#NORA: Ethics awareness and meaning in turbulent times

Awareness of moral issues is increasingly important, but in times of crisis the pressure for making fast decisions is high. How can businesses make sure that ethics are on the radar, and do not get forgotten/neglected in times of pressure.

The presentation focused on how to use communication to motivate and prioritize ethical topics, and how to connect them to meaning in work. Suzanne van Gils also covered bounded rationality to discuss how ethics can be unintentionally overlooked. In short – to set ethical priorities, communicators need to be aware of the issue and see meaning in how to act.

This topic was presented as a keynote to the members of the regional summit of the Global Alliance for PR and Communication Management, including the global president and his team, in Lisbon Portugal.

About the speaker

Suzanne van Gils (Ph.D.) is an associate professor in management communication and ethics. Her research interests focus on (im)moral behavior in organizations, identity processes, and leader-employee interactions. Recent projects focus among others on ethical leadership communication and meaningful work. Before joining BI in 2019, Suzanne has worked as an assistant professor at Maastricht University, and as a post-doctoral research fellow at Kühne Logistics University in Hamburg. She earned her PhD at Rotterdam School of Management. Suzanne has published in top tier journals such as Human Relations, Leadership Quarterly, and Journal of Business ethics.