© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 1 Chapter 5 Solving the Ethics Problem Technical Communication, 9/e John M. Lannon PowerPoint prepared by Jimidene Murphy

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 2 Recognizing Unethical Communication Before we begin discussion of this chapter, let’s talk about what happened with the Challenger. 1.Could the accident have been avoided? 2.What, if anything, did different groups of people do to contribute to the accident? 3.Was communication within various parts of NASA unethical?

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 3 Causes of Unethical Communication  Yielding to social pressure groupthink  Mistaking groupthink for teamwork  Allowing personal bias to influence judgment Question: Do you think “objective reporting” exists?

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 4 Understanding Abuse of Communication  Suppressing knowledge the public deserves to know  Nobody wants to admit he fouled things up  Exaggerating claims about technology  Falsifying data  Don’t manipulate data just to support an agenda

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 5 Understanding Abuse of Communication  Stealing or betraying confidential information  If the employer owns it, don’t divulge it!  Misusing electronic information  This is SO easy to do. Just because “everybody does it,” you don’t have to.  Withholding information people need to complete their jobs  Exploiting cultural differences

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 6 Rely on Critical Thinking Reasonable criteria for ethical judgment:  Obligations to various “stakeholders”  Ideals  Consequences (often conflict with ideals) Ethical dilemmas

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 7 Legal Guidelines (But Never Depend Solely on Them…)  Laws against deception  Libel law  Copyright law  Law against software theft  Law against electronic theft  Laws against deceptive or fraudulent advertising  Liability laws LAWS

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 8 Decide Where to Draw the Line Consequences of whistleblowing  Weigh the consequences of whistleblowing or being forced into unethical behavior. You will be better off just leaving the job rather than possibly going to jail (it HAS happened).

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 9 Any questions? For additional help reviewing this chapter, please visit the Companion Website for your text at