ETHICS IN COMMUNICATION: A FOCUS ON VERBAL

AND NON-VERBAL SEXUAL HARASSMENT

CECILIA LIWANAG – CALUB, PH.D.

Professor 1, Tarlac State University
Tarlac City, Philippines

When communicating, we do not simply choose words; we choose words for the effect they will
have on our audiences, on ourselves, and ultimately, on society. Thus, when we communicate,
we cannot escape ethical questions, questions which ask how helpful or harmful our actions are.
An awareness of the ethical dimensions of communication provides us with a deeper
understanding of ourselves and of our potential as human beings.

WHAT IS ETHICS?

Ethics refers to the principles of conduct that govern a person or a group. It is a system of moral
principles that deals with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and
wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such
actions.

WHAT IS ETHICS IN COMMUNICATION?

The principle governing communication, the right and wrong aspects of it, the moral- immoral
dimensions relevant to communication is called the ethics of communication.

In corporate life, ethics in communication include several main aspects: the way
management communicates with subordinates, the way each employee represents the company
to other organizations or persons and the way people communicate between each other within
the organization. Many companies have sophisticated regulations on what is ethical and what is
unacceptable in communication. These regulations may also concern the company's operations,
values and image.

In communication between colleagues ethics most often includes requirements for

tolerating differences and does not allow offensive communication.

Unethical people say or do whatever it takes to achieve an end. Ethical people are
generally trustworthy, fair and impartial, respecting the rights of others and concerned about the
impact of their actions on society. It is also popularly defined as the knowledge between what you
have a right to do and what is the right thing to do.

IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN COMMUNICATION?

In communication, ethics work to enhance credibility, improve the decision-making process and
allow for trust between the two parties. Ethics provide the groundwork for right and wrong, allowing
two parties to communicate with a basic understanding of what is expected.

One purpose of ethics is to avoid doing harm and this is vital in communication because
it works to build trust. It permits both parties to define what is acceptable and forges better
relations between individuals and different departments, in the case of organizations.

The same level and understanding of ethics applies to all forms of communication,
including verbal, written and digital.

WHAT IS AN ETHICAL MESSAGE?

An ethical message is accurate and sincere. It avoids language that manipulates, discriminates,
or exaggerates. To communicate ethically, we should not hide negative information behind an
optimistic attitude. We should not state opinions as facts, and we have to be sure to portray
graphic data fairly. Being honest with others and never seeking personal gain by making others
look better or worse than they are signs of ethical behavior.

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 Being ethical means not allowing personal preferences to influence our perception or the
perception of others. As we face the ethical challenges in communicating with others, the given
guidelines in this unit can help us decide how to act. But deciding what is ethical can be quite
complex.

When considering interpersonal communication, ethics is equal to personal responsibility

for the relationship between the involved people. Psychologists say that good interpersonal
communication ethics is important to relationships between people. The notion of responsibility
engages a communicator with an ethical charge to involve in practices that bind a given
relationship together (Cheney, May & Munshi 20111)

WHAT IS ETHICAL COMMUNICATION?

There are many debates on what exactly is ethical communication.

Ethical communication includes all relevant information, true in every sense, and not
deceptive in any way.

An ethical message is accurate and sincere. It avoids language that manipulates,

discriminates or exaggerates. To communicate ethically, do not hide negative information behind
an optimistic attitude, don’t state opinions as facts, and be sure to portray graphic fairly. Be honest
with employers, co-workers and clients, and never seek personal gain by making others look
better or worse than they are. Don’t allow preferences to influence your perception or the
perception of others. In short, act in good faith. (Bovee, Thill and Schatzman 2004)

A blanket obligation to communicate ethically can be too vague to be helpful in specific

situations. Business professor Gene R. Laczniak (past president of the Macromarketing Society,
an international group of business scholars who conduct research into the interactions among
marketing, markets and society) suggests five ethical standards that may help communicators
decide how to behave in a principled manner.

1. The Golden Rule Standard: Is this the way in which I would want to be treated by
others?
2. The Professional Ethic: How would this action be judged by an impartial jury of
my professional peers?
3. Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative: Could our society continue to function
if everyone acted in this fashion?
4. The Utilitarian Rule: Does this action do the most good for the most people over
the greatest period of time?
5. The “60- Minute Test”: Would you be comfortable explaining your behavior on
the famous national television show?

