Social Responsibility In Communication

8/3/2019 Social Responsibility In Communication

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Social Responsibility:

Social responsibility is an ethical ideology or theory that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has

an obligation to act to benefit society at large. This responsibility can be passive, by avoiding engaging in

socially harmful acts, or active, by performing activities that directly advance social goals.

Businesses can use ethical decision making to secure their businesses by making decisions that allow for

government agencies to minimize their involvement with the corporation. (Kaliski, 2001) For instance if a

company is proactive and follows the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines

for emissions on dangerous pollutants and even goes an extra step to get involved in the community and

address those concerns that the public might have; they would be less likely to have the EPA investigate

them for environmental concerns. A significant element of current thinking about privacy, however,

stresses "self-regulation" rather than market or government mechanisms for protecting personal

information (Swire , 1997) Most rules and regulations are formed due to public outcry, if there is not

outcry there often will be limited regulation.

Society Without Communication

The world came to existence as a result of communication; therefore everything in it must definitely

communication. hence a society can not exist without communication, in other words, communication

must take place before a given geaographical area can grow to become a society. Notwithstanding we

must know a society is and what communication is all about. A society may be described as a group of

people who have lived togethter, sharing common values and general interest long enough to be

considered by others and themselves as a unit. Analysing the definition of society above, you would see

that for this group of people to have been regarded as a group, they must have communicated, it is

inevitable for this group of people to share common values and general interest without communicating.

Social Responsibilty in Communication

The aim of this charter is to apply the Groups social and environmental obligations to any form of

marketing communication and allow all entities and countries to share best practice when it comes to

communication in general and advertising in particular.

Preamble: All communication should be legally compliant and should not incite the violation of any law.

Scope: This charter concerns all marketing communication, in all countries worldwide, produced either

by the Group, the brands, the regional divisions or the network:

Advertising via traditional media channels: TV, radio, outdoors, press.

Internet-based advertising, including the websites of the brands and the Group, product mini-

sites

Sales promotions


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Sponsorships

Direct marketing: mail-shots, customer-loyalty magazines

Handouts, brochures distributed in letter-boxes

Catalogues on products and services

Information distributed at trade-fairs (panels, interactive kiosks, trade-fair films and any

documents handed-out)

POS advertising

Corporate brochures

Principle 1: All communication should be framed with a fair sense of our societal Responsibility

1. Communication should respect human dignity

Article 4 of the ICC Code

Marketing communication should respect human dignity and should not incite or condone any form

of discrimination, including that based upon race,national origin, religion, gender, age, disability or

sexual orientation.

Communication should not be of a nature to offend the sensibilities, shock or even provoke the

general public by portraying an image which undermines a persons dignity and decency.

Any degrading or humiliating representation of any person, whether explicit or implicit, is

unacceptable.

Any compromising presentation of a situation in which a person is dominated or exploited by

another is unacceptable.

Communication should not diminish any person, male or especially female, by portraying them asan object.

Communication should neither portray nor refer to any person without first obtaining their

consent, irrespective of whether the person is well-known or not.

2. Communication should not condone any form of discrimination

Communication should not condone the idea that a person is inferior because he or she belongs to

a social group or minority.

Communication may not promote, even indirectly, any behaviours or feelings of exclusion,

intolerance or racism.

Communication should not induce an idea of submission or dependency degrading any person,

male or in particular female. The use of stereotypes, evoking traits of character supposed to be representative of a social,

ethnic or religious group should be handled with the greatest of care.

Any allusion, even humoristic, to the pejorative idea that a person is inferior because he or shebelongs to an ethnic group or religion should be prohibited.

3. Communication should not harm the safety or security of any person, group of persons or

property

Article 17 of the ICC Code


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Marketing communication should not, without justification on educational or social grounds, contain any

visual portrayal or any description of potentially dangerous practices, or situations which show a

disregard for safety or health, as defined by local national standards.

Communication should not present, under normal conditions of use, any vehicle contravening the

road rule codes or any safety imperatives.

With regard to road safety, consumers should not be misled to believe that the qualities of thevehicle supersede the elementary rules of precaution.

It should not incite drivers to act aggressively, violently or endanger other road users.

It should not appear to condone or encourage dangerous or reckless behaviour.

It should under no circumstances give the impression that violence is either an accepted reality or

acceptable.

Speed should not be used as an advertising claim.

4. Communication should be honest

Article 3 of the ICC Code: Marketing communication should be so framed as not to abuse the trust of

consumers or exploit their lack of experience or knowledge.

Article 13 of the ICC Code: Marketing communication should not contain or refer to any testimonial,

endorsement or supportive documentation unless it is genuine, verifiable and relevant.

