ethical communication enhances human worth and dignity by fostering truthfulness, fairness, responsibility, personal integrity, and respect for self and other." Thus, ethical communication in small groups takes into account caring and responsibility for oneself and the other group members. Ethics in Communication NCA recently adopted a Credo for Ethical Communication. It is included here, although some principles are more applicable than others to small group communication. - Truthfulness, accuracy, honesty, and reason are essential to the integrity of communication. - Endorse freedom of expression, diversity of perspective, and tolerance of dissent to achieve the informed and responsible decision making fundamental to a civil society. - Strive to understand and respect other communicators before evaluating and responding to their messages. - Access to communication resources and opportunities are necessary to fulfill human potential and contribute to the well being of families, communities, and society. - Promote communication climates of caring and mutual understanding that respect the unique needs and characteristics of individual communicators. - Condemn communication that degrades individuals and humanity through distortion, intolerance, intimidation, coercion, hatred, and violence. - Commit to the courageous expression of personal convictions in pursuit of fairness and justice. - Advocate sharing information, opinions, and feelings when facing significant choices while also respecting privacy and confidentiality. - Unethical communication threatens the quality of all communication and consequently the well being of individuals and the society in which we live. - Accept responsibility for the short- and long-term consequences for our own communication and expect the same of others. In reading over these principles, you can note the two ethical communication themes of caring and responsibility. Some are obvious, such as: "Promote communication climates of caring and mutual understanding that respect the unique needs and characteristics of individual

communicators," and "Accept responsibility for the short- and long-term consequences for our own communication and expect the same of others." Other principles are not as obvious in their representation of these themes, yet the importance of ethics of care and responsibility are still clear. For example, "Access to communication resources and opportunities is necessary to fulfill human potential and contribute to the well-being of families, communities, and society," emphasizes an ethic of caring and "Commit to the courageous expression of personal convictions in pursuit of fairness and justice," stresses an ethic of responsibility. Others integrate both caring and responsibility, such as, "Advocate sharing information, opinions, and feelings when facing significant choices while also respecting privacy and confidentiality." In following this last principle, communicators must take responsibility for encouraging all participants to share information, and at the same time, communicators must care for others by respecting others' wishes. These principles also apply to important aspects of effective small group communication, such as teamwork, critical thinking, creativity, and diversity. Thus, ethical communication in small groups means that group members respect and encourage diverse opinions, do not tolerate communication that degrades and harms others, balance the sharing of information with a respect for privacy, and listen for understanding and empathy before evaluating and critiquing. Applied Ethics Ethics are more easily discussed than put into practice. However, a recent article in the San Jos Mercury News demonstrated the increasing trend in organizations to integrate a code of ethics into their daily activities. Propel , a start-up software company in Silicon Valley, recently hired Tom Shanks, an ethicist from Santa Clara University's Markkula Center for Applied Ethics . According to the article, CEO and founder Steve Kirsch (Infoseek founder) is determined to make the organization's philosophical guidelines a natural part of how the company does business. These 13 guidelines, developed in organization members' discussions and posted on the company's website in two places (FAQs) and About), are: 1. Think and act like an owner. 2. Have fun. 3. Recognize accomplishment. 4. Keep a balance in your life. 5. Teach and learn from each other. 6. Communicate without fear of retribution. 7. Require quality beyond customer expectations. 8. Improve continuously.

