Sales Issues
“Uneasy Silence Ensued”
Having just recently graduated from business school Harold Cassady excepts a marketing analyst position at Petite Playthings, a manufacturer and retailer of children’s clothing and is almost immediately presented with an unexpected promotion due to the sudden passing of the a seasoned, well respected sales rep. Harold is possibly the youngest salesperson with little selling experience. Harold exudes ambition though. Harold is given a choice territory and must introduce himself to important, “key account” buyers due to the Sales Managers absence. If this is not enough for the new rep he soon faces an ethical dilemma over dinner with a buyer from a large department store chain ( buyer represents X% of 1984 sales ) who solicits a bribe in order keep his relationship with Petite Playthings.
Harold is thrust into the immediate challenges of personal selling. Namely meeting company objectives/perspectives, time management and cultivating customer relationships. The “uneasy silence” created by this unethical, illegal approach to sales by the buyer is an issue that is directly related to business ethics dilemmas that many professionals face everyday. Through a discussion, this paper will flush out the key business ethics issues contained in a rather commonplace business context. By questioning one’s own response to this situation we can begin to better understand what goes into making ethical choices so that as business leaders we can have the competence and the charisma to make ethical decisions.
The first question worth considering is could Harold have avoided this situation? Considering that he is very fortunate to have fallen into this sales position, he is a very ambitious recent MBA grad, and that he must have wanted to make a positive impression with the company that just hired and promoted him, it may be difficult to argue that Harold could have avoided such an uneasy...
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