Communication should not grant exclusivity to an advertiser for an action, which is similar to that

of other advertisers.

An advertiser may not claim exclusivity for certain actions if these are required by everyone

under current law.

Using terms such as the first, the best, number 1, the least calls for special attention. The

advertiser has to be able to prove that these correspond to a specific reality.

The term new and its derivatives should only be used in the context of a real product alteration.

Use of such a term is normally limited to a period of one year.

5. The principle of communication truthfulness

Article 5 of the ICC Code: Marketing communication should be truthful and not misleading. Marketing

communication should not contain any statement, or audio or visual treatment which, directly or by

implication, omission, ambiguity or exaggeration, is likely to mislead the consumer.

6. The principle of non denigration

Article 12 of the ICC Code: Marketing communication should not denigrate any person or group of

persons, firm, organisation, industrial or commercial activity, profession or product, or seek to bring it or

them into public contempt or ridicule.

All communication should respect the principles of fair competition.

7. Check that suppliers and service providers meet the Groups social and environmentalrequirements.

In the case of a promotional campaign involving the distribution of gifts, suppliers should

undertake to meet these requirements.

Who should take responsibility for communications and consultation?


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Good communications and consultation involve everyone in an organisation, but, to be effective, they

need to be well organised and take place in a systematic way. This is best ensured by having a

communications and consultation policy. Senior management should take the initiative in drawing up

such a policy but it is important that employees are fully involved in the process. Where recognised trade

unions exist management should aim to get their agreement to the policy before it is introduced.

A communications and consultation policy is a particularly effective way of setting out the attitude of the

organisation, defining the responsibilities of those involved in the process and setting out the means of

communications and consultation that will be used. A good policy should set out:

a clear statement of policy, including the purpose of communications and consultation, the fact

that it is an integral part of every manager's job and the importance of communication as a two-

way process and not a one-off exercise

responsibility for communication at each level

the methods of communication

arrangements for consultation and participation

arrangements for training managers and employees in the skills and processes of communications

and consultation

how the policy will be monitored.

Senior management

Successful employee communications and consultation depend above all else on a positive lead from top

management - whatever the size of organisation. However, just approving a policy is not enough.

A senior manager should be made responsible for ensuring that:

the policy is put into practice

the practice is properly maintained

the policy and practice are regularly reviewed

the chains of communication and methods of consultation are clearly understood and followed by

all concerned.

One of the most effective ways for senior management to demonstrate their commitment is for them totake an active personal role, for instance by chairing a consultative committee, participating in staff

meetings, 'walking the job' or addressing the workforce.

Line managers and supervisors: The principal links in any system of communications and consultation

are the line managers and supervisors. They are responsible for passing on information in both directions

as well as acting on appropriate items and issuing instructions.


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Ineffective communication by managers causes inefficiency. Middle managers and, in particular,

supervisors, should play a major role in any consultation and communication system. Direct

communication between senior managers and employees is sometimes desirable and, as a general rule, it

is best to keep chains of communication as short as possible. However, it is essential that middle

managers and supervisors are not by-passed when information is given to employees. If senior managers

do communicate directly with staff then middle managers must be kept informed.

In larger organisations the personnel function, as well as line management, has a substantial interest in the

provision of information for employees and in the way this is done. Personnel managers are well placed

to identify needs, advise on policy and monitor arrangements and, in some companies, may have direct

responsibility for communicating information and running consultative committees. In particular,

personnel staff are concerned with the provision and communication of information about terms and

conditions of employment.

Trade unions

Union officials also have communications responsibilities as well as information needs. In addition to

communicating with their members one of their main tasks is to ensure that their members' views and

opinions are conveyed effectively to management. To enable members to play a full part in union affairs,

shop stewards and other officials should be allowed adequate time off and facilities for maintaining good

communications with their members as well as with management. Management should recognise these

responsibilities with the provision of appropriate facilities. The Acas Code of Practice - Time off for

trade union duties and activities [407kb] sets out guidance on good practice in carrying out the

statutory duties for such time off.

Management and union communications about joint discussions should convey the same message

wherever possible, if misunderstandings and distrust are to be minimised. This may be achieved by a

jointly agreed communication.

Union officials need information to bargain effectively. Recognised trade unions have certain legal rights

to information for collective bargaining purposes. The Acas Code of Practice - Disclosure of

information to trade unions [475kb]for collective bargaining purposes contains advice on good

practice. Negotiations are more likely to be constructive and realistic if they take account of such

information. There may also be a need for special presentations of such information to recognised

representatives and, where appropriate, to full-time union officials.
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Social Responsibility In Communication

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