UH The Existential and Utilitarian Value Approaches Discussion
After Reading Chapter 3 answer the following discussion question:The following dilemmas should be discussed within the framework of the PRSA code of ethics.The president of a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange dies of lung cancer, but the board of directors decides not to announce his death until it is determined who will succeed him and how top management will be realigned. The board feels that immediate announcement of the president’s death will cause loss of confidence in the company’s stock–and SEC rules do allow up to 15 days for the release of material information about a company. Consequently, company telephone operators are told to tell callers that the president is “out of town.” A newspaper reporter, however, calls you as director of public relations and says she has heard rumors that the company president has died. She asks you to confirm or deny these rumors. What do you do? response to at least one other colleague in the class:When the newspaper reporter calls to verify rumors of the company presidents death I would simply state that I was unable to discuss the health of the president due to privacy laws and that the president was unavailable for comment. This is well within the legality of honesty and advocacy as the PRSAs Code of Ethics is described on page 79. I also feel it meets protecting the public interest in that it allows the company to build its new leadership framework. Hopefully, the result should be factual and thoughtful rather than reactive guesswork and assumptions driving investment practices to influence market shares. When answering the reporters question, I would also state that any related material regarding the company that it would be communicated in accordance with SEC requirements.On a side note, I would want to meet with leadership to let them know that they had breached ethical standards by having the operators lie. The idea of technician mentality as described on page 84, makes me an advocate for helping promote their right to be heard so that in the future this undermining infraction could be avoided with specialty PR skills.
