DELHI SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Submitted By: Ishaan Sharma 67/MBA Shekhar Raiwani 50/MBA Sumit Chaher 55/MBA Vaibhav Seth 62/MBA Vineet Makhija 60/MBA

Submitted to : Dr. P.K. GuptaCase: EthicsSubject: Marketing ManagementDate: 4-Dec-2009Class: I st Sem MBA

CONTENTS

Serial No. Topic Page No.

1. Case Overview 3

2. Analysis of Case 7

3. Questions & Answers 11

4. Conclusion 17

CASE OVERVIEW

Company Name: ABC Co.Persons involved with ABC Co are as follows

Name of the person

Department Designation

Mr. A Owner

Mr. B Marketing & Sales Vice-President & In –charge

Mr. C Purchase and Materials Management

In -charge

Mr. T is a vendor of ABC Co. Mr. B is the son of Mr. A

CASE OVERVIEW

Mr. 'A' as his policy (and as ethic) wants:

“The purchase department executives NOT to accept any gifts on Diwali, New Year day and Christmas etc.”

He issued strict instructions in this regard for compliance to the department and to all his vendors in writing.

ABC Co. manufactures product M which is a potential gift item.

CASE OVERVIEW

Mr. 'B' issued a circular to all customers :

“to buy product M and present as a gift on festivals to their clients.”

Mr. B used the promotional strategy of marketing

Mr. T, a vendor, got both the circulars-issued by

Mr. A and Mr. B

Mr. T got annoyed and

sent both the letters

to Mr. A asking what to do.

CASE OVERVIEW

Mr. A, unaware of the Mr. B’s notice, got furious.

Mr. A called Mr. B and Mr. C

WHY IS MR. A ANNOYED?

Mr. B has sent the circular without his notice.

Mr. B's notice has raised a question on company’s ethics.

Considering Mr. B is his son, a probable future owner of the company, he is worried about Mr. B’s compliance to company’s ethical policies in future.

REASON FOR MR. A’S POLICY

Suppliers give gifts to purchase department executives

This tends to influence the decision of purchase executives

It promotes unfair and biased competition

HOW MR. T GOT BOTH THE CIRCULARS?

Mr. A issued the notice to only purchase department and vendors.

Mr. B issued the notice only to the customers of the company.

Hence the Question: How Mr. T received both the circulars??

T’S RELATION WITH ABC CO.

ABC CompanyMr. A

Mr. C Mr. BPurchase Sales &Mktg. Dept. Dept.

ABC CompanyMr. A

Mr. C Mr. BPurchase Sales &Mktg. Dept. Dept.

CustomersCustomers

Circular : to buy product M

Notice: not to give gifts to purchase Dept.

Mr. T

WHO IS MR.T ?

Only possibility : Mr. T is a vendor as well as a Customer for ABC Co.

SuppliersSuppliers Mr. T

QUESTION

What would you do in such a situation?

SOLUTION

If we were in position of Mr. A,

Firstly we will apprise both Mr. B and Mr. C about the situation.

Then, we will ask what Mr. B had in mind while sending the circular.

SOLUTION (CONT…)

After listening to B and keeping the event in mind , we will ask Mr. B :Don’t you think you are going against the policy of the company?

B says that

WHAT MR. B HAD IN MIND?

WE THINK

We will accept that we have committed a mistake for miscommunication.

As responsible managers, we will realize that Mr. T’s question is indirectly challenging our ethics.

If we don’t accept our mistake the trust and reputation of our company would be at stake.

Trust-person’s confidence and faith in other person’s goodwill.

Reputation-esteem or high repute individuals or organizations gain when they behave ethically.

These two are required for a company to progress.

SO, WHAT WE WILL DO…

We will send an apology letter to Mr. T, and to all others who have received both the notices .

Also, we will thank Mr. T for pointing out our mistake .

We will assure him such a thing will not happen in future.

We will also appreciate the efforts of Mr. B for coming up with a good promotional strategy but ask him to consult me in future before sending any such notices.

GLIMPSE OF THE APOLOGY LETTER

Dear Mr. T,

This is with reference to your mail received by me yesterday stating your annoyance because of two contradicting circulars received by you which were sent by me and the other sent by Mr. B, our sales head and VP. It occurs to me that the confusion that has been created is due to miscommunication caused by Mr. B's non-consideration of the fact that you are also our vendor and I apologize for the same. I hereby state that the circular circulated by me was meant for our vendors' compliance to our company's policy of non-exchange of gifts with our purchase department and Mr. B's circular was circulated among our company's customers for promotion of our product M, which is implicitly a gift item. Both circulars still stand effective.

WHAT MR. B SHOULD DO…

Mr. B should resend the circular, correcting it by replacing the word ‘client’ by ‘relatives , friends & employees’, so that his idea of sales promotion is implemented and companies ethical policies are not violated.

PREVENTIVE MEASURES

Special training sessions on ethical values should be organized for employees.

Mr. B and all such high level employees of the company should consult Mr. A before taking any such decision which may put company’s reputation at stake.

Mr. C will keep check of his subordinates in purchase department which may indulge in unethical practices.