Daily Answer Writing Challenge-23rd August

Q1. You head the public relations department of the state’s largest bank. The department is  responsible for putting together a quality service recognition program. Your bank’s public  relations agency is designing the advertising speciality components for the program targeting  the bank’s 10,000 employees. Your spouse owns X Promotions, the largest advertising  speciality firm in the state. The company offers the best prices for large orders. X Promotions  has supplied products for a number of other accounts of the public relations firm. This is  the first time, however, that the public relations firm has used X Promotions for a bank  project. The public relations firm does not know that your spouse owns X Promotions.  You have not suggested the use of X Promotions. The public relations firm has made  its recommendations to you, including using X Promotions as the vendor for the quality  service recognition program. What should be your next course of action – with the public  relations agency, your management team and your spouse? Also, answer the following: 

1. The ethical issue and/or conflict involved. 
2. Internal/external factors that may influence the decision. 
3. Identify key values. Student Notes: 
4. Identify the parties who will be affected and define the public relations professional’s  obligation to each. 
5. Select ethical principles to help the decision-making process 
6. Make a decision and justify it. (250 Words 20 Marks)

Answer: 

Stakeholders Involved: 

•  State’s Largest Bank. 
•  Head of Public Relations Department. 
•  Spouse of Head of Public Relations Department. 
•  Public Relation Firm. 

1. The ethical issue and/or conflict Involved: 

•  Do I inform my bank’s management about the potential conflict of interest?
•  Should I ask the public relations firm to select another vendor? 
•  Should I let the public relations firm pick the vendor? After all, I didn’t force them to pick my  spouse’s company. X Promotions did have the best price. 

2. Internal/external factors that may influence the decision. 

• Conflict of interest policy at the bank 
• Conflict of interest policy of public relations firm 
•  Responsibility to employees 

3. Identify key values. 

•  Honesty: We adhere to the highest standards of accuracy and truth in advancing the interests  of those we represent and in communicating with the public. 
•  Expertise: We build mutual understanding, credibility, and relationships among a wide array of  institutions and audiences. 
•  Independence: We are accountable for our actions. 
•  Loyalty: We are faithful to those we represent while honouring our obligation to serve the  public interest.
•  Fairness: We deal fairly with clients, employers, competitors, peers, vendors, the media, and  the general public 

4. Identify the parties who will be affected and define the public relations professional’s obligation  to each. 

• Bank management – Loyalty and Honesty. 
•  Bank employees-Fairness 

5. Select ethical principles to help the decision-making process 

•  The core principle of the “Conflicts of Interest” – avoiding real, potential or perceived conflicts  of interest builds the trust of clients, employers, and the public.” The intent of this provision  is: “To earn trust and mutual respect with clients or employers,” and “To build trust with the  public by avoiding or ending situations that put one’s personal or professional interests in  conflict with society’s interests.” 

6. Building trust with the employees is key in this case. Even though the use of your spouse’s  company would most likely result in a good and best price for the bank, letting the public  relations agency use the company to supply the components for the quality service program  would present a definite conflict of interest. You should immediately notify the public relations  agency not to use your spouse’s company as a vendor for this and all future bank programs.  

You should explain that employees might perceive a conflict of interest and that the perception  would damage mutual understanding and credibility. The lack of trust by employees might be  extended to the entire management of the bank.  

The loss to your spouse’s company might be substantial, but you need to put the interests of your  employer and its employees before your personal interests. Even if you revealed the conflict to  your bank’s management team, and they approved the supplier, employees might still perceive  that you personally benefited from the bank using your spouse’s company as a supplier. Avoiding  the conflict would guarantee continued mutual respect between you and the employees.