Ethical Challenge Integrated Marketing Communications Paper
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Integrated Marketing Communications

This paper is a review of the ethical and social responsibility that General Electric (GE) faces regarding New York’s Hudson River. The paper will also detail ethical challenges and efforts taken by GE to address, inform, and relate its standing on the Hudson River topic. Also covered will be the influence of external and internal factors on GE’s IMC as well as reviewing the role of research in the process. Lastly, two ethical questions will be prepared based on the paper.
Ethics is defined as “the principles that serve as operational guidelines for both individuals and organizations” (Baack & Clow, 2002, p. 33). In upper New York state GE has a capacitor and arrestor factory located in the city of Fort Edward. GE manufactures electrical distribution and control equipment including capacitors and arresters that used polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as a coolant. For 50 years, the manufacture, sale, use and discharge of PCBs were legal in the United States. More than one billion pounds of PCBs were produced and sold. PCBs were considered a “miracle” chemical because they would not burn and were widely used in electrical equipment installed in wooden factories and school buildings where fire was a constant threat. In fact, some city codes and some insurance companies required the use of PCB-type transformers and capacitors.
A description of polychlorinated biphenyls and usage information.

For a century, PCBs were known mostly to engineers and chemists as the acronym for a variety of chemicals used in many manufacturing products. PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, were considered chemically and thermally stable, meaning they did not break down easily. Nor did they easily catch fire. These physical properties made PCBs extremely desirable for a wide variety of industrial applications. While GE was manufacturing capacitors and arrestors GE was in accordance with all Federal, State, and local laws regarding PCBs and their disposal into the Hudson River as they were considered an approved material. In 1976, Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act, which was implemented in 1979, which banned the manufacture of PCBs and PCB-containing products and established regulations regarding their future use. There has been a cultural value shift in the view of PCBs, which coincides with the environmental protection agency (EPA). “The cultural background in which a person is raised normally impacts purchasing choices” (Baack & Clow, 2002, p. 169). GE discontinued use on PCBs in its products and communicated this change to the buying customers, primarily utility power companies, and the public. GE has invested over $200 million in Hudson River research and restoration projects since 1980 and has kept every commitment made to state and federal regulators. The influence of the internal stakeholders including employees, unions, and the GE shareholders would be to lessen the negative impact on the company’s bottom line as many employees are vested into the GE’s 401K retirement savings plan with GE stock. GE shareholders are similarly interested in the performance of the GE stock and inappropriate handling from marketing and public relations could have a negative impact on GE stock performance. The external stakeholders include channel members or distributors, customers, the local community impacted by the ecosystem, commerce, and health of the Hudson River, the financial community, and lastly the government and special interest groups. Many external stakeholders have impacted and influenced GE’s handling of Hudson River PCB cleanup. GE created a Hudson River web site, which serves for public relations purposes and provides related information. The web site communicates GE’s position on all related areas, links to related articles including facts about PCBs, links to GE’s global environmental health and safety successes, and links to reports of GE contributions for disaster relief efforts. Other information contained on the web sit include facts on the EPA’s dredging plan, GE’s evaluation of the EPS’s dredging plan. Also included on the web site are links to River Recovery, GE’s cleanup programs, and latest related news. Research played an important role in GE’s response to the Hudson River cleanup. At the end of the Clinton administration tenure the EPA decided to pass a resolution to dredge the Hudson River. Research including surveying communities, residences, and business that would be impacted by the dredging were completed and taken into account and evaluated in measuring the GE response to the EPA’s decision to dredge. The public sentiment is clearly in GE’s favor and this fact is communicated on the Hudson River web site and has been conveyed to the national press from GE’s public relations. An ethical question based on this paper is “Is GE’s position of not dredging the Hudson River truly in the best interest of the local river residents and the environment?” Another ethical question is “Is GE’s position of not dredging the Hudson River intended to best suit GE and their bottom line?”

References Baack, Donald, Clow, Kenneth E. (2002). Integrated Advertising, Promotion, & Marketing Communications. Prentice Hall, New Jersey Hudson River. Retrieved January 18, 2002 from the World Wide Web at: http://www.hudsonvoice.com/index.asp Hudson River About PCBs. Retrieved January 18, 2002 from the World Wide Web at: http://www.hudsonvoice.com/auxiliary/about_pcbs/about_pcbs.html