Chapter 10: Business and Profession Communication Ethics

First off, I liked how this chapter really differentiated Business and Professional Comm Ethics from Organizational Comm Ethics.  Before I read the chapter, I wondered how it could possibly be much different from Organizational.

There are several examples I thought of as I engaged with the various aspects that the book discusses.  The book mentions "communicative responsiveness" which basically is a company's ability to "understand the public importance of direction and change." (185)  I immediately thought about the fiasco that Target (where I work) is currently experiencing in Canada, due to their lack of communicative responsiveness.  Target recently expanded their stores to Canada, their first dabble with international expansion.  The company assumed they would experience the same success they see here in the states and declined to properly prepare, research, and recognize that what is successful here in the U.S. may not transfer to Canada.  The company lost a large profit due to their lack of preparedness in Canada, on top of the stolen credit card information scandal they faced earlier this year.  Not only have their stores failed to keep advertised items in stock, they also failed to hire French speaking employees in Quebec, they have failed to recognize and stock special items that are popular in Canada, and their prices remain higher than the prices of the same items in U.S. stores.  As the book states, "To fail to probe our communicative direction and discern the need for change is to live with the illusion that unexamined methods will propel long-term success." (186).  Target was embarrassingly unprepared to handle their expansion, when they assumed that the same tactics used to propel their success in the U.S. would materialize easily in Canada.  They failed to change, and adapt their approach to business.

I also thought of Elizabeth Gaskell's book North & South, (which the BBC did a production of which is available on Netflix if anyone is interested).  One of the main characters is John Thornton, a cotton mill owner in a harsh industrial Northern English community.  Despite having high expectations, Thornton also cares a great deal for his employees.  He "pivoted and set" a new standard in the mills when he added costly fans to his mill which helped disperse the cotton so that workers were able to breathe more easily.  He also worked to set up a meal for his impoverished employees to ensure that they were able to eat at least one good meal a day.  The public testing of these goods brought Thornton loyal, healthier workers, who were more capable of increasing productivity and profit.  When the mill collapses due to low demand for cotton, Thornton is most upset by the fact that he has failed to continue to provide his employees with jobs.  He understands the concept the book discusses at the beginning of the chapter, the importance of surviving as a company to be able to maintain the livelihood of employees.