Institute for Public Relations

This statement of ethical standards and guidelines for public relations research was developed by a team of the Institute for Public Relations Measurement Commission headed by Shannon Bowen, Ph.D, John Gilfeather and Brad Rawlins, Ph.D. This statement was approved by the IPR Measurement Commission on March 7, 2012. This is a discussion document that will be further developed in the near future as proposed interim standards for ethics in research and measurement.

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is intrinsically linked to both ethics and the practice of public relations. While past research has shown us that it is no longer a question as to whether or not a corporation should be socially responsible, but is a requirement of organizations by consumers, modern research has yet to conclusively show that organizational involvement in socially responsible activities positively affects financial performance. This study extended the existing body of literature related to CSR and financial performance with the inclusion of consumers’ perspectives.

This study reports data from a nationwide survey of the Millennial Generation of public relations agency employees. We examined organization-employee relationships and factors affecting ethical decision making. The survey employed Hon and Grunig’s (1999) scales to measure relationship outcomes: control mutuality, trust, commitment, and satisfaction. The results of the organization-employee measures were reported in previous research, and they are only used here to illuminate the relationship between ethics and the organization-employee relationship. In addition, the survey explored the usefulness of Bowen’s (2005) practical model for ethical decision making from the ...

New research on ethics presented at AEJMC Conference, Aug. 6 – 9, 2008 As a paper respondent for the Media Ethics Division (MED) of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) in Chicago, I had the pleasure of reading and critiquing the division’s Top Paper and some other fine research on ethics. To add value to the EKP ethics section, I wanted to provide a summary of the papers and a bit of discussion about their common themes and implications for public relations. The title of the session was “Developing ethics and morals ...

DISCUSSION: To what extent do you see reputation and ethics as intertwined factors of success? Toyota edged out competition to win the title of “Most Respected Company in the World” 2008 as judged by the Reputation Institute. Respect and ethics are inextricable linked in the minds of philosophers and ethics scholars of all varieties. But I wonder how much corporate reputation and the venerable title “most respected” stems from ethics? Is ethics a precursor? Are the factors of respect and ethics so strongly linked in the minds of publics and consumers? I wonder what is happening at Toyota with ...

New ethics article on counseling management Please note that I cannot post the entire article due to copyright and embargo rules. From JPRR, copyright 2008 Taylor and Francis: Here’s the abstract! Ryan and Martinson (1983) and other scholars argued that the corporate conscience role should belong in the public relations function. But, how common is the use of ethics counsel among public relations professionals? This qualitative research found that many public relations practitioners indeed perform the role of ethics counsel or corporate conscience in their organizations. However, a state of neglect of this role exists in terms of education and support—even lacking support among ...

Need ethics examples from practitioners! Thank you for visiting my work on ethics! Now that you have visited the “ETHICS IN PUBLIC RELATIONS” part of the Essential Knowledge Project (generously supported by the Institute), I would like to ask—no, beg—for your feedback! I am particularly interested in hearing from practitioners. I would love your thoughts on my work in the form of real-world examples. To help advance my work, I would also like to genrate some COMMON ETHICAL DILEMMAS PRACTITIONERS FACE, based on what you tell me. In so doing, I can (hopefully) create a ...

The central purpose of this article is to provide an overview of ethics in public relations. I review the evolution of public relations ethics, the current state of practice, and the thoughts of ethicists. Executive Summary The central purpose of this article is to provide an overview of ethics in public relations. I review the evolution of public relations ethics, the current state of practice, and the thoughts of ethicists. Definitions will be provided and key areas of evolution and debate within the field will be addressed. Implications for practitioners are discussed, including the research ...