What is your greatest ethical obstacle as a PR or communication practitioner? (Global Perspectives).

CANADA

The biggest ethical dilemma for any communicator is to determine the difference between unethical behavior and just poor communication, or, rather, when to take a stand and when to let go. This is why communicators are often not granted a seat at the coveted "strategic table." To executives, we can look like disapproving grannies or softheaded liberals.

But we are our company's conscience--the apologist for stakeholders who do not have a voice and the sober second thought. Successful communicators teach leaders to walk the moral high ground, in word and in deed, to the benefit of the enterprise's reputation. The communicator who can overcome ethical obstacles and prevent bad business decisions will become a trusted senior adviser.

RON SHEWCHUK, ABC 

Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

UNITED STATES 

My department's scope of responsibility includes fund development, so errors in professional judgment can result in costly mistakes, such as the potential loss of a donor or loss of political support. My greatest challenge, therefore, is to continually mentor a team of ethical and proactive leaders who are capable of building and sustaining long-term, productive relationships.

The most important thing I can do is provide timely, sincere and constructive leadership by helping my directors develop a unified vision; challenging negative, unproductive thinking when needed (rather than pretending that everything is fine); recognizing and rewarding those who take the high road in decision making; and encouraging fresh, entrepreneurial thinking by creating a safe place for exploring ideas.

CAROL A. POORE, ABC

Tempe, Ariz., USA

LATIN AMERICA

One of our clients wanted to create a culture of open communication within the organization. During the change-development process, however, we discovered that the practice of hiding information with the intention of using it to blackmail others or for personal advancement was so deeply rooted that a change in corporate values would be very difficult. For the culture change to be successful, all members of the organization had to share and buy into the new values.

This meant that the leaders of the old culture had to be identified and separated from the organization. Doing so, however, meant concealing information pertaining to this process, a direct contradiction to our primary goal of creating a transparent culture of communication.

ALEJANDRA BRANDOLINI

Buenos Aires, Argentina

EUROPE

Many countries in continental Europe have long upheld corporate governance as a visible yardstick for corporate ethics. Defined corporate structures with oversight by supervisory boards--mandated by governments--is a common method of demonstrating adherence to such policies, lessening the risks of questionable actions by maverick managements. Nevertheless, as business continues to globalize, the risk of ethical failure while trying to grab more market share is ever present, especially in developing countries where cultural and business practices differ. A major challenge for communicators is continually educating stakeholders that ethical behavior has a direct relationship to the organization's financial health and overall reputation. Indeed, reputation (sullied or unsullied) is the bottom line for ethics. And that's a universal challenge.

NEVILLE C HOBSON, ABC

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

ASIA 

In Malaysia, many members of the communication/public relations industry are not trained professionals who have gone through college programmes or tertiary education. As such, they are perhaps unaware of the ethical demands of the profession.

At issue is the practice of clients demanding--and communicators offering--guaranteed media coverage. This practice stems from a lack of knowledge of service seekers and communication service providers who are motivated by profits, thus throwing ethics to the wind.

Our ABC chapter holds programmes to educate others on how professional communication really works. I also present papers at seminars and provide media skills coaching workshops.

These small attempts do work and I can see some changes happening in the industry.

AISHA RASHID

Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

AFRICA 

Last year, the Ethics Institute of South Africa conducted a confidential survey of 53 companies listed on the JSE Securities Exchange. The published findings revealed discrepancies between the ethical practices that managers said were in place at their organizations and what employees reported to be in place.

It would be brave for a single employee to take on ethical misconduct. Rather, ethical behaviour has to be driven from the top, and the board of directors has a fiduciary duty to ensure that this is the case.

We have started to see stronger activism by shareholders who are questioning certain behaviours within companies and believe that this may be an effective means for encouraging ethical conduct.

CARINA DE KLERK

Johannesburg, South Africa

AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND

As professional communication practitioners, we are the guardians of ethical behaviour for the organizations we advise.

Our challenge is to recognise the ethical path regardless of the issue confronting us and then to use all of our persuasive skills and intellectual power to ensure that that path is taken. We are there to build and protect organizations' brands, internally and externally, and the best way to safeguard their value is to ensure that sound ethics underpin all decisions made.

At the end of the day, we all know "truth" is the single most powerful weapon in communication, and it is our job to ensure that the organizations we represent use it at all times, not as a last resort.

GORDON COULTER

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

WHAT'S YOUR PERSPECTIVE?

Question for an upcoming issue: WHAT SPECIFIC SKILL DO YOU THINK COMMUNICATIONS NEED TO IMPROVE ON? e-mail your prespective (in 125-150 words) to: [e-mail].