Just a Job?: Communication, Ethics, and Professional Life

“This well-written, well-referenced, state-of-the-art interdisciplinary research will challenge the way many scholars (and nonscholars) approach applied ethics….an important acquisition for most academic collections and highly recommended for courses in communications, leadership, organizational theory, business, and applied ethics. Highly recommended.”–CHOICE

“Just a job? Communication, Ethics, and Professional Life eloquently demonstrates how ethics inform the way we talk, work, and live. The authors argue that while some moral decisions can be difficult, the daily choice to do the right thing in all aspects of life will ultimately make behaving ethically seem less like work. In this book, professional and personal ethics emerge, not as laws, sermons, or finger shaking prohibitions, but as the vibrant foundation of a happy life.”–Joanne B. Ciulla, Professor, Coston Family Chair in Leadership and Ethics, Jepson School of Leadership Studies, University of Richmond and author of The Working Life: The Promise and Betrayal of Modern Work

“Just a Job? is a clearly written and provocative communication-centered approach to the ethics of work. Throughout the book, the authors explore the power, complexity, and implications of labels, definitions, metaphors, and narratives. They heighten our awareness of the implicit and explicit ways that communication both reflects and creates ethical issues. Rather than focusing on the traditional ethics of duty, consequences, and justice or on ethical dilemmas, they illustrate everyday ethical situations and offer a revised and reformulated Aristotelian virtue ethics to complement more traditional theories.”–Richard L. Johannesen, Emeritus Professor of Communication, Northern Illinois University, Senior author, Ethics in Human Communication, 6th Edition