Marketing and Management Principles

Running head: MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES 1
Marketing and Management Principles
Student’s Name
Institution
Date

MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES
2
Introduction
Business ethics is one of the core virtues that should guide the stakeholders. There is a
need for each business leaders to know that they are in the market not to just win but to win
without overstepping the ethical boundaries. When organisations use unethical means to
succeed, they expose their future. Unethical actions are illegal and punishable by law if
identified. Therefore, it means that if an organisation wins unethically if known, the
organisation might be punished lawfully and that might lead to losing the benefits that came
along with the unethical strategies. The paper will be looking at the ethical issues and the way
they would have been handled in the case study ‘Too much intelligence.’
How Ken Bodine has shaped the sales culture
Bodine shaped the culture of Inpace Solutions into a culture that promotes
competitiveness and sneakiness. The culture was aimed at promoting competition within the
organisation, and this would bring forth the generation of strategic ideas from different
members of staff (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2015). When it came to sneakiness, having been ahead
of the competitors was one of the strategies advocated by Bodine. By having first-hand
intelligence, it became easier to outrun the competitors in the market.
The pre-conventional level of ethical development is promoted at Inpace Solutions.
Looking at the culture at Inpace Solutions, there is one thing that stands out; Bodine promotes
the gathering of intelligence that would help the company, but there is no record of him trying
to convince the employees to sneak and acquire the information of the competitors (Ferrell &
Fraedrich, 2015). In the pre-conventional level, a person has two choices, or there are two
things that he or she convinces him or herself. One of them is that the person would not

MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES
3
commit any offense not to be caught. It is therefore apparent that the person fears to commit
an offense because there might be negative effects to doing so. Secondly, a person may
commit an offense but would be very careful not to be caught. The fact that Inpace Solutions
is always ahead of the competitors is an indication that there is a way of attaining the
information from the competitors despite the fact that there are no reported cases of attaining
the information unethically.
What should Ali Sloan do?
When it comes to the case of Ali, it is apparent that is she holds the ethical values
close to her heart, she has no choice but to do what is ethical. In this case, what is ethical is to
make sure that the information that might ruin the reputation of the company or put Cody into
trouble does not find its way to the desk of Bodine. However, there is the best way to do so
without exposing Cody to Bodine. It is imperative to note that apart from making sure that
Cody does not overstep the ethics boundary, his career is protected as well to make sure that
this one case serves as an example but not as a punishment (Johnson, 2018).
Ali should call a person who holds a higher office but can be confidential. The first
reason to do so is to know if Bodine would approve the presentation by Cody. Knowing the
possible reaction of Bodine would help Ali to know the best way to deal with the issue. The
second reason is to find a person who can calmly warn Cody if the information that he is
about to place on the desk of Bodine would land him in troubles. Cody is likely to seriously
consider the advice of a person who holds a higher office. Therefore, bringing a senior person
on board will help to know if it is safe for Cody to present the information and if it is not safe,