An effective message isn’t necessarily an ethical message. Communication is unethical when it leaves
readers at a disadvantage or prevents them from making their best decisions.
• Recognize Unethical Communication
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Corporate scandals have brought attention to this issue recently
o Unethical communication has consequences
• Know the Major Causes of Unethical Communication
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To save face
To escape blame
To get ahead
When faced with conflicting values
Yielding to social pressure
Mistaking groupthink for teamwork (sometimes the right thing is not what is in the group’s
best interest)
Allowing personal bias to influence judgment (just because something is good for you doesn’t
mean it’s good—or real)
• Understanding the Potential for Communication Abuse
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Suppressing knowledge the public needs
o Profit concerns and company goals sometimes encourage the suppression of
information that might damage the company goals. If this information is needed by
the larger society to make important decisions, it is unethical to suppress it.
Hiding conflicts of interest
Exaggerating claims about technology
Falsifying or fabricating data
Using visual images that conceal the truth
Stealing or divulging proprietary information
Misusing electronic information
Withholding information people need for their jobs
Exploiting cultural differences
• Rely on Critical Thinking for Ethical Decisions
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Reasonable criteria for ethical judgment
o Obligation to ourselves
o Obligation to clients and customers
o Obligation to our company
o Obligation to coworkers
o Obligation to the community and society
o Ideals
o Consequences
Ethical Dilemmas
o A dilemma occurs when one set of values or obligations conflicts with another.
Sometimes what we think is the right thing to do will lead to unfortunate
consequences and thus we are momentarily stuck between two courses of action. If
you recognize that your employer is doing something wrong, you might "blow the
whistle" and thus satisfy your ideal of always doing what’s right. But then you might
be fired and your family would suffer.
• Anticipate Some Hard Choices
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What do I report to whom?
How much do I reveal or conceal?
To whom do I say what I have to say?
Could misplaced obligation to one party be causing me to deceive others?
• Never Depend Only on Legal Guidelines
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What is legal is not always what is right. The law allows people to make promises they know
they can’t keep, assure things that can’t be verified, claim credentials one does not have, and
exaggerate claims. These deceits are legal, but they are clearly unethical.
 There are some Legal Guidelines that can effect workplace communication
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Laws against deception
Laws against libel
Laws protecting employee privacy
Copyright laws
Laws against software theft
Laws against electronic theft
Laws against stealing or revealing trade secrets
Laws against deceptive or fraudulent advertising
Liability laws
• Learn to Recognize Plagiarism
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Respect other people’s work and document any use you make of it.
• Decide Where and How to Draw the Line
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If your employer asks you to help with an unethical cover up, your choices are limited: resign
or go public
o Resigning leaves you economically vulnerable
o Whistle-blowing has consequences, frequently including career disaster
o There is only limited legal protection for whistle-blowers
o Make it a habit to research a company's reputation before accepting a position