I think we all can agree that everyone learns about ethics and everyone should practice it day to day. Every profession also owns certain code of ethics to guide professionals in doing their job. The professionals know how to interact and behave professionally, and to conduct business matter in the way it is supposed to be. That is why ‘professional’ is a word associated with them, due to the manners and practices carried professionally. However, at times when a problem or a crisis arises, the concept of ethics becomes a little ambiguous and it becomes questionable of whether a conduct or solution is ethical or not.

While it should be expected that everyone understands the ethical principle, how to properly be a good PR to represent the company as well as themselves as individual, in reality, there are still a lot of issues dealing with ethical concerns. How so? Shouldn’t every practitioner be aware of the ethical code and how they should deal with problems, especially those concerning the public? It might be true but the root could lie in the fact that conflict of responsibilities occur a lot of the time.

Such conflict occurs when a party (the company) has to deal with responsibilities or duties involving both its company as well as the public (it can be the media or society for example). Thus, questionable decision making is likely to be made especially when whoever handles the matter fails to calculate the possible risk as well as advantages and disadvantages of potential solution. What makes it even more difficult is that on one side, a PR has to make sure their company is not at a disadvantage, but on the other side, they are also responsible to deal with public who are also affected. How they balance each of those responsibilities become crucial and it is no easy feat. Most of the time, there is no one fixed solution for it. It will all depend on the situation.

Moreover, there is also the issue of competence among professionals which seems to be easily overlooked by many. When PR practitioners do not possess the sufficient set of skills and knowledge as well as experience, it hinders them from doing their responsibilities properly for an obvious reason. From there, a proper, ethical decision making process may not be carried through, thus arriving in a less desirable solution.

There still are more reasons concerning the unethical practice or decision making. However, one thing for sure is if PR practitioners fail to deliver, not only the brand and company’s reputation will go downhill, but their own reputation as a professional will also be ruined. Furthermore, the public, which would have already been exposed to that matter, will question their decision and may lose trust in the brand or the company.