Project Instructions——-750 – 1,250 words

For this project, you will complete a legal and ethics training. You will gather information about your audience, decide how to manage that information, and use the information to develop communications. You will also examine the legal and ethical factors that you should take into account when using audience information.

Additionally, you will explore some real-world examples of how other companies have dealt with legal and ethical violations. This will help you build an understanding of the importance of taking these issues seriously.

Scenario:

You are employed by a large, high-profile company. When you come into the office on Monday morning, you see an email from your supervisor in your inbox:

From: Roberta Fleishman
To: [email protected]
Date: xx/xx/xxxx 08:15 a.m.
Subject: Ethical and Legal Training

Hello,

As you know, we had a board meeting last Friday. The board has been keeping a close eye on media coverage of other companies recent ethical and legal violations related to the misuse of audience information. The board wants to make sure that we are managing sensitive information in an ethical and legal manner. To respond to these efforts, I want to ensure all of our team members are fully aware of the legal and ethical guidelines surrounding this topic. Everyone at our company should understand what it means to adhere to these guidelines.

We have a team meeting next Wednesday, and I need you to develop an ethical and legal training for the team. I trust your expertise, so please present the information in whatever format you think is best. You can make a visual presentation, write up a training manual, or give a briefing to the team.

I want to be sure that the content of this training is relevant to the team. The training needs to outline the legal and ethical factors that employees must consider when they use audience information. Please focus on the following areas: gathering audience information, managing this information, and using the information to plan communications.

In the training, give real-world examples of other companies that have incurred legal and ethical violations related to the misuse of audience information. Describe the repercussions of these actions. I want to ensure that the team understands how these violations can occur and how they can negatively affect us.

Let me know if you have any questions.

In the meantime, happy Monday!

-Roberta F.

Directions:

Your supervisor has asked you to develop a training for your team that focuses on the legal and ethical factors surrounding the use of audience information. She said you can present the information however you like. For example, you could use a visual presentation, a manual, or a brief. On the other hand, she gave you very specific instructions about the content of the training.

For this training, your supervisor asked you to outline the legal and ethical factors that employees should take into account when using audience information. She wants you to focus on (1) gathering audience information; (2) managing audience information; and (3) using this information to develop communications.

She also asked you to give the team real-world examples of other companies that have dealt with legal and ethical violations and the consequences they faced as a result. This will help your team understand the importance of taking these issues seriously. Specifically, your training must address the following:

Gathering Information
For the first section of your training, your supervisor has asked you to explain to the team how to legally and ethically gather data about an audience. She wants to ensure that the team knows the research techniques they should use. They should also be aware of the legal and ethical factors to consider in their research process. As you explain the best ways to gather information, be sure to:

Describe research techniques the team can use to gather qualitative data about an audience.
Describe a rule or law that professionals must follow when using one of the research techniques above.
Describe the ethical factors a professional should keep in mind while researching.

Managing Audience Information
Your supervisor explained that once the team has gathered information about an audience, it is their responsibility to manage that information. She has asked you to outline how the team can manage information ethically and legally. For example, this process could relate to privacy of information.
Your supervisor also asked you to give some real-world examples so that employees will understand how important these issues are. Give examples of other companies that have made legal and ethical violations in managing sensitive audience information. Then, describe the consequences of those violations. As you explain how to manage audience information correctly, be sure to:

Describe a rule or law that your team must follow to better manage the personal information they collect.
Give a real-world example of a company or organization that did not follow the rule or law you described. Then explain what happened as a result of that legal violation.
Describe an ethical standard that your company must adhere to when managing personal information.
Share a real-world example of a company or organization that did not follow the ethical standard you described. Then, explain what happened as a result.

Using Audience Information to Plan Communications
In the final section of your training, your supervisor has asked you to describe how to use audience information ethically. Specifically, how can you use this information appropriately when you need to learn about a target audience and strengthen messages to that audience? When gathering data, it is important to be aware of how other cultures view the sharing of private or sensitive information. Also, remember that you should always make sure you have enough data to form conclusions.
Once again, your supervisor has asked you to share some real-world examples. Look for companies with ethical violations related to information management and describe what happened as a result of those violations. As you explain how to ethically use audience information, be sure to:

Give an example of how audience information can be used to strengthen messages for a target audience.
Describe ethical factors to keep in mind when using audience information to strengthen messages for a target audience. For example, how can the team avoid stereotyping a specific audience?
Share a real-world example of a company or organization that did not consider the ethical implications of its message. Then, describe what happened as a result of that legal or ethical violation.

Project Rubric-Legal and Ethics Training

Gathering Info:

Describes research techniques to gather data that can help describe an audience

Describes a rule or law that professionals must follow when using audience research techniques

Describes the ethics a professional should keep in mind while researching

Managing Audience Info:

Describes a rule, regulation, or law that teams must follow to appropriately manage the personally identifiable information collected

Describes the repercussions of a real-world legal violation by a company or organization

Describes a professional ethical standard that guides how the organization should manage audience information

Describes the repercussions of a real-world ethical violation by a company or organization

Using Audience Information to Plan Communications

Provides an example of how audience information can be used to strengthen messages for a target audience

Describes the ethical factors that a team must consider when using audience information to strengthen messages

Describes what happened as a result of real-world ethical violations by a company

General:

Clearly conveys meaning with correct grammar, sentence structure, and spelling; shows understanding of audience and purpose

Lists sources where needed using citation methods with no major errors

***I can use any outside source to gather info for this project***