Ethics in Functional Areas:
–Operations
–Marketing
–Finance
–HR
–Information Technology
•Recent challenges in ethics
•Ethics in different countries
Factors affecting ethical dilemmas of Indian corporations
1. Socio-cultural factors;
2. Psychological fear of losing jobs;
3. Relaxed government structures and regulations;
4. Sanctions and discriminations in society that can be offset with accumulation of wealth by fair or foul means;
5. Uncertainties and fears about the future;
6. Strong family traditions and laws of inheritance;
7. Overall scarcity of resources and the difficulty of amassing wealth through normal and legitimate means;
8. An inequitable and scorching tax system;
9. A belief that business and ethics are irreconcilable; and
10. A tendency to adopt an easy option when confronted with difficult ethical choices.
Defining marketing ethics
• Marketing ethics as a right or wrong action: marketing ethics means a standard by which a marketing action may be judged ‘right’ or ‘wrong’
• It can also be defined as how moral standards are applied to marketing decisions, behaviors, and institutions.
ETHICAL VALUES
• Honesty
• Responsibility
• Fairness
• Respect
• Transparency
• Citizenship
Areas in marketing ethics
• In product development
• In pricing
• In placing (distribution)
• In promotions (advertising)
• In other promotional activities (i.e. excluding advertising)
Unethical practices in marketing
• Clarity in pricing
• Selling at a loss to increase market share and destroy competition in order to subsequently raise prices
• Price fixing cartels
• Attracting customers and then subjecting them to high pressure selling techniques to switch to an more expensive alternative
• Counterfeit goods and brand piracy
• Copying the style of packaging in an attempt to mislead consumers
• Deceptive advertising
• Unethical practices in market research and competitor intelligence
• Selling goods abroad which are banned at home
• Omitting to provide information on side effects
• Unsafe products
• Wasteful and unnecessary packaging
• Deception on size and content
• Inaccurate and incomplete testing of products
• Treatment of animals in product testing
Ethics and the supply chain
• The use of child labour and forced labour
• Production in sweatshops
• Violation of the basic rights of workers
• Ignoring of health, safety and environmental standards
Institute of Business Ethics Suggestions for Good Practice
• Relations with customers
• Relations with shareholders and other investors
• Relations with employees
• Relations with suppliers
• Relations with the government and the local community
• The environment
• Relations with competitors
• Issues relating to international business
• Behaviour in relations to mergers and takeovers
• Ethical issues concerning directors and managers
• Compliance and verification
Marketing and the Natural Environment
• The natural resources and materials used
• The amount of energy required in the production process
• The residuals that result from production
• The consumption of resources and energy that is required to use products
• The generation of pollutants in using products
• The amount of packaging material that may have to be discarded.
–Operations
–Marketing
–Finance
–HR
–Information Technology
•Recent challenges in ethics
•Ethics in different countries
Factors affecting ethical dilemmas of Indian corporations
1. Socio-cultural factors;
2. Psychological fear of losing jobs;
3. Relaxed government structures and regulations;
4. Sanctions and discriminations in society that can be offset with accumulation of wealth by fair or foul means;
5. Uncertainties and fears about the future;
6. Strong family traditions and laws of inheritance;
7. Overall scarcity of resources and the difficulty of amassing wealth through normal and legitimate means;
8. An inequitable and scorching tax system;
9. A belief that business and ethics are irreconcilable; and
10. A tendency to adopt an easy option when confronted with difficult ethical choices.
Defining marketing ethics
• Marketing ethics as a right or wrong action: marketing ethics means a standard by which a marketing action may be judged ‘right’ or ‘wrong’
• It can also be defined as how moral standards are applied to marketing decisions, behaviors, and institutions.
ETHICAL VALUES
• Honesty
• Responsibility
• Fairness
• Respect
• Transparency
• Citizenship
Areas in marketing ethics
• In product development
• In pricing
• In placing (distribution)
• In promotions (advertising)
• In other promotional activities (i.e. excluding advertising)
Unethical practices in marketing
• Clarity in pricing
• Selling at a loss to increase market share and destroy competition in order to subsequently raise prices
• Price fixing cartels
• Attracting customers and then subjecting them to high pressure selling techniques to switch to an more expensive alternative
• Counterfeit goods and brand piracy
• Copying the style of packaging in an attempt to mislead consumers
• Deceptive advertising
• Unethical practices in market research and competitor intelligence
• Selling goods abroad which are banned at home
• Omitting to provide information on side effects
• Unsafe products
• Wasteful and unnecessary packaging
• Deception on size and content
• Inaccurate and incomplete testing of products
• Treatment of animals in product testing
Ethics and the supply chain
• The use of child labour and forced labour
• Production in sweatshops
• Violation of the basic rights of workers
• Ignoring of health, safety and environmental standards
Institute of Business Ethics Suggestions for Good Practice
• Relations with customers
• Relations with shareholders and other investors
• Relations with employees
• Relations with suppliers
• Relations with the government and the local community
• The environment
• Relations with competitors
• Issues relating to international business
• Behaviour in relations to mergers and takeovers
• Ethical issues concerning directors and managers
• Compliance and verification
Marketing and the Natural Environment
• The natural resources and materials used
• The amount of energy required in the production process
• The residuals that result from production
• The consumption of resources and energy that is required to use products
• The generation of pollutants in using products
• The amount of packaging material that may have to be discarded.