Marketing Ethics And Social Responsibility

Objective: Examine ethical dilemmas faced in two international companies and describe the impact to overall organizational health and marketing strategy.  Introduction: Globalization means that more and more organizations are conducting business across borders and encountering different cultures and political, ethical and legal environments in their everyday business affairs. This essay will allow you to explore ethical dilemmas encountered when operating in various international cultures and their impact on the firm's overall market position and marketing strategies.  You will select two case studies involving ethical dilemmas in international companies, examine the challenges of applying codes of ethics in varying cultures, explore the impact of these events on marketing strategy and make recommendations about how managers can deal with ethical practices in international settings.  

Deliverable: The essay for this lesson is required to be a minimum of 750 words that clearly demonstrate your understanding of the activity. Essays should have a clear introduction, thesis statement and conclusion, written in APA format (APAstyle.org). A minimum of three sources must be cited in-text and in the Reference list.  

Step 1: Select companies.  Select two case studies that reflect ethical dilemmas that have occurred in international companies. For example, Nike experienced ethical dilemmas related to using child labor in their foreign factories; other firms have had to consider how to deal with bribery in countries where it is an accepted business practice. 

 Step 2: Conduct research.  Conduct research using the Cline Library, the Internet, the lesson textbooks or other academic resources. Explore how your two chosen companies have dealt with ethical dilemmas when operating in different cultural, political and legal environments.  

Step 3: Read and formulate responses.  Read the following prompts and use what you have learned about this lesson's objective to formulate your responses. •Describe the two companies and case studies that you have selected. Where are their headquarters? What are their main products/services? In which other markets/countries do they operate?

 •Describe the ethical dilemmas that these companies faced. Did these companies have Codes of Conduct or Codes or Ethics available to their international managers? How did these ethical dilemmas conflict with their codes of conduct? 

•Do the companies communicate their Codes of Conduct/Ethics to their stakeholders (managers, employees, suppliers, customers, etc.)? 

•Assess the impact of political and regulatory climates in these situations, as they relate to the described ethical dilemmas. How did they impact marketing strategies going forward? 

•How did these companies manage the specific ethical dilemmas described in the two selected cases? 

•What recommendations do you have that might have also helped the situations?

 •What impact might ethical differences and resulting backlash from mishandling them have on the bottom line of these companies?  

Step 4: Write a paper.   Write a 750-word paper that incorporates your responses to the points above. Please review the essay rubric prior to proceeding.  Use these writing guidelines: •Include a cover page and a reference page in addition to your required page count. •Use APA format. •Double-space text. •Use size 12 Times New Roman font. •Optional: Use section headings to organize.  •Indent paragraphs. •Include in-text citations as appropriate. •Use correct spelling, grammar, sentence structure and verb tense.