2.1 Introduction
In this chapter we examine how the philosophical world of ethics can be applied to organizational communication. When people hear the word “ethics” used in modern society, many different images and incidents quickly come to mind. Sadly, the 21st Century has already been plagued with many ethical lapses in the business sector. Turn on any major global news station, newspaper, magazine, or podcast and you’re likely to hear about some business that is currently in a state of crisis due to lapses in ethical judgment. Table 2.1 contains a short list of organizations and their various ethical lapses in judgment.
| Organization | Ethical Lapse |
| Arthur Andersen | Accounting fraud and shredding documents wanted in a criminal investigation |
| Boeing | Industrial espionage |
| Bridgestone-Firestone | Delaying a recall of defective tires |
| Catholic Church | Sex abuse and cover up |
| Coca-Cola | Taking groundwater from local farmers in India |
| Enron | Accounting fraud |
| Martha Stewart, Inc. | CEO committed insider trading with her sale of her ImClone stock |
| McDonald’s | Eight individuals provided winning game pieces from McDonald’s Monopoly game to family and friends |
| Merrill Lynch | Lying to investors |
| Napster | Digital copyright violations |
| Parmalat | Italian dairy company’s fraudulent accounting practices |
| Sanlu Group Co. | Chinese based company knowing distributes tainted baby formula |
| Tyco | CEO was caught embezzling funds |
| US Military | Prisoner abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan |
| WorldCom | Accounting fraud |
| Xerox | Exaggerating revenues |
In this chapter, four distinct areas of ethical understanding will be explored: nature of ethics, business ethics, communication ethics, and organizational communication ethics.
