Ethical Issues in Marketing Field Essay

Ethical Issues in Marketing Field

Ethics can be defined as standards employed by people to choose the right course of action amongst diverse, often conflicting possibilities. Ethics are reliant on a logical and rational set of principles to arrive at a decision, which in essence, is a cognitive procedure or practice. Ethical standards are an imperative element for any company or organization, especially in contemporary times, where a progression of the internet and information is accessible to any individual and as such individuals are prone to being online for extended periods (Sandilands, 2016). Ethics impact a business in various ways. One of the ways is the manner in which organizations carry out their advertising. Majority of the businesses will need to advertise their products or services with the principal aim of increasing their customer base, and thereby, their revenues. Businesses are obligated to undertake such activities ethically. Ethical advertising is supposed to be honest, explaining clearly (unambiguously) the salient features of their offerings to target consumers. Ethics also affect the way companies undertake their selling methods and practices. How a business resolves to direct its sales is a key ethical resolution that defines businesses and their integrity. Businesses are obligated to be honest and fair to their clients while undertaking such operations. For example, due to business ethics, an organization is expected to candidly disclose both the benefits and shortcomings or likely harms in consumption of their product and services and acknowledge them fully (Sandilands, 2016).

Ethical marketing is a viewpoint that places emphasis on honesty, fairness, and responsibility. Despite the fact that wrong and right perspectives are biased, an overall set of guidelines can be set in place in order to make certain that the organization's resolve is advertised and attained. Some of the principles encompassed in ethical marketing include a mutual standard of veracity in marketing communications, a clear distinction between advertisement and exaggeration, and recommendations ought to be clear and apparent. Another principle is that the privacy of consumers ought to be sustained at all times. Finally, the marketers should practice and adhere to government standards and regulations (Anastasia, 2015). The following paper will elucidate the ethical issues in the marketing field and reveal, as well as discuss issues two corporations in Australia faced; they have been experiencing a number of issues concerning the manner in which they pursue their business. The two companies discussed in this essay are Rip Curl and Commonwealth Bank.

Company 1: Rip Curl

The fashion industry has grown and developed to become not only one of the most expensive industries but also one of the relevant ones, owing to the large following and interest in the happenings and rapidly evolving practices in the sector. One major controversial issue in the industry has been the issue of the location of production of clothes and the raw materials, for instance whether the clothes are manufactured at places that adhere to child labor norms strictly, and are pure cotton, as often advertised. Rip Curl is one of the biggest and thriving companies in Australia that designs, manufactures and retails surfing sports gear and the accompanying assortments as well. Rip Curl is also one of the main sponsors in the Australian athletic scene. The main unethical practice that the company has been involved in is the use of slave labor in North Korea so as to enable the manufacturing of its clothes economically. Rip Curl, for a considerable period, now has marketed and retailed clothes valued at millions of dollars. However, these clothes have been made in North Korea, and this is a region where the workers within the factories are forced to work under slave-like circumstances and environments (McKenzie and Baker, 2016). The directed investigations revealed that Taedonggang Clothing Factory hired personnel hailing mainly from the suburbs of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang to manufacture some of Rip Curl's 2015 winter collection attire.

In addition, the company was undertaking an unethical marketing practice as they advertised and sold them under misleading declarations. In particular, the clothes offered and sold in the company's different retail outlets carried "made in China" labels. This was false as the company advertised and sold clothes that were manufactured in North Korea, under the garb of being made in China. The personnel in North Korea are, more often than, not exploited. The workers are forced to work extremely long hours with very minimal pay or at times without any pay. In addition, to make it worse, the employees who fail to obey such orders are forcefully confined in work camps (McKenzie and Baker, 2016). This raises a great deal of serious questions regarding the ethical marketing and corporate standards of Rip Curl. The company claims that the ethical mistake in its practice is owing to its subcontractors. However, it can be argued that this countenance is misleading because Rip Curl failed to make any attempt to inform its consumers that the clothing of the firm was made in North Korea and even resorted to falsely label their products as 'made in China' (McKenzie and Baker, 2016).

In accordance to Wahlquist (2016), Rip Curl does not have any vindication for being uninformed of what is taking place. A company ought to be accountable for any human rights abuses that take place within their business operations and practices, not just in a moral sense but also within context of global human rights. Considering this unethical practice, it is imperative for Rip Curl to show the Australian citizens that the company is very keen on precluding this from taking place again. This can be undertaken through an intense refurbishment of its checks and balances. In particular, it ought to begin by publishing its policies and the names of the factories where its products are manufactured (Wahlquist, 2016). In this unethical business practice, Rip Curl has breached the trust placed by its consumers to make certain that the products they purchase from the company and wear bring them no moral concern.

Company 2: Commonwealth Bank

The second corporation in discussion is Commonwealth Bank. In recent years, the company had to face issues with unethical behavior of its financial planning department. This time round, the biggest bank in Australia is being linked to unscrupulous behavior and unethical practice. Presently, Commonwealth Bank is linked with unethical practices in its life insurance business, referred to as CommInsure. In particular, CommInsure is considered to be delaying the payouts owed to policyholders (in the hope that the clients pass away prior to maturity settlements) (Thomsen, 2016). This claims scandal of the bank from sick and dying policyholders raises serious questions regarding the ethical practices owing to the fact that two years ago, the company was at the center of a Senate Inquiry owing to the actions undertaken by its financial planners (Thomsen, 2016).

In particular, in accordance to Dr. Benjamin Koh, the previous chief medical officer of CommInsure, the company's insurers stressed and placed a great deal of pressure on the doctors to alter medical opinions that would enable the company to refuse/delay payouts. He also insisted that medical files that had medical information went missing and out-of-date medical terms were employed by CommInsure in order to deny policyholders their claims (Thomsen, 2016). Unethical practices of the company are further seen through the fact that the doctors who raised such concerns and worries to the senior managers and executives of CommInsure were dismissed from their services, being accused of going against the firm's IT policy by forwarding records to a personal account (Thomsen, 2016).

Conclusion

Ethics and ethical behavior have become significant attributes for organizations in the present day. Ethics refers to a prescribed or accepted code of conduct. Ethical issues are a set of moral values that need to be addressed while carrying out business. Businesses operate in a society that is structured around moral values. Therefore, when conducting its operations, a business has certain responsibilities, which are: to provide the society with quality goods, and services that will improve the people's living standards. Business ethics is an aspect that encompasses corporate social responsibility in which organizations are lawfully and socially mandated to conduct business in an ethical manner (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2012). In the business spectrum, decisions regarding ethics are implemented on a daily basis and have an impact on all organizations.

This particular paper encompasses and sheds light on the unethical practices undertake by two Australian companies, Rip Curl and Commonwealth Bank. In particular, Commonwealth Bank is known to be a repeat offender of unethical practices. This time round, the financial institution is involved in the act of denying policyholders their rightful claims. This is through CommInsure, which its former chief medical officer brought into light, who was eventually dismissed the firm. The company is alleged to have pressurized the doctors and medical practitioners to change their medical opinions and findings and to have ensured that the pertinent files containing information were made unavailable (Thomsen, 2016). The other firm is Rip Curl. In particular, the sportswear company…