PR & Ethics Ch. 3

Professionalism

An occupation characterized by a prescriptive set of protocols for practitioners, often based on licensing, continuing education, a common lexicon, and professional duties and responsibilities.

Licensing

Compulsory standards (such as exams, training, and agreed-upon rules) that professionals must pass before they can legally do business with the public.

Accreditation (certification)

Voluntary credentials or standards that professionals can complete to earn recognition, higher salaries, and professional credibility.

Fiduciary responsibility

A component of professionalism involving the entrustment of funds and property, wherein a professional is ethically bound to act strictly in the best interest of their client.

Code of ethics

A stated set of values, core values, codes of conduct, or responsibilities adopted by professional associations or businesses to guide practitioner behavior.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX)

US legislation requiring publicly held stock-issuing corporations to strengthen financial reporting, protect investors, and publicly enact and make available a code of ethics.

Window dressing

The perfunctory creation of codes of ethics or compliance programs solely to look nice or meet legal requirements, without actively improving organizational decisions or culture.

Flog

A "fake blog" created under the guise of independent third-party users (such as paid actors impersonating travelers) to covertly market a client or product without ethical disclosure.

Normative ethical theory

Systematic theories that seek ideal, best-case solutions to moral issues by defining what is right, valuable, or good based on rational thought and moral principles.

Relativistic ethics

A non-normative approach holding that ethical solutions are relative to the culture, traditions, or geographic location in which the problem occurs.

Etiquette

Matters of voluntary politeness, custom, or respect (such as dress codes) rather than core moral ethics.

Moral pluralism

A non-normative state where radically different and irreconcilable views of right and wrong are held by groups, which can lead to social fragmentation if basic principles aren't shared.

Legalism

The thinking mistake of assuming that codifying laws equates to resolving ethical problems, often defended by the phrase "if it's not illegal, it must be okay"

Situational ethics

An atheoretical, context-dependent approach where solutions depend entirely on specific circumstances without underlying moral principles, risking the justification of harmful acts.

Rational thought

Seeking evidence, facts, meritorious arguments, and unbiased assessments to minimize bias and respect all stakeholders.

Consequentialist

An approach to ethics that uses the projected outcomes or consequences of an act to determine what is ethical.

Non-consequentialist

An approach to ethics where actions are driven by moral duty, universal principles, or internal character rather than predicting outcomes.

Utilitarianism

A consequentialist normative theory that defines the ethical as that which creates the greatest good (or happiness) for the greatest number of people.

Deontology

A duty-based, non-consequentialist normative theory (originated by Kant) that requires respecting universal moral law and good intention regardless of outcomes.

Virtue

A non-consequentialist normative theory focused on moral character, integrity, self-reflection, and practicing a life well-lived for human flourishing.

Normative process

The deep process of analysis, discovery, fact-finding, dialogue, and testing ideas to resolve complicated arguments with competing demands.

Systems theory

A normative theory explaining how an organization interacts with its external environment through an open, permeable boundary.

Boundary spanning

The function of purposefully crossing organizational boundaries (like strategic communicators do) to research external stakeholders and bring environmental information inside.

Input, throughput, output, and feedback

The cyclical information flow in systems theory where external data enters an organization (input), is analyzed (throughput), crosses back out to the public (output), and generates stakeholder reactions (feedback).