Quelle falle nell'etica delle agenzie di Rp. Byrum scatenato

Reed Byrum, già presidente della PRSA e speaker al Festival di roma del 2003, sull'etica e i recenti scandali Usa non le manda proprio a dire....Da O'Dwyer'sFIRMS OFFER A WEAK DEFENSE OF ETHICAL LAPSESBy Reed ByrumAmong the industry debate about ethics of business conduct, a dismaying defense has arisen among the accused that lack of adequate standards and practices not ethical training and behavior is behind this scurrilous behavior.
What a specious defense for the black eyes the profession has obviously suffered none of the investigations, government intervention, potential indictments, litigation, or costly settlement would have occurred had proper moral and ethical leadership been asserted.
Even basic ethics training about how to make proper decisions would have provided an early alert to an ethical agency that something was morally awry. And good leadership would have followed with a stopping action that would have focused on individuals and principles instead of catalyzing condemnations of the industry.
The debate in the communications industry over ethics "rules" has continued for decades in journalism and public relations. Yet, rule books and set standards have consistently fallen short, particularly when they are stressed by individual or collective profit motive.
Without ethical training and a sound moral environment, standards and practices will continue to fall short, slipping between the nuances of subjective interpretation. In fact, without a strong ethical atmosphere, there cannot be adequate standards and practices. More importantly, without principled leadership, there cannot be a successful ethical environment. It's the environment Tom Hoog of Hill & Knowlton has repeatedly called for, one with strong moral leadership. More leaders in our profession should heed that call.
These thoughts no doubt cause consternation among the individuals and organizations under fire. But unfortunately for them, the cause of ethical professional behavior is increasingly crucial to the public relations industry. A primary reason is because the globe today is the flat world of New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman.
Ethics is at the heart of this profession and it is more important than ever, far beyond the current headlines because of the:

Growth of public relations as a primary source of public information, and;
Growing need for ethical institutional communications in the wake of corporate collapses.
Billions of bits of information careen around the globe at the speed of light. In the eyes of other countries, the United States sets the standards for communications technology and content. The 20th Century reliance on secondary news sourcing is a victim of both this volume and speed, and institutional communications through the World Wide Web are becoming a primary, accessible source of information for consumers.
Thus, the institutions we represent here and abroad must mimic journalistic ethics in presenting candid, honest communications. And those who create these communications, whether working for an agency or an institution, need to conduct themselves in an ethical manner. Accomplished properly, communications is the key to understanding an increasingly complex world, which is why public relations ethics are so important.
Who will create this ethical atmosphere? Leadership, bolstered by an institutional culture of excellence. Without leadership and without ethics, there are no standards and practices that will ensure professionalism and proper conduct. If you have to ask where standards and practices were when Fleishman-Hillard and Ketchum tripped, you are going to find them on the floor, trampled by a lack of leadership and cultural strength.
You also won't find news releases or discussions about Los Angeles billings scandal or Armstrong Williams on the Web sites of Fleishman and Ketchum. Nor will you find codes of ethics or conduct. Fleishman billboards Omnicom's "internal control line" on its homepage for reporting questionable or unethical behavior, a virtual requirement for Omnicom under Sarbanes-Oxley.
Ethics barely makes it onto the agency's list of 10 top principles, falling in line behind new business and entrepreneurship. Omnicom itself carries the packaged governance items required by Sarbanes-Oxley, including a code of ethics specifically for senior officers.
Ketchum doesn't even carry Omnicom's tip line on its Web site. It does, however, carry some wonderful glimpses of past leadership, with former CEO Dave Drobis' excellent and heart-felt essays on ethics and leadership. Apparently, the agency's former positioning was lost in Ketchum's leadership transition.
Even after the current lapses, neither agency has a chief ethics officer to create ethics initiatives. I admire the professionals in agencies who toil ethically each day despite a lack of leadership.
If the public relations industry is to avoid federal regulation, it needs to create demonstrable training programs plus formal leadership and institutional commitments on ethics. It further means adherence to PRSA's code of ethics, for example, but moreover a commitment to pervasive Socratic dialogues training among professionals to build and polish ethical decision-making. PRSA's code is cited, because it is used as the model code for our profession by most societies in the United States and across the globe.
Epley Associates in North Carolina is one agency that does it right, as you would expect from the exceptional leadership of Joe Epley and Michael Herman. The agency's client contract carries the PRSA code of ethics, specifying the agency will follow its tenets in its relationship with clients. It further carries the code in a different context that clients will not ask Epley Associates to violate the ethical code, upon threat of termination. Epley also expects all of its employees to be or become an accredited member of PRSA. Other agencies could easily follow this example.
A movement is afoot to consider in the industry to institute a judicial panel similar to the advertising industry's National Advertising Division and the appellate National Advertising Review Board. This approach could provide judgments and develop a body of knowledge, based on case law for the profession.
It would require people and institutions to pledge to abide by the findings and hold the board harmless from legal action for its actions. That should not be a problem for true professionals and institutions that hold ethics higher than profits. And, it would give those who haven't demonstrated institutional ethics a chance to validate their leadership through their support and participation.A former president and CEO of PRSA, Byrum is the president and CEO of Strategic Communications Assocs. of Austin and a lecturer at The University of Texas at Austin