The author argues for the potential of discourse ethics as a framework for guiding and assessing ethical action in organizational communication. Habermas's discourse ethics offers an intersubjective procedure for developing and challenging ethical norms through reasoned public communication. After examining the development of discourse ethics and reviewing existing organizational applications of Habermas's ideas, the author then forms the principle of universalization into five steps necessary for an organization to enact a discourse ethic. These steps are used to assess the ethical problems and to identify alternative courses of action relating to the American Red Cross's Liberty Fund case.
American Red Cross. (2001a, October 31). Myths and facts: How your money is being spent. Retrieved July 25, 2005, from http://web.archive.org/web/20011103062031/www.redcross.org/news/ds/0109wtc/donationwork/myths.html
2.
American Red Cross. (2001b, October 8). Preserving America's spirit: The Liberty Fund. Retrieved July 25, 2005, from http://web.archive.org/web/20011009020046/http://www.redcross.org/news/ds/0109wtc/liberty/libertyfund.html
3.
American Red Cross. (2001c, November 14). Red Cross announces major changes in Liberty Fund. Retrieved July 27, 2005, from http://web.archive.org/web/20011114222134/www.redcross.org/press/disaster/ds_pr/011114libertyfund.html
4.
American Red Cross. (2001d, October 12). Red Cross estimates $300 million required to meet immediate, near-term needs following September 11th tragedy. Retrieved July 27, 2005, from http://web.archive.org/web/20011112071452/redcross.org/press/disaster/ds_pr/011011nearterm.html
5.
Anderson, J., & Englehardt, E. E. (2000). The organizational self and ethical conduct: Sunlit virtue and shadowed resistance. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt College.
6.
Arens, E. (1997). Discourse ethics and its relevance for communication and media ethics. In C. G. Christians & M. Traber (Eds.), Communication ethics and universal values (pp. 46-67). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
7.
Attkisson, S. (2002, July 30). Red faces at the Red Cross. CBS Evening News [Television broadcast transcript]. Retrieved July 25, 2005, from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/07/30/eveningnews/main516886.shtml
8.
Benhabib, S. (1992). Situating the self: Gender, community, and postmodernism in contemporary ethics.New York: Routledge.
9.
Bok, S. (1982). Secrets: on the ethics of concealment and revelation. New York: Pantheon.
10.
Buchholz, R. A. (1990). The evolution of corporate social responsibility. In P. Madsen & J. M. Shafritz (Eds.), Essentials of business ethics (pp. 298-310). New York: Penguin.
11.
Burleson, B. R., & Kline, S. L. (1979). Habermas' theory of communication: A critical explication. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 65, 412-428.
12.
Carroll, A. (1989). Business and society: Ethics and stakeholder management. Cincinnati, OH: Southwestern.
13.
Ceccarelli, L. (1998). Polysemy: Multiple meanings in rhetorical criticism. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 84, 395-415.
14.
Cheney, G., May, S. K., & Roper, J. (in press). The debate over corporate social responsibility. New York: Oxford University Press.
15.
Conrad, C. (1993). The ethical nexus. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
16.
Deetz, S. (1992). Democracy in an age of corporate colonization: Developments in communication. Albany: State University of New York Press.
17.
Deetz, S. (1995). Transforming communication, transforming business. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton.
18.
Edgett, R. (2002). Toward an ethical framework for advocacy in public relations. Journal of Public Relations Research, 18, 1-26.
19.
Eisenberg, E. M. (1984). Ambiguity as strategy in organizational communication. Communication Monographs, 51, 227-242.
20.
Francesconi, R. (1986). The implications of Habermas's theory of legitimation for rhetorical criticism. Communication Monographs, 53, 16-35.
21.
Freeman, R. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Boston: Pitman.
22.
French, W., & Allbright, D. (1998). Resolving a moral conflict through discourse. Journal of Business Ethics, 17, 177-194.
23.
Gotbaum, J. (2003). Compassion and confidence: A non-philanthropist reflects on the contributions of philanthropy. In September 11: Perspectives from the field of philanthropy(Vol. 2, pp. 1-9). Retrieved July 27, 2005, from the Foundation Center Web site: http://fdncenter.org/research/911/sept11book2hi.pdf
24.
Greenberg, D. S. (2001, November 24). Blood, politics, and the American Red Cross. The Lancet, 358, 1789-1789.
25.
Gunson, D., & Collins, C. (1997). From the I to the We: Discourse ethics, identity, and the pragmatics of partnership in the west of Scotland. Communication Theory, 7, 278-300.
26.
