Ethics

Frank’s First Business Ethics Predicament

University of Maryland University College

Abstract

Self-reporting sales leads may appear to be an efficient way to meet sales quotas, but this method can have negative effects on the company and the stakeholders involved. Green, eager, and enthusiastic, our friend Frank has been placed into a cage full of lions with perceived expectations from his superiors and colleagues that he will emerge with an unlimited rolodex full of qualified sales opportunities. His recently attained position is a critical link within the sales sequence that serves as a liaison between future customers and client acquisitions. Frank is faced with an ethical dilemma to complete his job according to company protocol or manually inflate his numbers by producing subpar sales leads. As with many people who are beginning a new career, there is pressure to satisfy your supervisor, be equivalent with coworkers, and prove to yourself that you are succeeding. Frank is undoubtedly at a junction in his professional career that will question his ethical, moral, and religious philosophies. The reaction to his first, real world, self-imposed business decision may have positive and negative implications on all parties involved including himself, coworkers, the company, and other stakeholders. How will Frank respond and what resources will he use to formulate his answer?

The aggressive world of business is a highly competitive, always evolving landscape of challenges that parallels the theory of evolution via natural selection suggested by Charles Darwin. This type of environment will force individuals and organizations to make difficult choices that examine various moral principles within a business setting to continuously advance. Business ethics can loosely be defined as the application of employing proper personal values to all business situations. Depending on the objectives and ambitions of an organization, business ethics can affect issues...