Ethical Communication
Ethical Communication
Communication Management 355, Section W01
Professor Madge Johnson
April 17, 2013
Ethical Communication By definition ethical communication is “communication that is honest, fair and considerate of others’ rights.” Communication plays a key role in organizations, without communication, it’s impossible for an organization function let alone prospers. With the advent of new technologies, evenhanded communication is much more commonplace. For the purposes of this paper, I will examine ethical communication from a managerial standout beginning with how much is enough? From November 2003 until May 2009, I worked for Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) on a federal government contract administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) known as the National Flood Insurance Policy (NFIP). It was literally a dream come true for me. I knew going into the experience that the contract came up for recompete or renewal every five years and therefore, if I FEMA decided to take the contract from CSC and award it to another company, I’d be out of a job. CSC had been the only contractor since the program’s inception in 1983. While I was employed at CSC, the company retained the contract during the 2005 recompete period. However, CSC lost the contract bid in 2008 and in the year and a half that followed, even though managers knew just about everything as to whether or not CSC employees would be laid off or retain our jobs, the employees (myself included) were constantly kept in the dark. The CSC managers were aware of things that for whatever reason, non-managerial employees at the company were not made aware of. The question of whether or not what transpired at CSC with regard to ethical communication lends itself to interpretation but I can tell you, in my opinion, there was no communication at all let alone ethical communication. In all my eighteen years of working, I have yet to view any organization’s official standing
Communication Management 355, Section W01
Professor Madge Johnson
April 17, 2013
Ethical Communication By definition ethical communication is “communication that is honest, fair and considerate of others’ rights.” Communication plays a key role in organizations, without communication, it’s impossible for an organization function let alone prospers. With the advent of new technologies, evenhanded communication is much more commonplace. For the purposes of this paper, I will examine ethical communication from a managerial standout beginning with how much is enough? From November 2003 until May 2009, I worked for Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) on a federal government contract administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) known as the National Flood Insurance Policy (NFIP). It was literally a dream come true for me. I knew going into the experience that the contract came up for recompete or renewal every five years and therefore, if I FEMA decided to take the contract from CSC and award it to another company, I’d be out of a job. CSC had been the only contractor since the program’s inception in 1983. While I was employed at CSC, the company retained the contract during the 2005 recompete period. However, CSC lost the contract bid in 2008 and in the year and a half that followed, even though managers knew just about everything as to whether or not CSC employees would be laid off or retain our jobs, the employees (myself included) were constantly kept in the dark. The CSC managers were aware of things that for whatever reason, non-managerial employees at the company were not made aware of. The question of whether or not what transpired at CSC with regard to ethical communication lends itself to interpretation but I can tell you, in my opinion, there was no communication at all let alone ethical communication. In all my eighteen years of working, I have yet to view any organization’s official standing
References: Moreno, CM. An approach to ethical communication from the point of view of management responsibilities. The importance of communication in organizations. Ramon Llull J Appl Ethics 2010; 1:97-108 Anthony, Leigh. About communication & ethical issues in business. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/communication-ethical-issues-business-4886.html Thompson, Margot. Organization communication. The trickle-down effect of management behavior. Incedo Group, LLC. 2007 Putnam, Mark. Ethical communications. Spinning the truth. Retrieved from http://www.character-ethics.org/articles/spinningthetruth.htm