Ethics in a Global Context

Lesson Plan 1 – Contestation of Ethics in a Global Context

Key concepts

Problems in global ethics
Conceptualization of global ethics

Lessons:

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNaTv5-2PYU
Showing the contestation between using a global standard of ethical practices and a local standard of ethical practices
Class activity: Students to be assigned a country and research the public relations landscape in the country prior to writing a code of ethics for a company of their choice in the country. Compare the code of ethics with the real one in the company’s home country. Ask students to explain based on what principles and how they came up with the code of ethics.
Problems in global ethics: Going through the list of problems in the development of global ethics.
New Zealand Vs. Israel: Showing the study on different practitioners’ approaches to ethics
Approaches to global ethics: Showing the two studies on how to conceptualize global ethics
Class activity: Students to read the case study and select a case of their choice in which global ethics is a problem.

Evaluations

(a) 3 open-ended self-assessment questions (in the PowerPoint slides) and (b) 13 multiple-choice questions (in the set of final assessment questions)

Case

Mercedes in China

Resources

Module Overview

Lesson 1 Overview

In the practice of global public relations, whether a local or global standard of ethical practices should be adopted is debatable. This lesson will provide an overview of the different factors to consider in adoption of a local or global standard of ethical practices. Based on several research studies, it presents the different perceptions that practitioners in different countries have toward ethics and the approaches to understanding these differences.

Discussion Questions

What are the factors to consider in the adoption of a local vs. global standard of ethical practices?
What, how and who do you think should determine what standard of ethical practices should be put in place?
What do you think caused the differences in foreign publics’ different perceptions toward ethics in different countries?

Lesson 2 Overview

It is inevitable that what organizations do makes an impact on society. Globalization has increased the interconnectedness of the world, meaning that what we do in one country could affect other countries.

In public relations, we learn to segment and prioritize publics using some theoretical frameworks so that organizations could best utilize their resources to build relationships with the most important publics. But there are ethical factors which should be considered in the use of these theoretical frameworks. The concept of situational ethics reminds us that publics’ ethical priorities could differ from one country to another.

This lesson provides an overview of the ethical factors to consider in the use of the theoretical frameworks in the global context.

Discussion Questions

Describe the personal, organizational, professional, societal and global ethical principles which could affect practitioners’ decision making.
How would you go about making ethical decisions for a public relations campaign in a foreign country?

Citations & Resources

Lesson 1

Parsons, P. (2008). Ethics in public relations: A guide to best practice (2nd ed.). London, UK: Kogan Page.

Bowen, S. A., Hung-Baesecke, C.-J. F., & Chen, Y.-R. R. (2016). Ethics as a precursor to organization–public relationships: Building trust before and during the OPR model. Cogent Social Sciences, 2(1), 1141467. http://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2016.1141467

George, B. (2008). Ethics must be global, not local. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2008-02-12/ethics-must-be-global-not-localbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice

Gergen, K. J. (2001). Social construction in context. London, UK: SAGE Publications Ltd. http://doi.org/10.4135/9781446219645.n9

Grunig, J. E., & Grunig, L. A. (1996). Implications of symmetry for a theory of ethics and social responsibility in public relations. In Proceedings of nternational Communication Association. Chicago, IL.

Sriramesh, K., & Verčič, D. (2007). Introduction to this special section: The impact of globalization on public relations. Public Relations Review, 33(4), 355–359. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2007.09.002

Tsetsura, K., & Valentini, C. (2016). The “holy” triad in media ethics: A conceptual model for understanding global media ethics. Public Relations Review, 42(4), 573–581. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2016.03.013

Hellsten, S. K. (2015). Ethics: universal or global? The trends in studies of ethics in the context of globalization. Journal of Global Ethics, 11(1), 80. http://doi.org/10.1080/17449626.2014.1001913

Drydyk, J. (2014). Foundational issues: how must global ethics be global? Journal of Global Ethics, 10(1), 16–25. http://doi.org/10.1080/17449626.2014.896576

Wonicki, R. (2016). Global ethics and human responsibility: challenges for the theory and the discipline, 9626(September). http://doi.org/10.1080/17449626.2014.969440

Dower, N. (2014). Global ethics: dimensions and prospects. Journal of Global Ethics, 10(1), 8–15. http://doi.org/10.1080/17449626.2014.896575

Cortina, A. (2014). Four tasks for forward-looking global ethics. Journal of Global Ethics, 10(1), 30–37. http://doi.org/10.1080/17449626.2014.896574

Sriramesh, K., & Vercic, D. (2001). International public relations: A framework for future research. Journal of Communication Management, 6(2), 103–117.

