Page 341 - DMGT408DMGT203_Marketing Management

Marketing Management/Essentials of Marketing

Notes
Did u know? Some universities and management institutions in India offer courses in
ethics or make it compulsory part of management courses. In the absence of formal written
down codes of marketing ethics, there have been suggestions that Indian businesses should
adopt AMA codes of ethics.
Occasionally, there are seminars on topics such as “corporate governance” to promote ethical
conduct in business. Codes of ethics refer to organisational rules and policies that serve an
organisation’s members in the shape of formal guidelines for professional conduct. This way,
the employers help company members to better understand what is expected of them. Rewards
and punishments associated with ethical or unethical conduct enforce code of ethics and limit
the opportunities or tendency to engage in unethical behaviour. Fairness in the enforcement
should help greater acceptance of ethical standards. A very short self-assessment test can assist
an individual in determining whether a certain decision would be ethically right:
1. Is this decision right legally? In case the answer is ‘No’, then one must stop there, as it can
cause serious trouble.
2. Is this decision fair to all concerned? If it is not fair to anyone concerned, then very likely
it is not ethically right.
3. How will this decision make me feel about myself? Unethical decisions generally give rise
to feelings of uneasiness and guilt and when they become known to the public, they cause
shame, and humiliation.
If top management of a business develops programmes to encourage ethical conduct, then such
programmes become a force. Marketing people understand the policies that govern ethical
conduct and can easily resolve any conflicting ethical issues. Tom Rusk and D. Patrick Miller
suggest that an aggressive ethical approach to marketing should consider at least four
fundamental values of interpersonal communication: (1) respect, (2) understanding, (3) caring,
and (4) fairness. The application of these fundamental values entails five steps:

1. Keep listening, don’t argue, criticise, or defend yourself until you understand the problem
confronting you.
2. Identify the ethical issues involved in a decision that may affect colleagues, and customers.
Understand the viewpoint of those who are involved.
3. Ignore your anger and desire of power or prestige and develop as many alternatives as
possible before analysing.
4. Identify the best alternative from your point of view considering respect, understanding,
caring, fairness, honesty, etc.

5. Explain your decision to a neutral and trusted colleague, take time to reconsider, and
consult before the final decision.
Irrespective of what businesses finally decide about framing a formal guideline to cover ethics
in marketing practices, one aspect is of critical importance: the individuals’ character. Most cases
of employees engaging knowingly in unethical conduct are traceable to the individual’s character.
People are expected to know at least what is clearly right or wrong and should have the courage
to act accordingly.

Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:
1. Marketing ethics is the moral evaluation of marketing activities and decisions as right or
wrong.

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