9. Go the extra mile to take care of the customer. 10. Play to win-win. 11. Act with a sense of urgency. 12. Make and meet commitments. 13. Give back to the community. Here we can see how Propel has taken many of NCA's ethical principles and applied them to the organization. For example, " Communicate without fear of retribution" parallels NCA's principle, " Commit to the courageous expression of personal convictions in pursuit of fairness and justice." In addition, the two themes, ethics of caring and responsibility, are interwoven in Propel's 13 guidelines. Santa Clara University's Markkula Center for Applied Ethics offers extensive information on the pragmatics of ethics. The Center serves as a resource for the campus and community. The Center's informative website includes a section on "A Framework For Ethical Decision Making." http://www.scu.edu/SCU/Centers/Ethics/practicing/decision/framework.html This framework is particularly applicable to small group members who face many complex decisions in achieving the group's objectives and goals. The Center suggests that competent communicators should: - Recognize a Moral Issue - Get the Facts - Evaluate the Alternative Actions from Various Moral Perspectives - Make a Decision - Act - Reflect on the Decision For each step in the framework, individuals or group members need to address questions such as: - Does the issue go deeper than legal or institutional concerns? What does it do to people as persons who have dignity, rights, and hopes for a better life together? (Recognize a Moral Issue) - What individuals and groups have an important stake in the outcome? (Get the Facts) - Which option will produce the most good and do the least harm? (Evaluate the Alternative Actions from Various Moral Perspectives)

- If you told someone you respect why you chose this option, what would that person say? (Make a Decision) - How did it turn out for all concerned? If you had to do it over again, what, if anything, would you do differently? (Reflect on the Decision) Ethical communication requires effective critical thinking skills, recognizing the importance of diverse perspectives, respect for the well being of self and others, taking responsibility for individual and group actions, and reflecting on the choices group members make. REFERENCES
Every business is dependent on effective ethical communication. It's what makes new policy in government, raises money for nonprofits and strengthens a business. Business communication occurs any time a message is given or received, whether it's verbal or nonverbal, between two businesses, a business and its employees or a business and the public. The messages sent and received by a business need to follow ethical norms that don't offend or make individuals feel uncomfortable.

Read more: About Ethical Communication in Business | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_6069676_ethical-communicationbusiness.html#ixzz2LgDKACim10 things we can do to contribute to

internal, interpersonal, and organizational peace

(1) Spend some time each day quietly reflecting on how we would like to relate to ourselves and others. (2) Remember that all human beings have the same needs. (3) Check our intention to see if we are as interested in others getting their needs met as our own. (4) When asking someone to do something, check first to see if we are making a request or a demand. (5) Instead of saying what we DON'T want someone to do, say what we DO want the person to do. (6) Instead of saying what we want someone to BE, say what action we'd like the person to take that we hope will help the person be that way. (7) Before agreeing or disagreeing with anyone's opinions, try to tune in to what the person is feeling and needing. (8) Instead of saying No, say what need of ours prevents us from saying Yes.

(9) If we are feeling upset, think about what need of ours is not being met, and what we could do to meet it, instead of thinking about what's wrong with others or ourselves. (10) Instead of praising someone who did something we like, express our gratitude by telling the person what need of ours that action met. The Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC) would like there to be a critical mass of people using Nonviolent Communication language so all people will get their needs met and resolve their conflicts peacefully.

Ethical vs. Unethical Communications/Behavior

Written by Vladimir Collak Friday, 06 July 2007 Before examining the issue of ethical vs. unethical communication, one has to answer the question of what are ethics? Unfortunately, such seemingly simple concept as ethics has puzzled philosophers for centuries. It seems as though mankind has been searching for the right answer for some time now, and yet there are still those that disagree. Exactly what are ethics? What is ethical and unethical behavior, and how does it reflect in an organizational setting? Ethics are theories that address Socrates question of how we ought to live (Paul, J., Strbiak, C., 1997). As many people agree, ethics is essentially a study of what is wrong and what is right. Thought ethics seems to be a simple concept, many people disagree on what is and isnt ethical. There are various views on the subject. For example, Immanuel Kant conceived of right action as acting with right intention (Paul, J., Strbiak, C., 1997). On the other hand, others agree that ethical is what rational people accept for their mutual benefit. In other words, if a reasonable group of people accepts a certain action as ethical, that action in fact is ethical. To complicate the matter even more, many philosophers believe that there is no such thing as universal and moral truth, but rather a set of cultural values instilled on an individual by a given culture and society. Furthermore, a theory called ethical egoism is based on the view that people ought to do what is in their self-interest (Paul, J., Strbiak, C., 1997). Thought it is apparent that the question of ethics is a complicated one, ethics and ethical behavior (or communication) has to eventually be applied in the real world.

