Public relations professionals face a variety of ethical issues every day. Frequently they do not have the time to examine all sides of the issues. How can PR professionals, agencies and other communications professionals train their ethical mind to make the right call, even under time pressure. What are 10 common types of failure? How is social media changing the dynamic? This presentation was first given at the 2012 PRCA Conference in Hunstville, AL

1. TRAINING YOUR ETHICAL MIND
#PRCA12
Mark W. McClennan, APR
Senior Vice President, Schwartz MSL
National Board of Directors, PRSA
mmcclennan@schwartzmsl.com
@mcclennan

2. Four Golden Rules of Ethics Today
 Be transparent
 Accept you have lost control
 Be ever vigilant
 The curtain (and safety net) is gone
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3. Ptching - Prioritizing
 You’ve found them, how do you determine which
ones matter



Character
Remember CAIT
Use the MAP
Focus on those with the most relevance and that arewhat you by in the dark
is linked to are
other blogs
 Each requires a subtly different approach
Dwight Moody and Buckaroo Banzai
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4. “Trust is like the air we breathe. When it’s
present, nobody really notices. But when
it’s absent, everybody notices.”
-- Warren Buffett
Slide Source: Michael G. Cherenson, APR, Oct. 2008
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5. Trust Matters
 If a company loses trust
 76% of people say they simply stop buying the product
 If a company earns consumer trust
 42% will buy more products
 54% will recommend the product to others
UK Consumer Trust Index
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6. People are 5x more likely to make the ethical decision
when they have time to think
Academy of Management 2012
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7. Why?
“Immediate, automatic moral intuitions tend to be selfish,
given that self-interest is a basic, instinctual response to
external stimuli.
In contrast, conscious, deliberative thought adds social
concerns, setting off a battle within the individual that pits
the strength of self-interested intuitive desires against the
constraints established by social learning.“
- Academy of Management 2012
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8. A more accurate picture
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9. The time to discuss is not now…
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10. Or when studying for this…
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11. It’s Now….
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12. Do our ethical guideposts come from here?
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13. Ethical Decisions and an
Ethical Culture Come From
You
The 10,000 hour rule gives
us one hint
Ethical decision-making can
be trained
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14. Ten Types of PR Ethics Failure
1. Failure to Plan
2. Failure of Response and Engagement
3. Failure of Attention
4. Failure of Complacency/Neglect
5. Failure of Conformity
6. Failure of Training
7. Failure of Trust
8. Failure of Intelligence
9. Failure of Courage/Seizing the Moment
10.Failure of Evaluation
Most failures incorporate multiple types.
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15. Failure Spectrum
Incident Event Catastrophe
*Note: Highly Subjective and Situational

16. Train your Ethical Mind
Ethics must be honed like a golfer hones their swing...
Better able to execute under pressure
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17. How does it work…Practice, Practice, Practice
We don’t think ethics first all the time, so need to condition our minds
to always use the ethics prism.
• Make ethics discussions a regular part of communications meetings
• Ethical discussions are not the sole province of the communications team
• 100 years of trust can be broken by an intern or min wage employee
• Flag interesting items for execs
• Have regular ethics discussion with your staff
• Involve agency and client
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18. How do you make it happen, really?
• Highlight a situation you have seen of a recent ethical misstep.
• Ask everyone if they saw it and what they thought.
• Don’t give your opinion until the end; let the discussion flow freely.
• Have others bring examples
• This ongoing exercise will train employees to:
• Think ethically
• Understand the importance you put on ethics
• Might uncover issues you haven’t considered
• Pays dividends in agency/client relationship
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19. Don’t do it all yourself. Use Outside Coaching:
 Look to the codes
 PRSA Code of Ethics
 WOMMA Code of Ethics
 Arthur Page Society’s Principles
 Codes are references. Don’t memorize.
 Going back to reexamine can help you
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20. PRSA Code of Ethics
Values Provisions
1. Fairness 1. Free Flow of Information
2. Independence 2. Competition
3. Advocacy 3. Disclosure of Information
4. Honesty 4. Safeguarding Confidences
5. Expertise 5. Conflicts of Interest
6. Loyalty 6. Enhancing the Profession

