57807 Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability

Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.

Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.

Subject level:

Postgraduate

Description

In the modern world, communications professionals have an increasing role to play in their employers’ adherence to ethical decision making and socially responsible practices that make our broad society, community, and environment sustainable in the long term. By critically analysing and applying different ethical perspectives to selected case studies, students learn the significance of ethics in an organisation’s communication practices. In addition, they investigate the difference between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability. Students demonstrate how an organisation can retain its social licence to operate by adapting to changing stakeholder expectations around sustainability.

This subject helps navigate the ethical landscape of corporate communications and understand the importance of socially responsible practices for long-term sustainability. Students learn to critically assess and apply ethical frameworks to real-world scenarios. Through case studies, they explore how organisations maintain their social licence by aligning with evolving stakeholder expectations on sustainability.

Subject learning objectives (SLOs)

Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)

This subject engages with the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs), which are tailored to the Graduate Attributes set for all graduates of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences:

• Apply a specialised body of theoretical and practice-oriented knowledge and skills to develop, implement and evaluate innovative and integrated solutions to real-world communication challenges (1.1)
• Critically, creatively and/or collaboratively analyse, debate and reflect on strategic communication models, practices and solutions by planning and executing a body of research to solve complex problems (2.1)
• Counsel decision-makers about challenges and solutions in diverse contexts on issues of diversity, inclusion, equity, social justice and sustainability (5.1)
• Persuade and engage diverse audiences through both written and oral communication strategies, across a range of media formats, with consideration of others' needs and views. (6.1)

Teaching and learning strategies

This subject introduces students to frameworks and models that inform ethical decision making by examining case studies of organisational behaviour. Students participate in a half-day workshop which helps them critically examine ethics in professional practice with a focus on resolving ethical dilemmas in a strategic communication setting. Students also propose corporate social responsibility/sustainability campaign strategy in response to their client brief. Students have ongoing opportunities to discuss their individual and group projects with their tutor and to receive weekly feedback during tutorial sessions and consultations.

Content (topics)

Students identify the roles of communication practitioners in an organisation's ethical decision making and sustainable practices. Students learn diverse approaches to manage ethical dilemmas in communication practices. Students distinguish between corporate social responsibility and sustainability and understand diverse dimensions of sustainability. Students devise communication strategies for organisations' ethical, socially responsible, and sustainable practices that create positive impact on stakeholders, society, economy, and/or environment.

Assessment

Assessment task 1: Case study analysis for ethical decision making

Assessment task 2: Presentation of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Campaign Value

Assessment task 3: Reflection

Minimum requirements

Attendance at classes is essential in this subject. Classes are based on a collaborative approach that involves essential workshopping and interchange of ideas with other students and the tutor to build capacities towards meeting the subject learning objectives. A roll will be taken at each class (whether on campus or online). Students who have more than two absences from scheduled class meetings will be refused marking of their final assessment.

Referencing

Use of Generative AI needs to be referenced. Please refer to UTS Library guide. In addition, students are required to include clickable links for all references in the Reference List if available.

References

Required and recommended readings will be available via UTS Library and through the subject site.

Bivins, T. H. (1992). A system model for ethical decision making in public relations. Public Relations Review, 18(4), 365-383.

Bowen, S.A. (2004). A state of neglect: Public relations as corporate conscience or ethical counsel. Journal of Public Relations Research, 20, 271-296.

Bowen, S. A. (2016). Values, ethics, and professionalism in public affairs. In P. Harris, P., Fleisher, C., & Oldfield, M. (Eds.), The Sage handbook of international corporate and public affairs (pp. 316 -331). Sage.

Bowen, S. A., Hung-Baesecke, C. J. F., & Chen, Y. R. R. (2016). Ethics as a precursor to organization-public relationships: Building trust before and during the OPR model. Cogent Social Sciences, 2(1), 1141467.

Chen, Y. R. R., & Hung-Baesecke, C. J. F. (2014). Examining in the internal aspect of corporate social responsibility: Leader behavior and employee CSR participation. Communication Research Reports, 13(2), 210-220.

Curtin, P. A., Gallicano, T., & Matthew, K. (2011). Millennials’ approaches to ethical decision making: A survey of young public relations agency employees. Public Relations Journal, 5(2), 1-22.

Fam, K.-S., & Waller, D. S. (2008). Agency-client relationship factors across life-cycle stages. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 7(2), 217-236.

Fitzpatrick, K., & Gauthier, C. (2001). Toward a professional responsibility theory of public relations ethics. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 16(2-3), 193-212.

Hunt, S. D., & Chonko, L. B. (1987). Ethical problems of advertising executives. Journal of Advertising, 16(4), 16-24.

Ki, E.-J., Lee, J., & Choi, H. L. (2012). Factors affecting ethical practice of public relations professionals within public relations firms. Asian Journal of Business Ethics, 1(2), 123–141. doi:10.1007/s13520-011-0013-1

Kim, S., Kim, J.-N., & Tam, L. (2015). Think socially but act publicly: Refocusing CSR as corporate public responsibility. Journal of Public Affairs, 16(1), 91-104.

Kim, S., Krishna, A., & Dhanesh, G. (2019). The role of CSR expectations in explaining consumers’ perceptions, motivations, and communication behaviors about corporate misconduct. Public Relations Review, 45(1), 76-87.

Lee, S. T., & Cheng, I.-H. (2012). Ethics management in public relations: Practitioner conceptualizations of ethical leadership, knowledge, training and compliance. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 27(2), 80–96. doi:10.1080/08900523.2012.694317

Lee, S. T., & Cheng, I.-H. (2010). Characteristics and dimensions of ethical leadership in public relations. Journal of Public Relations Research, 23(1), 46–74. doi:10.1080/1062726X.2010.504790

Macdonald, J. E., & C.L. Beck-Dudley (1994). Are deontology and teleology mutually exclusive? Journal of Business Ethics, 13, 615-623

Neill, M. S., & Drumwright, M. E. (2012). PR professionals as organizational Conscience. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 27 (4), 220-234.

Neill, M. S. (2021). Public relations professionals identify ethical issues, essential competencies, and deficiencies. Journal of Media Ethics, 36(1), 51–67. doi:10.1080/23736992.2020.1846539

Place, K. R. (2019). Moral dilemmas, trials, and gray areas: Exploring on-the-job moral development of public relations professionals. Public Relations Review, 45(1), 24–34. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2018.12.005

Pratt, C. B., Im, S.H., & Montague, S. N. (1994). Investigating the application of deontology among U.S. public relations practitioners. Journal of Public Relations Research, 6(4), 241-266.

Rim, H., & Kim, S. (2016). Dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) skepticism and their impacts on public evaluations toward CSR. Journal of Public Relations Research, 28(5-6), 248-267.

Shim, K. , & Yang, S.-U. (2016). The effect of bad reputation: The occurrence of crisis, corporate social responsibility, and perceptions of hypocrisy and attitudes toward a company. Public Relations Review, 42(1), 68-78

Tilley, E. (2005). The ethics pyramid: Making ethics unavoidable in the public relations process. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 20(4), 305-320.

White, C. L., & Boatwright, B. (2020). Social media ethics in the data economy: Issues of social responsibility for using Facebook for public relations. Public Relations Review, 46(5), 101980. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2020.101980

Xu, Z. X., & Ma, H. K. (2016). How can a deontological decision lead to moral behavior? The moderating role of moral identity. Journal of Business Ethics, 137, 537-549