ethic

ethic

In comparison with the other functional
areas of business, marketing has received
considerable attention as the area most often
charged with unethical practices[l]. One
reason may be that marketing managers have
greater opportunities to be involved in
unethical behaviour since they deal with
"boundary spanning activities". One most
prominent dilemma is whether as a
marketing professional one should follow
one's own values or act in the manner which
management expects. Often goals of
management do not encourage ethical
decision making. For example, one prominent
goal of management is profit maximization,
which some companies feel should be
obtained regardless of the methods. But
marketers must be aware of laws and
regulations pertaining to ethical behaviour.
While ethical beliefs vary among individuals,
generally accepted rules of ethics should be
followed when faced with ethical dilemmas.
Such rules directly affect a firm's ethical
environment and the level of ethical practices
among the firm's marketers. One of the ways
in which the rules of ethics are fashioned
and communicated is in the form of a code
of ethics. Developing and enforcing a code of
ethics is costly and time-consuming; but it
greatly helps to control the ethical
environment of the firm. Administrative
agency standards, governmental laws, trade
groups and professional codes also help to
regulate the ethics of marketing.
European Business Review,

Corporate policy and professional
standards in the form of codes of conduct or
codes of ethics have the potential to
significantly affect the ethical behaviour of
managers within the organization[2]. The
New York Chapter of the American
Marketing Association developed guidelines
and suggestions for ethical behaviour that
offer valuable insights[3]. This or similar
comprehensive codes of ethics appears to be
an effective vehicle for maintaining ethical
behaviour. For example, corporate policy is
linked with...