ABSTRACT
Questions of right–wrong, good–bad, and ethical–unethical are endemic to any purposeful human activity that affects others (Johannesen, 2002). Organizations, by virtue of their size, power, and prominence in society profoundly affect the lives and welfare of a wide variety of stakeholders. Organizations are, therefore, moral domains pregnant with ethical significance. Moreover, the ethical questions organizations face are highly equivocal and increasingly characterized by competing values of individuals, organizations, and a wide variety of stakeholders (Seeger, 1997). Communication is the fundamental process whereby organizations sort through this equivocality and reach consensus regarding what constitutes ethical conduct (Seeger, 2001).