Haas, T., & Deetz, S. (2000). Between the generalized and the concrete other: Approaching organizational ethics from feminist perspectives, In P. M. Buzzanell (Ed.), Rethinking organizational and managerial communication from feminist perspectives (pp. 24-46). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
27.
Habermas, J. (1979). Communication and the evolution of society (T. McCarthy, Trans.). Boston: Beacon.
28.
Habermas, J. (1984). The theory of communicative action: Volume 1: Reason and the rationalization of society (T. McCarthy, Trans.). Boston: Beacon.
29.
Habermas, J. (1987). The theory of communicative action: Volume II: Lifeworld and system: A critique of functionalist reason (T. McCarthy, Trans.). Boston: Beacon.
30.
Habermas, J. (1990). Moral consciousness and communicative action (C. Lenhardt & S. Weber Nicholson, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
31.
Habermas, J. (1993). Justification and application: Remarks on discourse ethics (C. P. Cronin, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
32.
Habermas, J. (1996). Between facts and norms (W. Rehg, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
33.
Habermas, J. (2003). The future of human nature. Oxford, UK: Polity.
34.
Heath, J. (2001). Communicative action and rational choice. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
35.
House of Representatives, 107th Congress. (2001). Charitable contributions for September 11: Protecting against fraud, waste, and abuse: Hearing before the subcommittee on oversight and investigations of the committee on energy and commerce. Retrieved July 25, 2005, from http://energycommerce.house.gov/107/Hearings/11062001hearing414/print.htm
36.
Ibarguen, D. (2001, October 29). Some money raised for Red Cross' Liberty Fund to go to long-term plans. Associated Press State and Local Wire.
37.
Jacobson, T. L., & Storey, J. D. (2004). Development communication and participation: Applying Habermas to a case study of population programs in Nepal. Communication Theory, 14, 99-121.
38.
Johannesen, R. L. (2002). Ethics in human communication (5th ed.). Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.
39.
Kriner, S. (2001, October 26). Red Cross likely to spend more than $300 Million on terrorism relief. American Red Cross news story. Retrieved July 27, 2005, from http://web.archive.org/web/20011030012419/www.redcross.org/news/ds/0109wtc/011026money
40.
Leeper, R. V. (1996). Moral objectivity, Jurgen Habermas's discourse ethics, and public relations. Public Relations Review, 22, 133-150.
41.
Levine, S. (2001, November 19). Red crossroads. U.S. News and World Report, 131, 28-28.
42.
Lippitt, G. L. (1982). Organizational renewal: A holistic approach to organization development(2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
43.
Mahoney, J. (2002). Proceduralism and justification in Habermas's discourse ethics. Philosophy Today, 46, 300-312.
44.
May, S. K., & Zorn, T. E. (2003). Forum: Communication and corporate responsibility. Management Communication Quarterly, 16, 595-598.
45.
Pearson, R. (1989). Business ethics as communication ethics: Public relations practice and the idea of dialogue. In C. Botan & V. Hazleton (Eds.), Public relations theory (pp. 111-131). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
46.
Redding, W. C. (1979). Graduate education and the communication consultant: Playing God for a fee. Communication Education, 28, 346-352.
47.
Redding, W. C. (1996). Ethics and the study of organizational communication: When will we wake up? In J. A. Jaksa & M. S. Pritchard (Eds.), Responsible communication: Ethical issues in business, industry, and the professions (pp. 17-40). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton.
48.
Rehg, W. (1996). Translator's introduction. In J. Habermas (Ed.), Between facts and norms (pp. ix-xxxvii). Cambridge, MA: MIT press.
49.
Seeger, M. W. (1997). Ethics and organizational communication. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton.
50.
Seessel, T. (2002). The philanthropic response to 9/11: A report prepared for the Ford Foundation. Retrieved July 28, 2005, from http://www.fordfound.org/publications/recent_articles/docs/philanthropic_response.doc
51.
Taylor, K. (2005, July). Sudden impact. Association Management, 57, 54-55.
52.
Thompson, J. (1995). The media and modernity: A social theory of the media. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
53.
Thomsen, S. R. (1998). Public relations and the tobacco industry: Examining the debate on practitioner ethics. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 13, 152-164.
54.
Townsley, N. C., & Stohl, C. (2003). Contracting corporate social responsibility: Swedish expansions in global temporary agency work. Management Communication Quarterly, 16, 599-605.
55.
Williams, G. (2001, November 1). Turmoil at the Red Cross. Chronicle of Philanthropy, 14. Retrieved July 27, 2005, from Ebscohost database.
