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Professional Morales and Public Opinion Team B GEN200 September 20, 2010 Abstract This paper we will discuss the role of public perception in society and the relationship between values and ethics. Successful business people understand the importance of public support and the damage that negative public perception can cause regardless of actually being found guilty of improprieties. A negative accusation, or even a person bearing false witness, can all be catastrophic to a public figures future. Everywhere that we look, we can find examples of people that forgot the importance of public perception and have fallen from glory.
Professional Morales and Public Opinion The definition of values: A principle, standard, or quality regarded as worthwhile or desirable. Definition of Morality: The quality of being in accord with standards of good or right conduct. Definition of: Ethics: The rules or standard of conduct governing the members of a profession. Definition of perception: The act, process, or faculty of perceiving. Houghton Mifflin Company (2001/1999/1995) Webster’s II College Dictionary. I feel the meaning of values, morality, ethics and perception is; values is what a person’s own opinion on how he or she feels about standards or quality of life.
Morality is one’s personal feeling of what that think is either bad or good. Ethics is what you think is rights or wrong.. Perception is what one person thinks of another either it be true or false. The Importance of Balance Being moral and ethical is often hard, because it forces us to do things for others when it’s inconvenient and for little to no reward. That is why everyone wants to cheat the system; everyone wants the success without hard work. It’s like a person selling drugs because they want to get rich. They could have a regular job for less money, but since they judge success as eing rich and they are willing to sacrifice their morals because it’s an easier path to success. People that are immoral don’t feel like there is a link between success and morality, they feel like the shorter, often immoral path, is a shortcut to success. Then we have people like R Kelly, who has a couple of new songs out that people must like because they are played on the radio, so there are people that would consider him successful. But many of the same people that consider him successful agree that R Kelly is an immoral and unethical person.
Most people that try to cheat the system lose, but some do very well. The public perception of anybody that has been found guilty of a crime by Jury is obviously terrible, because their peers from society voted against them. Look at some of our professional athletes that are caught using steroids. Public perception, or media spin can be manipulated by the media and the collective ideas of everyone around us. When an EMT arrives at an emergency and doesn’t have time to save everyone’s life, and therefore must choose who to save and who dies.
The EMT is making a tough decision for the greater good. The EMT is neither immoral nor unethical, but the decision could have negative consequences if the story is spun wrong. Depending on the Media, the headlines could either say EMT Saves Many or EMT Leaves Many to die. A politician that is moral and ethical would have a short career if the public had a negative perception of them. Once the media starts manipulating facts and only telling half truths to justify their position or further their agenda, the truth about a person’s moral character is a small factor in determining future success.
For a person to achieve true success, they have to find a balance between morality, ethics, and public perception. Conclusion To say that another person is moral and ethical is only one person’s perception based upon the other person’s behavior and actions in society. Success is based on how the public either accepts or rejects another person and what they stand for. In business there are many faces of ethics depending on the company. A company’s ethics will change in order for the company to be successful in the market they are associated with and the target demographic.
Even though each individual has their own personal values, ethics, and morals, they are not all the same. In society there is an agreed upon code of ethics and morals that is upheld. A positive public perception is going mean that the public feels good and safe, so that they can put their trust into that company. Managing the public’s perception plays a key role in maintaining success. Customer Service is one way that a company makes sure that their customers, the public, are satisfied with their services.
Customer satisfaction is public perception, even though there are a few who refuse the service because they are not satisfied with a company’s policies, or ethics they are still considered a part of success. A successful customer service for a company is an indirect ratio of how many happy customers they have, how many unhappy customers they have had or lost, and how many new customers have been recruited. Businesses rely on customer service data to predict where they stand with customers and to develop strategies to improve their weaknesses. Media is the most powerful tool used to maintain a positive public perception.
All media is not good media. Running ads that are created either internally or by a marketing agency is good media strategy, but showing up on the nine o’clock evening news for embezzlement schemes is going to have a negative effect. “If you round a comer and see a group of young Hoodlums pour gasoline on a cat and ignite it, you do not need to conclude that what they are doing is wrong; you do not need to figure anything out. You can see that it is wrong. “(Starkey, C, 2006, On the Category of Moral Perception, pg. 77) Maintaining a positive, ethical, and moral public perception by helping the local community is important for companies.
It shows that they make the effort to help the people around them by giving back, instead of just taking their money the time. The American International Group is an example of bad public perception. After AIG’s stock crashed and their books went into the red, their customers and employees panicked and were concerned that all their money was gone. AIG assured the public that their money was safe, to maintain a positive public image. A short time later, the government bailout’s started and AIG was a recipient. Soon after, AIGs top executives were shown on the nine o’clock news taking outrageously lavish acations and millions of dollars in bonus money. Their poor leadership put their company in the red but they received bonuses for a job poorly done because it was written in their contracts. In order to maintain a positive public perception, companies must readjust their ethics and morals to stay successful and maintain positive relationships with their consumers. References Houghton Mifflin Company, (2001/1999/1995), Webster’s II College Dictionary. Starkey, C. (2006). On the Category of Moral Perception, Social Theory & Practice, 32(1), 75. Retrieved from MasterFILE Premier database