Adv comm ethical communication 081515
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
1 like•1,304 views
Ethics in Business Communication
![Ethical communication is ...
“a system of written and unwritten moral principles and
codes that govern decisions and actions within a company
[or organization]…. [That system guides] what is
acceptable and unacceptable behavior in an organization.”
(Workplace-Communication.com, 2013)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
Similar to Adv comm ethical communication 081515
Similar to Adv comm ethical communication 081515 (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Adv comm ethical communication 081515
- 1. Ethical Communication Jo Mackiewicz, Co-Director, Advanced Communication Program
- 2. Ethical communication is ... “a system of written and unwritten moral principles and codes that govern decisions and actions within a company [or organization]…. [That system guides] what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior in an organization.” (Workplace-Communication.com, 2013)
- 3. Communicating ethically means you should… • Be accurate. • Be respectful. • Be sensitive to cultural differences. (MindEdge, 2009) • Be comprehensible. • Be complete in what you communicate.
- 4. Willerton’s (2015) BUROC model for using plain language •B = bureaucratic •U = unfamiliar •R and O = rights oriented •C = critical Source: Russell Willerton, Plain English and Ethical Action: A Dialogic Approach to Technical Content in the Twenty-First Century.
- 5. Creating ethical communication means asking… • Am I taking information from sources accurately? • Am I expressing it clearly and in ways they will understand? • Am I putting it in a format that helps them grasp it quickly? • Am I including all the information my audience needs? • Am I giving credit to all of the sources that I’ve used? • Am I respecting my audience and the entities represented in the document?
- 6. An example to consider… Berlin, June 5, 1942 Re: Changes for special vehicles now in service at Kulmhof (Chelmno) and for those now being built. Since December 1941, ninety-seven thousand have been processed by the three vehicles in service, with no major incidents. In the light of observations made so far, however, the following technical changes are needed: (1) The vans’ normal load is usually nine per square yard. In Saurer vehicles, which are very spacious, maximum use of space is impossible, not because of any possible overload, but because loading to full capacity would affect the vehicle’s stability. So reduction of the load space seems necessary. (2) The lighting must be better protected than now. The lamps must be enclosed in a steel grid to prevent their being damaged. (3) For easy cleaning of the vehicle, there must be a sealed drain in the middle of the floor. Signed: Just Source: Katz, S. B. (1992). The ethic of expediency: Classical rhetoric, technology, and the Holocaust. College English, 54, 255–275.
- 7. Some other sources on ethical communication: • Association for Business Communication. (2005). ABC Professional Ethics - Code of Conduct. • International Association of Business Communicators. (2015). IABC Code of Ethics. • Society for Technical Communication. (1998). Ethical Principles.
Editor's Notes
- Welcome to this short introduction to ethical communication. In this presentation, we will cover the components of ethical communication, and we will look at an example to illustrate those components.
- Ethical communication is “a system of written and unwritten moral principles and codes that govern decisions and actions within a company [or organization]. [That system guides] what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior in an organization” (Workplace-Communication.com, 2013). For example, in the Advanced Communication program, we accurately and correctly cite sources of information that we use in our documents. That is, we take steps to avoid plagiarism. In doing so, we follow an important ethical principle in the Advanced Communication program specifically and at Iowa State in general.
- To communicate ethically, you should follow these practices. First, you should be accurate in what you communicate. That means you should check your facts and numbers and be precise. Second, you should be respectful. That means communicating politely and professionally. Third, you should show sensitivity to cultural differences. That is, you should consider that people from other cultures have different expectations and values. Fourth, you should strive to be as comprehensible, as understandable, as possible. That means using plain English when you can and considering your audience’s expertise and experience as you choose your words, particularly technical or specialized words. It also means designing your document so that your audience can easily find, understand, and use the information they need. Fifth, you should be complete in what you communicate. That is, you should say or write all that your audience needs in order to understand and to use the document. You should also correctly cite all sources of information that you use to develop your document.
- In Plain English and Ethical Action, Russell Willerton discusses situations in which using plain language is particularly important. He uses an acronym, BUROC, to delineate these situations. B is for bureaucratic. These situations involve bureaucracies with policies and procedures that people must follow carefully. In these situations, the decision makers with whom people need to communicate are often in a different location or hidden behind the bureaucracy’s public façade. U is for unfamiliar. People might face such situations rarely or at least infrequently. Jargon, policies, and even facilities that citizens must use are not immediately at their command or recollection. R and O are for rights oriented. “These situations affect individuals’ choices to act within their rights—rights as citizens, as patients, as consumers, as humans.” C is for critical. These situations are important. They can have significant consequences for people. (2015, p. 15)
- Communicating ethically, then, means asking questions like these: Am I taking information from sources accurately? Am I expressing it clearly and in ways my audience will understand? Am I putting it in a format that helps my audience grasp it quickly? Am I including all the information my audience needs? Am I giving credit to all of the sources that I’ve used? Am I respecting my audience and the entities represented in the document?
- What does it mean to respect your audience and the entities represented in the document? Consider this case, a memo written by a Nazi officers to his superiors. Take a moment to read it through. This memo is quite clear in language and format. It is also complete. But this memo—its disregard for the human beings who would be carried on those vehicles—illustrates that communicating ethically involves more than clarity and completeness.
- Ethical communication is critical in this course and in the workplace. Here are some other sources, codes of conduct, related to ethical communication.