Toward a Code of Ethics for Organizational Communication Professionals: A Working Proposal

As an increasing number of communication professionals embark on careers in training and consulting, it is imperative that they ground their work in sound ethical principles and related practices. Recognizing the importance of ethics as a discipline, the National Communication Association (NCA) is in the process of developing a code of ethics for its members. This paper presents a draft of a code designed specifically for communication professionals engaged in consulting and training. It first reviews several of the underlying ethical principles and practices that should be underpinnings of a code and then offers a working proposal for general discussion. The code presented has gone through several versions and should be considered a working document. The first version of the code was first presented at the 1994 Communication Ethics Conference. Many of the ideas contained in the document emerged from on-going discussions with members of the Commission. (Contains 21 references and the code.) (Author/CR)