Managerial Communication

Corporate crime in America continues unabated. Billions have been lost or misappropriated by supposedly greedy and corrupt executives aided and abetted by their silenced sycophants or their fearful employees. What incites people to so blatantly and callously abuse their power to the detriment of hundreds if not thousands of others who in good faith are relying on their stewardship? What might explain why those not directly culpable but who are witnesses to these dark deeds do not speak up or publicly disassociate themselves from clearly dishonest activities? Surely not everyone is greedy, dishonest, or cowardly? Why the collusion? Why the silence? This book answers some of these critical, urgent and morally significant questions. It explores the root causes that lead to dishonest stewards and a corporate culture of moral malaise. It discusses the systemic factors inherent in the capitalist system that can create potent ethical tensions within business corporations. These ethical tensions can manifest themselves in ruthless power dynamics and a culture of fear that damages the moral compass of many of those in positions of power and leadership. This book helps managers critically evaluate their values and ethical principles so that they can make thoughtful interventions or credible challenges to those who promote immoral or corrupt behavior. By providing an easy to use moral reasoning framework, the reader can critically process ethical dilemmas and find grounds that will edify their moral courage to speak up and challenge those who are promoting immoral behavior. Most importantly this book provides pragmatic suggestions and ideas for moral coping strategies that can be put to immediate effect on Monday morning.

Reginald L. Bell is a professor of management in the College of Business at Prairie View A&M University. He received his PhD in business education from the University of Missouri at Columbia. He has several dozen articles published in peer-reviewed journals and proceedings and is a frequent contributor to Supervision. He serves as an ad hoc reviewer for the International Journal of Business Communication and the Journal of Business and Technical Communication; he serves on the editorial review board for the Business and Professional Communication Quarterly. His research has also appeared in the Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, International Journal of Business Communication, Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning and Learning Objects, and several more.

Jeanette S. Martin is a Professor Emeritus in the School of Business at University of Mississippi. Martin received her EdD in Business Education from the University of Memphis. She is an active member of the Association for Business Communication and her research has appeared in the Journal of Education for Business, Journal of Business Communication, and Management Communication Quarterly.