Question

Topic: Student Questions

Ethics In Corporation

Posted by Anonymous on 9/18/2004 at 9:58 AM ET 50 Points
hey there.. im doing a report on ethics in larger corporations.
th case im doing, involves a software company, in wich the executivs has played a lot of borderline stunts, ethically, to gain, and keep clients. included are for example,gifts of jewlerry, vintage wines by the cases, and so on....

Now.. my job in the case is to reccomend a few pointers , as a leader of a consultansgroup, in where the corporation can follow to become more aceptable, ethically speaking.

So far, i have figured that ethics needs to be implemented in the vision of the corporation, and also throughout the overall strategy.. could anyone help me out with a few more pointers?

my other options are :
- go public and show the world that CS ( name) does not condone ANY kind of ethical borderline operations

- say nothing, as the corporation is making $$ by the millions...

- fire the CEO and let him be the scapegoat ( thou the executives are the ones that have been borderlining)

- fire noone, but give new guidelines, and monitor the situation closely for some time...

please help me put here, im intrested in seeing what you guys feel can be the appropriate way to go ...

best regards:
Vidar Halvorsen
Vice President
Student council of
Norwegian School of Management - BI ( Agder )
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by telemoxie on 9/18/2004 at 10:40 AM Member
    People are going to do what they need to do. If a sales team has to resort to such tactics, they either have unrealistic sales targets, a lousy product, or both. The underlying, true problem is probably not "ethics".

    How immediate is the problem? If it is a public problem, than certainly you can do showy public things (such as fire a CEO and publish meaningless corporate vision statements which no one will follow.)

    Is there a problem? You admit in your question that wine and Jewelry is a "borderline" stunt - is it just a question of degree?

    What will happen if your sales drop 25% ? Folks have been using these tactics because they close business. Now, we must assume you will lose business in the short term, as potential buyers are told their wife WON'T get that fur coat, and as the sales team scrambles to learn new skills.

    If it were me, I would focus instead on the quality of products and services delivered by the company (which is, in a way, an ethical decision). Focus on delivering a better and better product and service over time, and replace "borderline" tactics with more acceptable ones, and create new incentives based on new features.

    This focus on delivering best value can improve the top line and reduce unethical practices without a major shock to the revenue stream.

  • Posted by telemoxie on 9/18/2004 at 10:48 AM Member
    Sorry, did not see your 9:35 post... ours crossed in the mail...

    ... watch out - the wine (and especially the jewelry) may never be making it to the clients at all. From the scenerio in your 9:35 post, I'd hire a private investigator to see which of my executives was having an affair.

    I'd also check to see if it's all the same type of wine.
  • Posted by Carl Crawford on 9/18/2004 at 10:52 AM Member
    hi vihalvor,

    yes you can change the point allocations, what you need to do is click on Moderator class="resplink" rel="" target="_blank">https://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/emailModerator.asp?lp=%2Fea%2Findex%2Easp... Help. since it is the week end it might take a few days to get it sorted.


    sorry i cant answer your main question. i don’t want to get into this debate.

    ethics questions usually get a lot of responses so don’t close the question to quickly.

    have a nice day

    Carl Crawford
  • Posted by Carl Crawford on 9/18/2004 at 10:54 AM Member
    oh just click on moderator help on the side bar when you sign in. my link doent go any where. i must have done somthing wrong in the html.
  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 9/18/2004 at 5:02 PM Member
    Being that you are playing the role of a consultant, you may want to tell your client al of the options.

    Are the actions they are taking illegal based on the country's laws that they act under? Is it clearly illegal or borderline? In some countries, what you described would not be even borderline illegal, in which case, the option of letting them continue may be the one to recommend.

    If clearly illegal, then they should clean it up somehow. If borderline illegal, then you should talk about the risks of their actions (lawsuit, arrest, etc.) versus the rewards of the actions (sales).

    I would then list out all of the options for the client and what the pros and cons are for each. Choose the one you think is best as your recomendation.
  • Posted by Chris Blackman on 9/19/2004 at 1:18 AM Accepted
    If the petty cash expenses are unacceptable then the individuals claiming should be held fully accountable.

    The company needs clear written policies on what is allowed and executives should be claiming expenditure back not via petty cash, but via a formal claim/approve/reimburse process.

    Wind the amount of petty cash held down to a really petty amount - say $200 - so they can't claim outrageously expensive items.

    And if they try to claim items outside the rules, they should not be reimbursed so they have to foot the bill themselves.

    Funny how much more careful people become when it's potentially their own money.

    This isn't just about ethics. It's about executives running amok in a company where the financial controller seems to have abdicated from his/her "control" role.

    Good luck.

    ChrisB

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