BBA 4751, Business Ethics 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VI
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
7. Explore the professional ethics and responsibilities of intermediaries, the responsibilities and loyalty
of managers, and the responsibilities of employees to the community.
8. Analyze the ethical considerations governing marketing practices.
Reading Assignment
In order to access the following resource(s), click the link(s) below:
Brenkert, G. (1998). Marketing and the vulnerable. Business Ethics Quarterly, Ruffin Series, 1, 7-20.
Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.libraryresources.c
olumbiasouthern.edu/docview/192331673?accountid=33337
Quinn, M. J., Mujtaba, B. G., & Cavico, F. J. (2011). Global tobacco sales dilemmas: The clash of freedom
and markets with morality and ethics. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 2(2), 107-124. Retrieved
from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.libraryresources.c
olumbiasouthern.edu/docview/1014418678?accountid=33337
Headden, S. (1998). The Marlboro man lives! U.S. News & World Report, 125(11), 58. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=a9h&AN=1059522&site=ehost-live&scope=site
MacFadyen, L., Hastings G., & MacKintosh, A. M. (2001). Teenagers susceptible to tobacco marketing.
Brown University Child & Adolescent Behavior Letter, 17(4), 3. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=a9h&AN=4347065&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Alt, E., Dies-de-Castro, E. P., & Llorens-Montes, F. (2015). Linking employee stakeholders to environmental
performance: The role of proactive environmental strategies and shared vision. Journal of Business
Ethics, 128(1), 167-181. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bth&AN=102012548&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Palmer, D., & Hedberg, T. (2013). The ethics of marketing to vulnerable populations. Journal of Business
Ethics, 11(2), 403-413 Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bth&AN=90254861&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Taken Smith, K. (2014). Millennials’ interpretations of green terminology. Academy of Marketing Studies
Journal, 18(1), 55-68. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bth&AN=100277153&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Edward Snowden: Leaks that exposed US spy programme. (2014). Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-23123964
UNIT VI STUDY GUIDE
Ethics in Cultural Integration
and Marketing
BBA 4751, Business Ethics 2
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Lighthouse Services. (2013). Why reporting hotlines are considered a best practice. Retrieved from https://www.lighthouse-services.com/documents/Why Reporting Hotlines Are Considered a Best Practice.pdf
Murphy, D. E. (2002). The federal sentencing guidelines for organizations: A decade of promoting compliance and ethics. Iowa Law Review, 87(2), 697-719. Retrieved from http://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/training/organizational-guidelines/selected-articles/Murphy1.pdf
Unit Lesson
Click here to access an introduction video.
Click here to access the introduction video transcript.
Click here to access a video that briefly introduces topics in this unit. Click here to access the video transcript.
Wile E. Coyote was perpetually in pursuit of Roadrunner in the Roadrunner cartoons that aired Saturday mornings for children. Coyote always used various implements and strategies in order to catch him, but he always failed. Coyote used Acme brand products—acme means prime in Greek—however, the products were far from prime, quality products. Instead, they were completely generic and always faulty. The products blew up, failed to detonate, or self-destructed in highly disadvantageous circumstances, at least from Coyote’s perspective, because instead of helping him catch Roadrunner, the Acme products regularly failed and the big bird remained free, always outwitting him—“BEEP BEEP.” Despite their high failure rate, Coyote continued to rely on Acme assumedly because of its superior marketing and the implied trust and confidence he had in the products. Coyote is, in actuality, a simpleton, a character of low intelligence or common sense and did not know any better. So, Coyote continued his attempts after purchasing more Acme products, humorously incinerating himself rather than his intended target.
In this unit on cultural integration and marketing, we will explore what it means to market to vulnerable populations as well as the ramifications of such marketing techniques. Is it morally impermissible to take advantage of the vulnerable? In what way and on what basis is this the case? Understanding and embracing that some are disadvantaged may or may not form the basis of an unethical marketing policy, such as when a clothing store markets to the Big and Tall men’s sector. The fact that one man stands taller than the average man could be seen as a disadvantage, but it was not something he was able to choose. Instead, his biology determined his height. How is marketing to the elderly and infirm different than the man of great height; or are they different at all? We look at especially vulnerable populations and address their relevance within marketing strategies along with the ethical basis of such behavior.
BBA 4751, Business Ethics 3
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
We will also study the special situation of the marketing of tobacco products—how tobacco products are marketed and in what ways the underlying product may be different from all other legal products due to its addictiveness. We will investigate the industry of tobacco manufacturing and marketing and think about whether such marketing is also pointed at an otherwise vulnerable population of teenagers and the addicted.
We will look at companies’ responsibilities to the environment on the basis of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and their marketing of such corporate “green” activity to relevant constituencies. What are their responsibilities, and when are they called to action? When companies do manufacture “green” products, whether the process itself is “green” or when the end result/product is “green,” how can it be best marketed and to whom? What labels are generally understood and in what ways?
In addition to discussing the contributions of whistleblowers, we will review best practices regarding the cultural integration of ethics into companies in order to minimize occurrences of fraud and other illegal or unethical activities. We will study two famous whistleblowers, Edward Snowden and Jeffrey Wigand, who both challenged the practices of the most powerful and well-funded entities known: the U.S. government and the tobacco industry. We will explore how and why they came forward and the differences in their treatment. The former was reviled and prosecuted, while the latter was praised and protected. Whistleblowers take great risk to come forward. They risk being legally prosecuted, losing their job, and having their reputation ruined, to name a few, and we will address their ethical, yet disparate treatment.
Furthermore, we will address the characteristics of the “best practices” in the industry for companies to protect themselves against illegality and immorality. Ethics hotlines, in addition to ombudsmen, reporting, and whistleblowers, are the strongest defense these entities have. Surprisingly, though many companies do not have them, hotlines are one of the best ways to protect themselves. An Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) survey (n.d.) found that almost 38% of fraud is detected through anonymous tips compared to 17% by management review and only 14% by internal audit. If companies’ employee hotlines take special steps to ensure they are confidential and anonymous, then useful and material tips from employees and outsiders alike will help shape the positive ethical culture of the firm and root out expensive behavior. According to a 2016 ACFE study, the loss due to fraud for organizations with hotlines was half of those without one. Therefore, hotlines essentially pay for themselves and save a company’s bottom line, as well as greatly improve its culture.
In addition, not only employees take advantage of hotlines. Vendors and third parties do as well. A successful hotline is one available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so individuals can avail themselves outside of a work day. They must assure anonymity, if requested, and confidentiality always. Trained specialists from a third-party company must staff the hotline, be proactive, and have an organized system for tracking the information generated. Early detection is key to discovering the fraud in its infancy, thereby ensuring a better and less expensive result.
This unit will be an especially interesting one, as we will grapple with the ethical debate in marketing both the controversial product of tobacco and general products to vulnerable populations, like children and the elderly. We will look in-depth at “best practices” in the hunt to employ internal mechanisms to protect companies from costly, often devastating, illegal and unethical practices.
References
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. (n.d.). Tone at the top: How management can prevent fraud in the workplace. Retrieved from http://www.acfe.com/uploadedFiles/ACFE_Website/Content/documents/tone-at-the-top-research.pdf
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. (2016). Report to the nations on occupational fraud and abuse: 2016 global fraud study. Retrieved from http://www.acfe.com/rttn2016.aspx