Generation Gaps: Ethics and Public

RelationsCrystal L. Woods

The Big Picture

• Recent studies show that age, ethics, and the practice of public relations are positively correlated.

• The premise that ethical values vary based on age and is indicative of how a public relations firm or individual practitioners operate.

• Variables include experience, scholarship/accreditation, generational cohorts, and ethical standards.

The Problem

• Personal standards of moral ethics vary greatly between generational cohorts (e.g., Millennials, Generation X’ers, and Baby Boomers, and Civics). This creates a practical divide between the approach to client relations and work culture. It also furthers the clashing of young apprentices or scholars with those who have acquired wisdom and judgement.

• Case: The CFO of Threadless leaves after only 60 days on the job.

Thesis

• With proper guidance, the generation of millennials will form the best ethical principles from their predecessors in the field of public relations. It is my belief that the ideal situation for a public relations firm or individual consists of a healthy mixture of people with various backgrounds and ages groups in order to create a collective workforce that is tied together by a deeper understanding of the ethical deontology persistent within each individual.

Theories

• The Rational Choice Theory (RCT) is explicated in terms of special models or decision -theoretic constructs, each of which is explored for its implications about moral principles. These include, decision-making under conditions of radical uncertainty, social choice theory, models involving assumptions about special ethical preferences based on, e.g. moral sentiments, and bargaining theory (McClene, 2010).

RQ’s

• What role does age play in the ethical question of public relations practice?

• Is there a positive correlation between ethics and older public relations practitioner?

• Does age (with regard to experience) take president over accreditation?

Variables

• Certain variables and concerns may appear during the problem-solving process: Personal and professional experiences, career goals and objectives, as well as training and development are a part of various variables that can effect the outcomes of ones ethical distinctions regardless of age.

Research?

• This case will use both quantitative and qualitative methods to address the research questions.

• Quantitative methods: Comparative analysis, naturally occurring information, and literature reviews.

• Qualitative methods: Interviews and literature reviews.

What does the research say?Bright, L. (2010). Why Age Matters in the Work Preferences of Public Employees: A Comparison of Three Age-Related Explanations. Public Personnel Management, 39(1), 1-14

• Scholars have found that older and younger employees desire different work opportunities, such as job flexibility, career advancement, professional development, and monetary compensation.

• As the age of employees increased their desire for security, fringe benefits, and flexible work hours increased. Additionally younger public employees desire career advancement, task variety, and professional development opportunities more than older public employees.

• Regardless of the particular work preferences of older and younger employees, it is clear that age matters.

What does the research say (continued)Kim, Y., & Choi, Y. (2003). Ethical standards appear to change with age and ideology: a survey of practitioners. Public Relations Review, 2979-89.

doi:10.1016/S0363-8111(02)00197-2

• Personal ethics and age have been repeatedly found to correlate with ethical behavior.

• Regardless of age or experience, practitioners with higher standards of personal ethics showed stricter judgment of professional ethics than practitioners with lower standards of personal ethics.

• Cohort effects refer to behavioral or attitudinal outcomes caused by different experiences that members of different cohorts or generations face throughout life. In particular, the different historical events and social changes people experience in their 20s and 30s influence attitudes and behavior in family life, interpersonal interactions, political discussions, and business negotiations.

What does the research say?Sha, B. (2011). Does accreditation really matter in public relations practice? How age and experience compare to accreditation. Public Relations Review, 371-11. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2010.11.004

• Accreditation status does make a significant difference in the extent to which practitioners engage in specific work categories in public relations, even when the effects of age and experience are controlled.

• Once age and experience were controlled, significant differences between APRs and non-APRs were the four-step strategic planning process; ethics and legal issues; communication theory; business literacy; and advanced communication skills.

• Accreditation matters in public relations practice today, for both professional competencies and public relations work categories

What does the research say (continued)McClennen, E. F. (2010). Rational Choice and Moral Theory. Ethical Theory & Moral Practice, 13(5), 521-540. doi:10.1007/s10677-010-9253-8

• Rational decision-making, both in the context of individual decision-making against nature, and decision-making within the context of interactions with others (theory of games) in each case, is in one sense, an elaboration of the principles of “self-interest,” reformulated as a matter of choice driven by the desire on the part of the agent, to realize the most preferred outcome possible. The question is: What choice would be the most rational to make?

A steady decline

There is a steady decline in the code of ethics as we move from the civic generation to the X generation.

Answers to RQs

• What role does age play in the ethical question of public relations practice?

While age is positively correlated with ethics, when the age factors is controlled, there is no significant difference in ethical practices.

• Is there a positive correlation between ethics and older public relations practitioner?

Yes, there is a positive correlation between older public relations practitioners as the research suggests they are more likely to uphold higher standards of ethical models both professionally and personally.

• Does age (with regard to experience) take president over accreditation?

Not in all cases nut according the research ,accreditation was found to have a positive correlation with regard to age.

Recommendations

• More research is needed to uncover why the decline in ethics?

• A survey should be done with generation Millennials for further insight.

• Elicit training of older and younger practitioners should be done to thwart the growing lack of ethical dissipation.

• Insist that companies composed of or doing business with younger audiences and publics relations practitioners are ethnically grounded as well.

Words Cited

• Bright, L. (2010). Why Age Matters in the Work Preferences of Public Employees: A Comparison of Three Age-Related Explanations. Public Personnel Management, 39(1), 1-14.

• Chafkin, Max (April, 2015). The customer is the company: How threadless uses crowdsourcing. Inc Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/magazine/20080601/the -customer-is-the-company.html.

• Kim, Y., & Choi, Y. (2003). Ethical standards appear to change with age and ideology: a survey of practitioners. Public Relations Review, 2979-89. doi:10.1016/S0363-8111(02)00197-2

• Sha, B. (2011). Does accreditation really matter in public relations practice? How age and experience compare to accreditation. Public Relations Review, 371-11. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2010.11.004

• McClennen, E. F. (2010). Rational Choice and Moral Theory. Ethical Theory & Moral Practice, 13(5), 521-540. doi:10.1007/s10677-010-9253-8