Mktg 350 EXAM ONE, chapter 3 – Flashcards

refers to the moral or ethical dilemmas that might arise in a business setting

in contrast, examines those ethical problems that are specific to the domain of marketing

Because marketing profession is often singled out among business disciplines as the root cause of a host of ethical lapses( eg, unethical advertising, the promoting of shoddy products), anyone involved in marketing must recognize the ethical implications of their action

Ethical climate corporate social responsibility

includes having a set of values that guides decision- making and behavior.

everyone within a firm must share the same understanding of its ethical values and how the translate into business activities of the firm and must share a consistent language to discuss them. once the values are understood, the firm must develop explicit rules and implicit understandings that govern all the firms transactions. top mgmt must commit to establishing an ethical climate, and employees throughout the firm must be dedicated, because the roots of ethical conflict often are the competing values of individuals. the generally accepted code in marketing, developed by the American marketing associating flows from universal norms of conduct to the specific values to which marketers should aspire

generally entails voluntary actions taken by a company to address the ethical, social, and environmental impacts of its business operations and the concerns of its stakeholders.

the serious consideration of the impact of the company's actions and operating in a way that balances short- term profit needs with society's long term needs, thus ensuring the company's survival in a healthy environment. firms with strong ethical climates tend to be more socially responsible

step one: identify issuses Step two: gather information and identify stakeholders Step 3: Brainstorm and Evaluate Alternatives Step 4: Choose a Course of Action

first step is to identify the issue

in this step, the firm focuses on gathering facts that are important to the ethical issues, including all relevant legal information. to get a complete picture, the firm must identify all the individuals and groups that have a stake in how the issue is resolved. Stakeholders typically include the firms employees and retired employees, supplies, the government, customer groups, stockholders, and members of the community which the firm operates

after the marketing firm has identified the stakeholders and their issues and gathered the available date, all parties relevant tot eh decision should come together to brainstorm any alternative course of action

the objective of this last step is to weigh the various alternatives and choose a course of action that generates the best solution for the stakeholders using ethical practices. Management will rank the alternatives in order of preference, clearly establishing the advantages and disadvantages of each. it is also crucial to investigate any potential legal issues associated with each alternaive. of course, any illegal activity should immediately be rejected. the marketing managers evaluate alternatives and choose a course of action

Planning phase implementation phase control phase

marketers can introduce ethics at the beginning of the planning process simply by including ethical statements in the firms mission or vision statement. During the planning stage, ethical mission statements can take on another role as a means to guide firm's swot analysis

when firms are identifying potential markets and how to successfully deliver the 4ps to them, firms must consider several ethical issues. sometimes a firms choice of a target market and how the firm pursues it can lead to charges of unethical behavior. An issue related to the ethical implementation of a marketing strategy is the problem of policing potential violations of human rights and child-labor laws

during the control phase of the strategic marketing planning process, managers must be evaluated on their actions from an ethical perspective. systems must be in place to check weather each potential ethical issue raised in the planning process was actually successfully addressed. systems used in the control phase must also react to change. the emergence of new technologies and new markets ensures that new ethical issues continually arise.

the key inputs taht a firm needs to undersand and appreciate consist of three man

environmental changes affect firms and the consumers that patronize them. For instance, the growing number of women, senior citizens, and minorities in the workforce has changed the way firms do business and their view of how they interact with society. Corporate social responsibility programs must take these shifts and trends into account and react to them quickly.

as a firm develops its CSR programs, it needs to think about its overall firm strategy. Programs and causes that fit well with the strategy and the industry in which the firm works likely will lead to better results for all stakeholders.

the causes and societal issues that could be adopted by firms are too numerous to mention, ranging from environmental causes to making Americans healthier, for example, America on the Move (AOM).

A firm will use these inputs to develop its CSR program

more firms are realizing that doing good for society can also result in a better bottom line because of increased value for customers, happier employees, and/or greater efficiency. Like the inputs, the outputs of these CSR activities are grouped into three main categories: consumer, company, and cause/issue

CSR often increases consumer awareness of the firm in the short run,which in turn leads to better brand equity and sales in the long run

the output of these CSR initiatives can result in significant positive word-of-mouth for the company, as well as increased profits. In addition, if the company provides a CSR message for their employees to deliver that they feel passionately about, they will deliver it with conviction, having an enormous impact on their customers

finally, appropriate linkages between firms and their causes/issues benefit the cause and create better awareness of its objectives in the short run and more resources (workers and money) in the long run that it can devote toward its honorable mission.