A QUESTION OF ETHICS.

Think you know your way around ethical issues? Try your hand at the following question -- then turn to page 38 to see how your response compares with that of the IABC ethics committee We'll be posting queries such as this in future issues of Communication World to bring more awareness to this question of ethics that often poses dilemmas in the work place.

Situation: A senior executive in your company is trying to become president of a professional organization. While helping her write a major speech to the organization, you get a copy of biographical information she provided to them. You notice something curious and compare it to biographical files in your office. The information doesn't match. She seems to have claimed a fictitious degree and has inflated other facts and credentials. In a meeting with her, you point out the discrepancy, and she tells you "it's not to worry about."

Do you:

A. Take her advice and not worry about it.

B. Contact the association directly to correct the information.

C. Correct the information without telling her about it.

D. Bring the matter to an authority's attention if the senior executive doesn't correct the problem.

Answer: D. This requires tact and diplomacy, but the communicator must be willing, in a worst-case scenario, to bring the matter to an authority's attention if the senior executive doesn't correct the problem. Under the IABC code of ethics Article 2, professional communicators have an obligation "to disseminate accurate information and promptly correct any erroneous communication for which they may be responsible."