21. The Page Principles
(The Arthur W. Page Society includes PR leaders from America’s leading corporations)
 Tell the truth.
 Prove it with action.
 Listen to the customer.
 Manage for tomorrow.
 Conduct public relations as if the whole company depends on it.
 Realize a company’s true character is expressed by its people.
 Remain calm, patient and good-humored.
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22. Beyond the Codes, know the laws
 FTC and Mom Blogs
 State Laws – Tim Cahill
 TV Ads
 Unclaimed property
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23. Ethical Engagement is Just the Beginning
Engagement
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24. Is just the beginning
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25. Once is not enough
 Just because you hit the perfect drive once, doesn’t mean
you will do it again.
 Make this a regular part (at least bi-weekly) discussion of
every meeting
 Embed it in your culture….
 Reward ethical behavior
 Give ethics awards
 Highlight in your award apps
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26. Constantly Ask the Tough Qs
 Black & White is easy. It’s the grey that gets is in trouble.
 Ask prospective employees and agencies:
 What would you do?
 What is a difficult ethical decision you have had to make or
 Give an example of a recent ethical lapse in the industry, how would you
change?
 Wait for in person
 Make ethics Qs a part of the hiring process
 Start training at the newest employee
 You will be amazed at differences of opinion
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27. My Ethics Methodology
Identify
the Issue
Define
What’s
Revisit
Causing
Training Concern
Your Ethics
Mind
Make
Discuss
the Call
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28. Enough Theory
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29. Social Media activities that have damaged
reputations and destroyed trust.
FACEBOOK FIASCO: OUR INDUSTRY IS BETTER THAN THIS
--- PR Week
FTC ISSUES $250,000 FINE FOR FAKE ONLINE REVIEWS
--- Ragan’s PR Daily
WHOLE FOODS CEO CRITICIZED RIVAL IN ANONYMOUS POSTS
--- Bloomberg News
KENNETH COLE’S EGYPT TWEET OFFENDS JUST ABOUT
EVERYONE ON TWITTER
--- AOL.News
(From PRSA Ethics Presentation)
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30. Gifts: The Good
“The only request we have of you is
that you please make sure that, if
you choose to write about the
camera, you make it clear how
you got it.” - Nikon
© Nikon 29

31. Some ethical slippery slopes today
 PR Measurement
 There is no one true answer, but there are unethical ones
 PR pros inflate
 PR pros add multiples
 PR pros don’t divide by 30
 PR pros report based on total Twitter followers, really?
 Don’t pass the buck to the vendors
 Barcelona Declaration of Principles a good start
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32. Ethics in Twitter
 How do you have your employees and agency disclose?
 Will folks remember where you are from?
 At MSLGROUP, we make it simple. #cl or #client in every
single tweet mentioning a client
 Not just you and your employees
 Get the brand advocates on board as well
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33. New ethical challenges facing the industry
 Astroturfing
 Brand journalism?
 Interns paid v unpaid?
 Freelancers?
 Recording?
 How do you monitor for violations?
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34. Practical Transparency
Be transparent (and professional)
 For blogging/tweeting:
 Identify yourself as either:
 Being with agency/client
 Being with the PR Agency for your client
 Or when mentioning their name state “(my client)”
 Once is not enough. Each and every time
 When creating a site/social network/fan page
 Disclose early and often
 Remember:
 Transparency does not mean tell everything – “No” is still an option
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35. Be Prepared for the
Barbeque
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36. Practical Advice
 When did you last
update your social
media guidelines?
 What training have
you given ALL
employees?
 Are you prepared to
respond? Who?
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37. Discussion Topic #1
 Blogging
 You are made aware that one of your employees loves wine and is a
B-list wine blogger. You work for a wine company.
 Should your employee blog about your wine? If so, how?
 Your competitors?
 What about twittering about what they drink?
 Every Tweet?
 Is the bio enough?
 Your CEO wants the company to have a blog to communicate with
key stakeholders. It should be attributed to him.
 Who writes it?
 The power of teams
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38. Discussion Topic #2
 Information
 You are working on an important new business presentation. You get
some great ideas from your competitors blog posts.
 Can you use them?
 What if they are in a slide deck linked to the blog that says
“confidential”?
 Not for use without permission?
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39. Concluding
Thoughts

40. Every day
 Slips happen because we allow them
 Every member of management, every employee is your ethics guardian
 Mistakes will happen.
 Prevent the ones you can
 Respond quickly
 How you react to the others will shape public reaction.
 Train Your Ethical Mind
 You are not alone:
 PRSA Code of Ethics
 WOMMA Code of Ethics
 Most PRSA chapters have an ethics officer
 A vibrant community – 8,700+ blog posts on the topic
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41. Ethics ≠ Smart
Unethical = Dumb
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42. Bottom Line:
Reputation is based on trust.
Profits come from strong reputations.
Strong reputations come from ethical decisions.
Ethical decisions can and must be trained.

43. Questions?
Mark W. McClennan, APR
mmcclennan@schwartzmsl.com
www.schwartzmsl.com/crossroads
Twitter: @McClennan
P: 781-684-0770