Toledano, M., & Avidar, R. (2016). Public relations, ethics, and social media: A cross-national study of PR practitioners. Public Relations Review, 42(1), 161–169. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2015.11.012

Holtzhausen, D. R. (2000). Postmodern values in public relations. Journal of Public Relations Research, 12(1), 93–114. http://doi.org/10.1207/S1532754XJPRR1201_6

Kennedy, A. (2016). Landscapes of care: Feminist approaches in global public relations. Journal of Media Ethics, 31(4), 215–230. http://doi.org/10.1080/23736992.2016.1220254

Lim, S. L. (2010). Global integration or local responsiveness? Multinational corporation’s public relations strategies and cases. In G. J. Golan T. J. Johnson, & W. Wanta (Eds.), International media communication in a global age (pp. 299–318). New York, NY: Routledge.

Motion, J., Haar, J., & Leitch, S. (2012). A public relations framework for indigenous engagement. In K. Sriramesh & D. Vercic (Eds.), Culture and public relations: Links and implications (pp. 54–66). New York, NY: Routledge.

Dutta, M., & Pal, M. (2011). Public relations and marginalization in a global context: A postcolonial critique. In N. Bardhan & C. K. Weaver (Eds.), Public relations in global cultural contexts: Multi-paradigmatic perspectives (pp. 195–225). New York, NY: Routledge.

Donaldson, T., & Dunfee, T. W. (1999). When ethics travel: The promise and peril of global business ethics. California Management Review, 41(4), 45.

Skinner, C., Mersham, G., & Valin, J. (2004). Global protocol on ethics in public relations. Journal of Communication Management, 8(1), 13–28. http://doi.org/10.1108/13632540410807510

Lesson 2

Freitag, A. R., & Stokes, A. Q. (2009). Global public relations: Spanning borders, spanning cultures. New York, NY: Routledge.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/lying/lying_1.shtml

Price, T. L. (2000). Explaining ethical failures of leadership. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 21(4), 177–184. http://doi.org/10.1108/01437730010335418

Backaler, J. (2015, October 26). Chinese companies’ global public relations imperative. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/joelbackaler/2015/10/26/chinese-companies-global-public-relations-imperative/#540f74bd70b5

Wilcox, D. L. (2006). The landscape of today’s global public relations. Anàlisi: Quaderns de Comunicació I Cultura, (34), 67–85. Retrieved from http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/extart?codigo=2234329%5Cnhttp://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2234329&orden=202071&info=link

Taylor, M., & Yang, A. (2014). Have global ethical values emerged in the public relations industry? Evidence from national and international professional public relations associations. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(3), 543–555. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2226-4

Fawkes, J. (2010). The shadow of excellence: A Jungian approach to public-relations ethics. Review of Communication, 10(3), 211–227. http://doi.org/10.1080/15358593.2010.486867

Fawkes, J. (2007). Public relations models and persuasion ethics: a new approach. Journal of Communication Management, 11(4), 313–331. http://doi.org/10.1108/13632540710843922

Dutta, M. (2015). Public diplomacy, public relations and the Middle East: A culture-centered approach to power in global contexts. In G. J. Golan, S.-U. Yang, & D. F. Kinsey (Eds.), International public relations and public diplomacy: Communication and engagement (pp. 397–416). New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing.

Bivins, T. H. (1987). Applying ethical theory to public relations. Journal of Business Ethics, 6(3), 195–200. http://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382864

Bowen, S. A. (2005). A practical model for ethical decision making in issues management and public relations. Journal of Public Relations Research, 17(3), 191–216.

Bowen, S. (2016, June 24). Is PR ethical? Only when its practitioners are. PR Week. Retrieved from http://www.prweek.com/article/1400160/pr-ethical-when-its-practitioners

Grunig, J. E. (2014). Ethics problems and theories in public relations. Revue Internationale Communication Sociale et Publique, (11), 15–28.

Bivins, T. H. (1992). A systems model for ethical decision making in public relations. Public Relations Review, 18(4), 365–383.

Kim, J.-N., Ni, L., & Sha, B.-L. (2008). Breaking down the stakeholder environment: Explicating approaches to the segmentation of publics for public relations research. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 85(4), 751–768.

Thompson, P. B. (2012). Ethics and risk communication. Science Communication, 34(5), 618–641. http://doi.org/10.1177/1075547012459177

Kim, J.-N., & Grunig, J. E. (2011). Problem solving and communicative action: A situational theory of problem solving. Journal of Communication, 61(1), 120–149. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2010.01529.x

Kim, J.-N., & Ni, L. (2013). Two types of public relations problems and integrating formative and evaluative research: A review of research programs within the behavioral, strategic management paradigm. Journal of Public Relations Research, 25(1), 1–29. http://doi.org/10.1080/1062726X.2012.723276

Module Developer

Dr. Lisa Tam

Assistant Professor, Queensland University of Technology

Lisa Tam (Ph.D., Purdue University) is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) of Strategic Communication at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. Her primary research interests include public relations as relationship management, relational public diplomacy and the interdisciplinary application of communication research. She has developed the Relationship Assessment of Diplomatic Interaction Outcome (RADIO) scale to propose the integration of the concept of relationship in public relations into public diplomacy. Her research has been published in academic journals, edited books and conference proceedings, including upcoming and recent issues of Communication Research and Practice, Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies, Asian Journal of Business Ethics and Journal of Public Affairs.

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