Guys i need your opinion on something. What do you do if maybe your boss gives a client wrong information, you are there and you know that what the client is being told is not true. Do you like tell the client that what he/she was told is not true or do you keep quiet? If you choosing keeping quiet do you think its ethical. Get me well, I'm not saying my boss gave a client wrong information. I'm just asking so that if i face such a situation in future i would know how to tackle it.
6 comments:
Hi Alicia,
In such a situation I would recommend approching your boss first and asking why they have given the client false information. Your boss may not have done this intentionally (it could have been a simple misunderstanding) so approach him/her in an unassuming manner.
I wouldn't recommend talking directly to the client until you have discussed the issue with your boss. If it does turn out that your boss has disclosed false information then he/she has acted unethically and seeing as you were present when this information was revealed then you would be faced with an ethical dilemma! I would say that you may be in breach of your confidentiality agreement to disclose information to the client without prior permission. My advice would be to suggest to your boss that they should get in contact with the client and tell the truth. If your boss won't do this then I personally would leave based on my moral judgement.
If your boss is a member of a public relations institute such as the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) then he/she would be in breach of the code of ethics and you may be able to take action in terms of reporting this unethical treatment of a client.
Please see the attached link which details how PRIA handles ethical complains and enquiries:
http://www.pria.com.au/membercentre/ethics-complaints-and-enquiries
I'm not sure if you're a student based in Australia but I'm sure your country would have an equivalent.
I hope this helps!
I agree with Sami, I think that you should talk to your boss first about it before you do anything because after all, you are an intern and if you do anything without consulting an authoritative figure, then it could jeopardize everything.
Okay guys thanks for the comments, i have learnt a lot.
I compare ethics to the Ten Commandments in the Bible. Yes, they are there for everyone to keep but we also need to remember that we are all human beings who face a lot of situations everyday. Therefore it is difficult to observe or follow same thing applies to ethics.
If your boss gives out wrong information don`t tell the client immediately like Sami Cobb said its best you discuss the issue with the boss. I believe that everybody has a reason for lying, who knows maybe your boss might be giving out wrong information to protect other clients or the public at large.
In such a situation I don’t think that’s ethically wrong as ethics are all about causing no harm to anyone. Even Parson(2004, p 17) clarifies this issue by saying that if one is in a situation that allows him or her to lie for a good reason or in your case give out wrong information there is no problem in that as the first principle of ethics is to cause no harm to anyone. In a nut shell before you approach the client, it would be best to ask your boss before concluding that his/her actions are ethically right or wrong
one thing in such a case to be done is to look at the consequences of your actions.what will be the end results of your actions ?,for sure you will be fired one thing to assure you of if you reveal any information to the client without consulting the boss first.
Second thing is to look at is the benefits of your breach of confidence will it be of benefit to you or not and the company at large?.
if not then you will be signing your self off the company.
Ethics just require ones discretion to actions to be taken.
Hey Alicia
One thing that I have realised is that whatever that we learned in school regarding ethics is not that important when you go into the real world. In the university we were taught that ethics are a set of criteria by which decisions are made about what is right and wrong. The managers establish guidelines in order to guide employees on what is wrong and right. This is what we normally see in books, once you step in to the real world everything changes. Public Relations practitioners are known to be professional liars. They overpromise the client so that they can win their trust. Practitioners lie because they want to make business with their clients or they want them (clients) to have trust in whatever they do for them(clients).I understand what you are going through and I must admit that this is the toughest situation that can decide whether you will stay in the agency or your client will continue business with you agency. Telling the client will be a big risk that you should not take. Remember that in consultancies the more accounts you have the more money you have. So your boss may be lying because she wants the client to believe in what the consultancy is doing for them (client). If you tell the client I'm afraid you may lose the client as he will never trust your boss. If the client does not trust the boss there is a high possibility that the clients may withdraw from the consultancy which means your agency will lose business and the worst of them all the consultancy will lose its reputation . I think the best way as others has said you should approach the boss and ask her maybe is how they do their business, you will never know unless you ask.
You can read Baskin,Aaronoff & Lattimore (1997).Public Relations :The Profession And The Practice. P.94-95 so that you have a clear understanding on ethics
GOOD LUCK
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