Corporate Moral Conscience

What is a Conscience?

According to Sissela Bok (1999), the conscience “is seen as another, and more exacting, self” (p. 94). Bok advised those confronted with dilemmas to engage in a dialogue with their consciences. A conscience should provide guidance regarding what is best. However, defining what is best is the difficult part of ethics: Best could be defined through moral principles (duty and obligation), or best can be determined by desired consequences. Regardless of which paradigm is used, moral decisions should be justifiable to those affected by them.

Ethical decisions involve making choices concerning competing loyalties or values. The right decision should be influenced by moral principles so that they are explicable to affected parties and defensible from a rational perspective. Ethical decisions usually affect others and impact the quality of relationships between the decision makers and those affected by the decision, as argued by Shannon A. Bowen, Brad Rawlins, and Thomas Martin (2010). Because a primary function of public relations is to maintain relationships with strategic publics, public relations professionals should be concerned about the impact of organizational decisions on such relationships.

Historical Foundations of the Corporate Conscience Function

Ivy Lee was the first to develop a statement of principles, published in 1906, that was based on the idea of truthful communication. It encouraged transparency and mediation between corporate behavior and public expectations. Increasing public understanding became the bedrock of his counsel.

Arthur W. Page, named the first corporate vice president of public relations in 1927, endorsed telling the truth, listening to stakeholders, and matching action to talk. Page demanded the vice president position at AT&T, so he could be in a position to influence corporate policy. He believed that the impact of public relations was peripheral if limited to the spokesperson role. Page's impact was in being an active voice in policy and action that promoted integrity. His principle, “tell the truth,” meant to be truthful in all situations and to all publics: customers, employees, client, and boss.

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