Yes, Prof Shafig, Marketing ethics are strategic consideration in organizational decisions.

Marketing ethics refer to making marketing decisions that are morally right. The morality of the marketing decision can encompass any part of marketing including sourcing of raw materials, staff employment and product advertising and pricing.

Yes, Prof Shafig, Marketing ethics are strategic consideration in organizational decisions.

Marketing ethics refer to making marketing decisions that are morally right. The morality of the marketing decision can encompass any part of marketing including sourcing of raw materials, staff employment and product advertising and pricing.

Ethical values enter management decision-making through the gate of stakeholder analysis. Introducing "stakeholder analysis" into business decisions is the same as introducing ethics into those decisions.

Applying PASCAL sequence

• Perception
• Analysis
• Synthesis
• Choice
• Action
• Learning

http://www53.homepage.villanova.edu/james.borden/vsb1001/Goodpaster.pdf

I fully agree with Krishnan. There is a talk of ethics in all managerial decisions and projections that companies are making these days. For, the customer and the probable customers are the king; and they are looking for the honest, credible, trustworthy, transparent organization to build relationship with. They have less time to do surveys of new players, and would not like their trust to be betrayed. This defines the importance of marketing ethics in today's business. This helps building brand as well.

Organizations face significant treats from ethical misconduct and illegal behavior.The negative publicity hurts the company more than possible legal penalties. They loose their reputation , one of the their greatest assets. Hence, marketing ethics is an important strategic consideration in organizational decisions.

Marketing practitioners are facing various ethical criticism and problems. There is a need of satisfying customers and societies.

According to the American Marketing Association, there are six core ethical values to be practiced by members of the marketing system. The ethical values include honesty, responsibility, fairness, respect, transparency and citizenship. Transparency involves communicating clearly, stating risks and listening to constructive criticism.

I think that ethics in this, somehow, gray zone has to do with reliability: Lies cannot last for ever and if you lie on customers today, they will find it tomorrow and left your product or service, leaving you jobless and your company bankrupt. So, ethics is from need not from principal values.

Being an organizations must be committed to a high ethical standard because it is not only the right thing to do,but is also profitable.

There is a strong relationship between marketing ethics and public image. Each corporation has a particular public image, which represents the way in which the public views the corporation. Public image is a major determinant of firm profitability and success.

Dear All

Thank you for your valuable contribution specially the answer of dear Krishnan Umachandran.

Ethics is the responsibility of management, and they set the tone. Nevertheless, employees are very important in esuring ethical operations.

If you are interested in Ethics and CSR, you might attend the Strategica 2015 conference, to be held in Oct. next year.

http://strategica-conference.ro/tracks/

Dear Shafig,

Strategic organizational decisions have to take plural and individual marketing ethics into account because they complement each other alternately. Marketing ethics are a major part of marketing decisions that are ethically sound. The ethical soundness of the marketing strategies positively reflects on (but cannot be limited to) the choice of product, employees, advertising, quality and pricing—as examples.

Hi Prof. Shafig I. AL-Haddad ; Yes  marketing ethics are strategic consideration in organizational decisions. In my opinion both, the individual  and  the firm’s leadership are important for managing marketing ethics but individuals are most vital link for it. Thanks

Yes Dear Kamal Ethics should be a strategic not a tactic.

In reality, the main aim of marketing ,these days, is to get as much profits as possible. Many organizations use ethics as a tool that serves marketing in "unethical" way. A colleague, who worked in one of the top organizations internationally, told me that this company has a team in the R&D section whose work is focused upon manufacturing & marketing attractive products which have short lifetimes. Where is ethics? And please notice that it is not an isolated case.

Dear Nizar,

Are examples logos indicating environmental friendly activities used by companies to improve the image?

Ethics are the principal part of any company's development status. The workers should abide by some ethical principles during their working hours because it can help their workplace to prosper.

Marketing Ethics and Strategy

• Requires that organizations and individuals accept responsibility 
• Can lead to violations of public trust
• Deals with experiences and decisions made at work
• Comes into play anytime individuals feel manipulated or cheated

Dear Marcel, Your comment is a clever one. One of those who know the "propaganda game" of companies acting environmentally- friendly & caring while hitting the environment hardly, is Professor Sharon Beder of  the University of Wollongong (Australia). Please see the attached link. 

http://www.uow.edu.au/~sharonb/greenwash.html

Let define first what can be considered as marketing ethics. According to O.C. Ferrel and Michael D. Hartline, marketing ethics can be defined as a group of principles and standards that define acceptable marketing conduct as determined by the public, government regulators, private interest groups, competitors, and the firm itself. In other words, marketing ethics from a normative perspective approach is defined as “practices that emphasize transparent, trustworthy, and responsible personal and organizational marketing policies and actions that exhibit integrity as well as fairness to consumers and other stakeholders