One place to look for guidance is the law. however, though legal considerations will
resolve some ethical questions, we often rely on our own judgment and principles. We might look
at consequences of our message and opt for the solution that provides the greatest good to the
greatest number of people – a solution that we can live with.

According to Kenneth Blanchard and Norman Vincent Peale, authors of The Power of
Ethical Management (1988), there are four questions we should ask ourselves whenever we are
faced with an ethical dilemma:

1. Is it legal? Will I be violating either civil law or company policy?

2. Is it balanced? Is it fair to all concerned in the short term as well as the long term? Does it
promote win-win relationships?

3. How will it make me feel about myself? Will it make me feel proud? Would I feel good if my
decision was published in the newspaper? Would I feel good if my family knew about it?

4. Is it feasible? Can it work in the real world? Have you considered your position in the
company? Your company’s competition? Its financial and political strength? The likely cost or
risks of your message? The time available?

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 WHAT IS UNETHICAL COMMUNICATION?

By contrast, unethical communication can include falsehoods and misleading information (or
exclude important information). Some examples of unethical communication include:

1. Plagiarism. Stealing someone else’s words or work and claiming it as your own.
2. Selective Misquoting. Deliberately omitting damaging or unflattering comments
to paint a better (but untruthful) picture of you or your company.
3. Misrepresenting Numbers. Increasing or decreasing numbers, exaggerating,
altering statistics, or omitting numerical data.
4. Distorting Visuals. Making a product look bigger or changing the scale of graphs
and charts to exaggerate or conceal differences.

PRINCIPLES OF ETHICAL COMMUNICATION AND DECISION MAKING

(Schmidt, 2011)

Many ethical principles, such as honesty and treating people with respect, are parallel to those in
the for-profit world. In both the for-profit and nonprofit worlds, a good rule of thumb when making
a decision is to ask whether you would want to be treated the same way and whether you would
be comfortable seeing your decision on the front page of the local newspaper..

HONESTY: Being honest is perhaps the most obvious ethical principle and the one that, when
not followed, most quickly damages an organization's reputation. In theory, honesty is easy; in
practice, it is more difficult. A few typical situations come to mind. Are you being truthful when you
present a rosy picture on a grant application, knowing that your organization, like all others, faces
some problems? How honest are you when you estimate the proportion of your budget that goes
to fundraising and the percentage that goes to programs?

In both cases, being scrupulously honest might lose your organization some much-
needed funding. Being less than honest, however, can be even more costly in the long run.

All organizations need to consider the truthfulness of their statements, avoid

exaggerations and statements that have an air of untruth, and recognize that omitting a statement
can be the same as telling a lie.

OPENNESS: A corollary of honesty is transparency. Organizations can maintain the public trust
by being particularly open about their operations. By law you must make your Form 990 available
to the public, but you can and should do more to let the public know about your organization.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: Conflicts of interest appear with regularity in an organization. Board

members are often chosen because their professional abilities can provide a service to the
organization. Moreover, they are likely to be involved with several boards in the same community.
Volunteers, employees, and even clients can also face conflicts of interest.

Should a lawyer on the board offer to do legal work for the organization? Does it matter if
the lawyer offers the services on a reduced basis or for free? Should the headmaster of a private
school in a market with very high housing costs obtain a loan from the nonprofit to pay his or her
mortgage? Should a major donor be given special privileges? Should a client/board member
receive the organization's services before other clients? Can an employee ever accept a gift from
a client?

The first step in answering these questions is to recognize that a conflict of interest exists.

PRIVACY: Some types of organizations have always been particularly sensitive to privacy issues.
Medical organizations, for example, must protect patient confidentiality, and libraries fiercely
guard their patrons' information. The rest of us should also consider whether to protect our clients'
and customers' privacy, even when the fact that they use our services is less sensitive.

Donor lists create their own privacy issues. Although many non-profits rent or sell their
donor lists without asking the contributors' permission, codes of ethics increasingly forbid doing
so without at least giving the donor the ability to remove his or her information from such lists.
The Internet adds another layer to this discussion, as donor addresses, credit card numbers, and
other personal information can easily be sent to many unscrupulous people.

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FUNDRAISING ISSUES: Non-profit fundraising raises special ethical issues. Among them is
whether it is ever ethical to pay a fundraiser a percentage of the money raised. The Association
of Fundraising

But fundraising has other ethical issues. Not only should the fundraising materials and
solicitations be honest3 but the organization should use the funds for the purpose specified before
the donation was made. Sometimes, especially when situations change, it becomes difficult to
keep these promises, but they should be kept unless the donor agrees to the change.

