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Essay International Marketing Ethics and Csr Case Study

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1. Identification of Case Issues

Mars chocolate is one of the worlds leading chocolate manufacturers and employs more than 13,000 people across 110 sites worldwide. As market leaders in their industry, Mars is constantly in the spotlight. Being responsible in the way they conduct business is part of the reason they are in the highly regarded position that they are in today. The sourcing of cocoa however is currently one the greatest ethical dilemma’s facing not only Mars, but all chocolate companies all over the world.

The importance of international marketing ethics across cultures has been noted by a number of authors (Fletcher & Crawford, 2011; Armstrong & Sweeney, 1994; Singhapakdi, Rawwas, Marta & Ismail, 1999). For …show more content…

“The issue of slave labour is not merely one that requires unilateral action… international actors such as foreign governments, NGOs, civil society participants, as well as other actors implicated either in supplying the labour or consuming its products are (needed) to help address the problem” (Chanthavong, 2002). When it comes to how Mars can help solve this issue, they must continue to finance and support cooperative efforts with both governments and nongovernmental organizations. Such efforts include the ‘International Cocoa Initiative’, an initiative working throughout the Ivory Coast with a “goal of totally eliminating child labour in cocoa” (Peter McAllister, BBC interview); and the ‘The World Cocoa Foundation’, an initiative “helping to achieve cocoa sustainability, supporting cocoa communities, education, field programs and scientific research” (World Cocoa Foundation, 2012). Mars must continue to build partnerships to address this issue, but ultimately, making progress in eradicating this issue completely requires the support, cooperation and commitment of the governments of cocoa producing countries, the cocoa farmers and others from within the cocoa community (Mars, 2012).

If an organization is to survive and flourish in a global economy, the firm must understand the values and behaviours of each diverse group of consumers they serve, and Japan is no exception (Erffmeyer, 1999). According to Erffmeyer (1999), there has been a recent

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