Systems Theory

Bivins introduced the systems theory into ethical decision making in public relations. As aforementioned in Lesson #1, ethics refers to making decisions that one could justify. Hence, ethics in a global context is about making decisions that one could justify in the context in which they operate for which public relations theories play an integral role.

According to Bivins, public relations practice should be considered in relation to the other units with which it operates interdependently, such as business and law, because such units co-exist in the environment and could affect the outputs. There are units which affect the operating environment more than others. There are units which affect the environment only under specific circumstances.

“A system in a state of disequilibrium with its environment will usually either try to adapt to the changes, or attempt to control the environmental forces causing the imbalance.” In this respect, the definition of public relations (in relation to how it responds to the system) could affect its four-step problem-solving model in terms of situation analysis (how an issue is defined and how publics are prioritized), strategic analysis (how to set goals and objectives and determine strategy and tactics), implementation (how to plan activities in relation to the objectives) and evaluation (how to evaluate the progress and effectiveness of the program and move on).

Bivins (1992) proposed a systems model of ethical decision making below:

When going through the process, moral obligations to the following must be considered: ourselves (in terms of preserving our own integrity), our clients (in terms of honoring contracts and acting on their behalf), our employer (in terms of adhering to its goal and policy), profession (in terms of upholding its standards) and society (in terms of considering its needs and claims).