1. Public Relations and Ethics: When
the twain can meet
Real ethical behavior is expensive, and that's where the PR
industry's ethical dilemma originates.
DR ARCHANA R SINGH

2. Why does PR face ethical questions?
 They have to be creative as well
as competitive
 Have to work within 5 ethical
duties
a. Duty to self
b. Duty to consumer/client
c. Duty to
employer/organisation
d. Duty to colleagues
e. Duty to society

3. Factors that complicate ethical decision making
 Extended consequences: Trickle
down effect
 Many alternatives: Beyond the
`Yes’ &`No’
 Mixed outcomes: Both benefits
and costs that cannot be predicted
 Uncertain consequences: Rarely
free of risk or doubt
 Personal implications:
Intertwined with personal
values/beliefs

4. What should one do?
 Understand that ethics are
norms not rules
 Norms are based on
individual/societal beliefs
 Ethical codes have to be an
extension of personal moral
beliefs or they create conflicts
 Codes should be clearly
defined
 Personal interpretations of
codes creates conflicts
 Mission Statements of
companies make codes
universally known

5. What is more important?
 Process of decision making? i.e. Deontological
 Outcome of decisions ? i.e. Teleological
 Intents and motives are part of the Deontological
process, however, correct decisions produce best
consequences. Ex: Coke & Pepsi. Delayed decision
making led to loss of trust. Silence did not prove
to be golden.

6. 7 Ethical Norms
 The golden mean: Moderation
as opposed to extremes or
excesses Ex: Maintaining
objectivity, Principle of balance
in news
 Judeo- Christian: `Do unto
others as you would have
others do unto you’ ` Love thy
neighbour as thyself'.
Considering how the decisions
would impact others. Ex:
Tylenol (Johnson and
Johnson)
 The Categorical Imperative:
Sense of moral duty

7. Norms based on Teleological process
 Egalitarian: `Veil of ignorance’
Process of elimination of
biases, and treating everyone as
equal.
 Utilitarian: For the happiness of
the greatest number of people.
Also called `greatest good’
 Relativism: What is best for one
may not be best for all. Gives rise
to `Situational ethics’ Ex: Union
Carbide
 Social Responsibility: Decisions to
save the society. Increases the
element of trust.

8. Why do crisis happen?
 Lapse vs. breach of trust .Ex:
Firestone Case: Loss of
revenue vis-à-vis loss of life.
Withholding information
 A company might be able to
get away with fooling lots of
customers for some of the
time, but not all customers all
the time. Ex: Microsoft-
Broken promises
 Contrary to popular belief, a
crisis may not be necessarily
bad. It is merely characterized
by a certain degree of risk and
uncertainty. Ex: Cadbury:
Time for change

9. Mumbai terror attack
 On 26 November, 2008, the
world experienced the most
publicized sudden crisis, which
was outbreak of anti social
activity against common people of
India. Total 183 people lost their
lives and 314 were seriously
injured in almost three days of
terror
 At the same time Indian
Government was blamed by
foreign government, international
organizations & international
press for being reluctant to admit
the outbreak of terror attack.

10. Master List of Reputation Repair Strategies
• Attack the accuser: confront the person or group claiming something is wrong with the
organisation.
• Denial: assert that there is no crisis.
• Scapegoat: blame some person or group outside of the organization for the crisis.
• Excuse: minimize organizational responsibility by denying intent to do harm and/or
claiming inability to control the events that triggered the crisis.
• Provocation: crisis was a result of response to some one else’s actions.
• Defeasibility: lack of information about events leading to crisis situation.
• Accidental: lack of control over events leading to crisis situation.
• Good intentions: organization meant to do well.
• Justification: minimize the perceived damage caused by the crisis.

11. Master List of Reputation Repair Strategies
• Reminder: tell stakeholder about
the past good works of the
organization. Integration: praise
stakeholders for their actions.
• Compensation: offer money or
gifts to victims.
• Apology: indicate the
organization takes full
responsibility for the crisis and
asks for forgiveness.
Which of these was evident in the Mumbai terror attack case?

12. archana@pu.ac.in