What if a donor makes unreasonable demands on an organization, such as asking for

benefits not accorded to other donors? Should you accept a large gift from someone for a purpose
that veers from your mission? What if the donor will give money only if you forego funds from a
different source? These are not easy questions, but they are ones that non-profits deal with
frequently, and they should be considered before such situations actually arise.

TREATING EMPLOYEES, VOLUNTEERS, AND CLIENTS WITH RESPECT: Finally, it should

go without saying that employees, volunteers, and clients should be treated with respect. Non-
profits should never engage in discrimination or harassment. These are not difficult ethical issues;
unfortunately, they are sometimes difficult for ordinary humans to follow.

WHAT IS CONFLICT OF INTEREST?

A conflict of interest is a situation in which an individual has competing interests or loyalties

because of their duties to more than one person or organization. A person with a conflict of interest
can't do justice to the actual or potentially conflicting interests of both parties.1

Conflicts of interest involve a person who has two relationships that might compete with
each other for the person's loyalties. For example, the person might have a loyalty to an employer
and also loyalty to a family business. Each of these businesses expects the person to have its
best interest first. Thus, the conflict.

A conflict of interest can exist in many different situations, involving personal loyalty and
loyalty to a private employer, a government employer, or a professional relationship. The easiest
way to explain the concept of conflict of interest is by using some examples:

 A public official whose personal interests conflict with their expected loyalty to the
organization.
 A person who has a position of authority in one business that conflicts with his or her
interests in another business or organization.
 An attorney who attempts to represent both parties in a divorce. 1

Examples of Conflict of Interest:

Several common activities that can create a conflict of interest are nepotism, self-dealing, and
excess compensation.

Nepotism is the practice of giving favors to relatives and close friends, in matters of hiring,
promotion, transfer, or termination. The term comes from the word for "nephew," it was common
practice in ancient times. Nepotism is considered a conflict of interest because the relative may
not be the best person for the job.2

Self-dealing is an action taken by a corporate fiduciary (someone who has a fiduciary duty) for
that person's personal gain, rather than for the benefit of the company. Examples including using
corporation funds as a personal loan, or buying company stock based on insider information (also
an insider trading violation), 3

Excess compensation. In a non-profit organization, setting compensation or benefits for officers,

directors or trustees may result in a conflict of interest. For example, paying an employee in a
position or substantial authority excessive compensation serves a private interest.4

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 OTHER ACTIONS THAT CAN BE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

1. Asking for and taking bribes (giving something with the intent to influence)5
2. Asking for or accepting gifts because of an official position in a government organization
(some businesses also have policies against taking gifts from customers)
3. Misuse of an official position to get something not entitled to that would not be properly
available to other individuals in your situation, like doing personal business on company
time or avoiding a speeding ticket by showing a government ID.
4. Asking someone else to do something that's not available to others in your position,
like asking an assistant to run personal errands.
5. Presenting a false claim to an employer for a payment or benefit, like filing a false
timesheet for time not worked.
6. Improperly disclosing or personally using confidential information gained through the
job
7. Taking a second job that conflicts with duties with the primary job. Just taking a second
job isn't necessarily a conflict of interest. But if an employee in the accounting department
had a second job with an accounting firm that did work for the employer, that could be a
conflict. 6

AVOID WHAT LOOKS LIKE A CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Even the appearance of a conflict can be prohibited. A public employee, for example, who acts
in a manner that would make a reasonable person think they can be influenced could be charged
with conflict of interest. 6

Want to avoid possible charges of conflict of interest? Making a public disclosure of the
facts and of potential conflicts or recusing (removing) yourself from a decision can show your
understanding of policy or law.

REFERENCES

Adler, R.B. & Elmhorst, J.M. (2002). Communicating at work. Boston: McGraw Hill.

Blanchard, K. & Peale, N.V. (1988). The power of ethical management., pp. 7 – 17.

Laczniak, G.R. (1983). “Framework for Analyzing Marketing Ethics” in Adler , R.B. & Elmhorst,
J.M. (2002) Communicating at work. New York: The McGraw Hills Companies.

Republic Act 7877: Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995. Retrieved @ https:// pcw. gov. ph/law/
republic-act-7877

Schmidt, E. (2011). How ethical is your non-profit organization? Guide Star.

Smith, M.H. (2005). The legal, professional, and ethical dimensions of higher education.
Philadelphia, USA: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins