Building Ethical Internal Relations: A Principled, Organizational Approach

Excellence in Internal Communication Management is a 10-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2017 and written by Rita Linjuan Men, Associate Professor of Public Relations at the University of Florida, and Shannon A. Bowen, Professor of Public Relations at the University of Southern California. The authors combine theories, research insights, practices, as well as current issues and cases into a comprehensive guide for internal communication managers and organizational leaders on how to communicate effectively with internal stakeholders, build ethical organizational cultures, and engage employees in a rapidly-changing business environment. In Chapter 3, the authors illustrate a model for internal communication based in ethical decision making. They discuss the central role that an organization's governance and regulations have in establishing an ethical workplace culture. They write that public relations divisions have the resources to understand stakeholder values and therefore can most effectively use these to develop a corporate conscience. The authors also highlight a deontological ethical framework for guiding internal relations and provide a step-by-step model that organizations can use to make principled decisions, which includes actions that promote honesty, candor, dialog, collaboration, respect, and good intention with stakeholder communities. They also emphasize the power of leaders in modeling ethical behavior and creating a culture where this is the norm.

• Employee engagement
• Business communication
• Stakeholder relations
• Communication strategy
• Internal communication
• Business ethics
• Organizational behavior