Marketing ethics focuses on principles and standards that define acceptable marketing conduct, as determined by various stakeholders and the organization responsible for marketing activities. While many of the basic principles have been codified as laws and regulations to require marketers to conform to society’s expectations of conduct, marketing ethics goes beyond legal and regulatory issues. Ethical marketing practices and principles are core building blocks in establishing trust, which help build long-term marketing relationships. In addition, the boundary-spanning nature of marketing (i.e. sales, advertising, and distribution) presents many of the ethical issues faced in business today.

For this reason, marketing ethics and strategy:

Requires that organizations and individuals accept responsibility

Can lead to violations of public trust

Involves complex and detailed decisions in gray areas

Deals with the experiences and decisions made at work

Comes into play anytime individuals feel manipulated or cheated

Marketing ethics not only requires an attempt to make ethical decisions, but also to avoid the unintended consequences of marketing activities. This requires consideration of key stakeholders and their relevant interests (Fry and Polonsky, 2004). Market orientation has been found as the key variable in the successful implementation of marketing strategies (Homburg, Krohmer, and Workman, 2004). But a successful marketing strategy has not always been associated with meeting the needs and demands of all stakeholders (Miller and Lewis, 1991). There is evolving concern that organizations must focus on not just their customers, but also the important communities and groups that hold the firm accountable for its actions. A new emerging logic of marketing is that it exists to provide both social and economic processes, including a network of relationships to provide skills and knowledge to all stakeholders (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). This logic is captured in the new definition of marketing developed by the American Marketing Association (2004) which states that, “marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders”. This definition emphasizes the importance of delivering value and the responsibility of marketers to be able to create meaningful relationships that provide benefits to all relevant stakeholders. This is the first definition of marketing to include concern for stakeholders beyond the organization and customers.

One difference between an ordinary decision and an ethical one is that accepted rules may not apply and the decision-maker must weigh values in a situation that he or she may not have faced before. Another difference is the amount of emphasis placed on a person’s values when making an ethical decision. An ethical dilemma evolves when the choice between alternative actions with moral content is unclear. Whether a specific behavior is right or wrong, ethical or unethical, is often determined by the concerned stakeholders and an individual’s personal ethics. Consequently, values, judgments, and complex situations all play a critical role in ethical decision making.

 Ethics in marketing refers to whether a firms marketing decision is morally right or wrong. Both,  the individual and the organization’s leadershipare are important in managing marketing ethics:

Previous experience has shown that the negative publicity from ethical misconduct hurts the company more than possible legal penalties. Professional Conduct must be guided by:

• The basic rule of professional ethics: Not knowingly to do harm; 
• Being honest in serving customers, clients, employees, suppliers, distributors, and the public
• The adherence to all applicable laws and regulations;
• Disclosure of all  risks associated with product or service usage

 A business ethics program must be a formal plan, because it touches on all aspects of the enterprise—operations, human resources, communications, and marketing to

name but a few. Formally planning a business ethics program ensures that owners and managers give due consideration to the enterprise’s relevant context, organizational culture, and reasonable stakeholder expectations. Owners and managers should define and communicate the purpose of the business ethics program as early as possible. Responsible management recognizes that an effective business ethics program touches every decision and activity of the enterprise. It guides patterns of thought, choice, and action that subtly shape the organizational culture of the enterprise.

http://ita.doc.gov/goodgovernance/adobe/bem_section_2/chapter_3.pdf

I think that moral should be priority in any strategic consideration.

Itch Is Required for Lateral Line Development

www.clfoundation.org/online-learnin...center/topic/.../understanding-itch

www.plosone.org/.../info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0111799

KIDDER’S ETHICAL CHECKPOINTS

Ethicist Rushworth Kidder acknowledges that ethical issues can be “disorderly and sometimes downright confusing.”  They can quickly arise when least expected, are complex, may lack a clear cause, and generally have unexpected consequences

http://www.sagepub.in/upm-data/12906_Chapter3.pdf

Dear Sir, Professor Krishnan Umachandran 

Thank you very much for your nice opinion. I am fully agreed with your opinion.

Sharing link:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1006415514200

Regards!

I think the firm's leadership is most important in managing marketing ethics. For if an individual working for the firm refused to go along with a marketing ploy that s/he found unethical, the leadership could find someone else who wouldn't have the same ethical qualms.