Ethical Issues in Sales

This paper is composed for the individual assignment for week 2 of the MBA 633 Legal Issues in the Workplace course. The topic for this assignment consists of the differences between ethical and legal business issues. This paper will provide answers to questions related to employee behavior away from the office, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and bribes. Both topics have been presented in the form of video cases (video 93 and 98) found in the Cengage digital video library.

An ethical dilemma happens in the workplace more often then we expect. World Class Bull, written by John Humphreys, Zafar U. Ahmed and Mildred Pryor, is a prime example of how sales personnel can manipulate a potential client into a contract. Christopher Knox, a stellar sales employee at Specialty Fleet Services (SFS), just landed the Armadillo Gas & Power account. Samantha Williams, Human Resources Vice President of SFS, was now filing a breach of the company code of ethics against Christopher and the Vice President of Sales, Jeremy Silva for “deceptive business practices” used to make the sale (Humphreys, Ahmed & Pryor, 2009). Disrupting personal space of the client, starting a dishonorable relationship, and

The movie “Glengarry Glen Ross” presented a series of ethical dilemmas that surround a group of salesmen working for a real estate company. The value of business ethics was clearly undermined and ignored in the movie as the salesmen find alternatives to keep their jobs. The movie is very effective in illustrating how unethical business practices can easily exist in the business world. Most of the time, unethical business practices remain strong in the business world because of the culture that exists within companies. In this film, the sudden demands from management forced employees to become irrational and commit unethical business practices. In fear of losing their jobs, employees were pressured to increase sales despite possible ethical

1. The Sales Rep. A sales representative for a struggling computer supply firm has a chance to close a multimillion-dollar deal for an office system to be installed over a two-year period. The machines for the first delivery are in the company’s warehouse, but the remainder would have to be ordered from the manufacturer. Because the manufacturer is having difficulty meeting the heavy demand for the popular model, the sales representative is not sure that the subsequent deliveries can be made on time. Any delay in converting to the new system would be costly to the customer; however, the blame could be placed on the manufacturer. Should the sales representative close the deal without advising the customer

Best Buy has a Code of Business Ethics, known as “Code”. Their ethics code is followed by Best Buy Co., subsidiaries, agents, affiliates and joint ventures. If the Code is changed, it must be by a Board committee, the Board of Directors, executive officers, or directors. Shareholders are to be notified for the changes in a timely manner. Legal relationships are not defined by the Code; it is only used for business purposes.

Finally he may have even thought that Bryan would be easily influenced by thinking no one would find out with him using the method that he did to get the clock to him.

a) In an electronic store, salespeople are offered an extra $50 for each sale of HDTV models that are being closed out. The manufacturer is offering the extra spiff, and management is fully aware of it. Salespeople, though, are encouraged to not mention either the spiff or the fact that these are closeout models.

Ethics in supply management is very important not only for the organization but in terms of labor, the customer, the environment, buyers, and suppliers.

Why do you think marketing is an area that is involved with so many ethical issues? Provide atleast 2 reasons to support your answer.

All businesses face ethical issues. Some, as they should, see them as an important aspect to be remembered when making a business decision, while others wrongly see them as an inconvenience.

Sales manager can improve its ethical climate condition of its sales people by improving its social responsiveness and by ensuring that its company stays on ethical ground

     Why does this happen? Why don’t salesmen just record what they have actually done instead of doctoring books or changing orders? For one a lot of pressure is put on salesmen. Foremost among the firm's agents who manage the economic and ethical boundaries with the firm's customers are its salespeople. Most firms selling to organizational customers and many firms selling "big ticket" consumer products rely on their sales force to connect to the customer and the market. In such cases, the salesperson represents the firm to most, if not all, of its downstream stakeholders: customers, channel members, and even competitors. As the primary boundary spanner between the firm and its customers, the salesperson faces a constant barrage of decision-making about ethical issues. (Meyer, Charlene, 2003) A lot of pressure is put on sales people. They have

“Marketing ethics has been receiving increased research attention, particularly from the past 10 years.” Alen J. Dubinsky & Barbara Loken. Ethical issues can be defined as a situation or problem in which a company or an individual has to decide what the right thing as per ethics is or what is wrong unethically. These issues can occur in any organization and are very common. The most debated one these days are the ethical issues of marketing. We will be discussing some of the

1. The Sales Rep. A sales representative for a struggling computer supply firm has a chance to close a multimillion-dollar deal for an office system to be installed over a two-year period. The machines for the first delivery are in the company’s warehouse, but the remainder would have to be ordered from the manufacturer. Because the manufacturer is having difficulty meeting the heavy demand for the popular model, the sales representative is not sure that the subsequent deliveries can be made on time. Any delay in converting to the new system would be costly to the customer; however, the blame could be placed on the manufacturer. Should the sales representative close the deal without advising the customer

Nestlé, the world's largest food and nutrition company, has been providing customers with a wide variety of food and beverage categories. Nescafé, Milo, Perrier, and Häagen-Dazs are all popular brands listed in its numerous production categories.