Without examining the philosophical aspects of ethics, most people generally know

what is and isnt ethical. In all likelihood, ethical behavior is any action based on right intention (as Kant puts it) coupled with given cultural values of the region. For example, most reasonable people would agree that stealing, lying, and cheating is unethical. Such concepts could easily be translated into an organizational environment. For example, if a company in financial trouble lies to its employees while painting a rosy picture about the organizations future, the behavior will in most cases be considered unethical. Additionally, it would be considered unethical to misguide potential job applicants about the company benefits or stock options. Because lying seems to be a universal concept of unethical conduct, the above examples would probably qualify as an unethical communication. On the other hand, is it unethical to monitor employee email? It is unethical to monitor employee phone conversations? One could argue both ways, because the definition of these actions is not clearly defined. In such case, no one is lying, or cheating, yet over fifty-seven percent of CEOs in corporate America consider such actions unethical (PR Newswire, 2001). case. On the other side of the spectrum, there are those organizations that clearly act in an ethical manner. There are those companies, that keep employees informed even thought the information presented my be difficult to hear (Linderborg, R., 1994). For example, ethical companies communicate the truth about their poor financial status even thought concealing the painful truth would be easier. Additionally, ethical organizations trust and respect their employees while insuring that employees have a certain control over decisions affecting them (PR Newswire, 2001). While talking about ethical vs. unethical communication of organizations, one needs to understand that untimely the individuals of the organization are responsible for the organizations ethical standing. If the CEO of a company lies to its stakeholders, it would seem that the organization as a whole is unethical. It is because each employee represents his or hers organization, it is important that all employees are of good morals while it is imperative that the officers or highly visible employees excel in ethical behavior. In summary, it is rather difficult to define ethics, let alone discuss ethical vs. unethical behavior. However, because any society needs to be able to distinguish between ethical vs. unethical behavior, a certain set of norms have been formed that help people guide them on the path to morality. Thought the set of norms and values are a helpful It is because of such blurry lines that ethics remains to be an open-ended

guide, ethics remain to be discussed because many people disagree on what is and what isnt ethical. Such discussions will inevitably self-perpetuate because of cultural, moral, and individual differences between people after all, we are human. References Linderborg, R. (1994, Spring). Excellent Communication Public Relations Quarterly. [InfoTrack] University of Phoenix Online Collection. Available: http://web1.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/session/ (2001, May 2). Paul, J., Strbiak, C. (1997, April). The ethics of strategic ambiguity. The Journal of Business Communication [InfoTrack]. University of Phoenix Online Collection. Available: http://web1.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/session/ (2001, May 2). PR Newswire. (2001, April 30). CEOs in Marymount University Study of N. Va. Tech Companies Say Small Firms More Effective at implementing Ethical Practices Than Big Companies. PR Newswire [ProQuest] University of Phoenix Online Collection. Available: http://proquest.umi.com: (2001, May 2).

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Chapter 48: Ethical and Unethical Communication

Josina M. Makau
Ethical and unethical communication This chapter explores the relationship of communication to ethics. Introductions to general guidelines for ethical communication, related dialogic virtues and skills, and additional tools for recognizing and addressing ethical issues are included. The principles, guidelines, and tools outlined below reflect insights from numerous disciplines and are applicable within and across diverse 21st-century contexts. Communicationthe use of available resources to convey information, to move, to inspire, to persuade, to enlighten, to connectis an inherently ethical undertaking. Regardless of context, communication involves choice, reflects values, and has consequences. These three key elements of communication form the basis of its ethical makeup. Ethics is the study of values, of what is more or less important, of the good, of behavioral guidelines and norms. Ethics provides frameworks and tools for recognizing and assessing available

options and for differentiating between more or less morally justified pathways in any given situation. Scholars ...