{"id":4902,"date":"2014-03-06T10:53:49","date_gmt":"2014-03-06T15:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/?p=4902"},"modified":"2018-08-09T12:46:06","modified_gmt":"2018-08-09T16:46:06","slug":"conflicts-of-interest-what-to-do-when-the-decision-is-not-clean-cut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/2014\/03\/06\/conflicts-of-interest-what-to-do-when-the-decision-is-not-clean-cut\/","title":{"rendered":"Conflicts of Interest: What to Do When the Decision Is Not Clean-Cut"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo from Medrants.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Integrity is a quality that most, if not all, public relations employers are looking for in prospective employees. With ethical conduct comes responsibility \u2014 the responsibility of staying true to your publics, your company and yourself. But oftentimes stakeholders have diverging motivations, and sometimes these clash and result in (potential) conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n

We are all members of different groups. Whether you belong to a group in the local community, a professional organization, a newsroom or an agency, there is potential risk of ending up in a complicated situation where interests clash and not every decision made will best benefit one\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n

According to PRSA\u2019s Professional Standards Advisory PS-11<\/a>, \u201cConflicts of interests have the potential to undermine or compromise the impartiality, credibility or trustworthiness of a practitioner due to the possibility of a clash between a practitioner\u2019s self-interest and a professional-interest, or their public-interest, or their client\u2019s interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

What does this mean? Whenever there is a situation in which there could be some sort of gain (financial, social, professional, etc.), there is room for a potential conflict of interest. Without honesty, transparency and trust, our credibility as public relations professionals disappears, so disclosing your affiliations and being aware of making decisions that could potentially generate a conflict of interest is a good way to be proactive and act ethically.<\/p>\n

Emmanuel Tchividjian, PRSA\u2019s Board of Ethics and Professional Standards<\/a> member, and ethics officer at the public relations agency Ruder Finn<\/a>, said it is very common to see client conflicts in the agency world. Client conflict is defined in PRSA\u2019s PSA-11 as \u201c\u2026 when invited to represent the interest of one client, whose interests, products, services and even operating philosophy are at odds with existing clients already employing you.\u201d This also includes situations where a conflicting client hasn\u2019t been active for a while.<\/p>\n

Tchividjian said Ruder Finn occasionally experiences issues about representing clients that are competitors, and that the agency does not work with both clients unless both parties are fully aware and grant approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a potential new client could be a competition, we tell both parties, rule of thumb. If no parties find a problem then we don\u2019t have a problem,\u201d Tchividjian said.<\/p>\n

To decide on whether to pursue a new client or keep the current one, look at different factors such as how the relationship is going between the client and the firm, and whether this new potential client would cause any harm to the current client, Tchividjian added.<\/p>\n

Here are a few steps you can follow after identifying a situation where there could be an ethical conflict of interest:<\/p>\n