Report on Ethical Issues in Business for Goodman International

This report delves into the critical domain of business ethics, specifically addressing the challenges faced by contemporary organizations, using Goodman International as a focal point. The paper identifies key ethical issues that arise in a competitive global market, particularly those exacerbated by globalization. It discusses problems like the need for localization, the importance of prioritizing quality over quantity, respecting local traditions and cultures, and the role of relationship and social marketing. The report recommends strategies for Goodman International to overcome these challenges, emphasizing the significance of ethical approaches in marketing activities, especially in a cross-cultural environment. The study concludes that ethical considerations are paramount for Goodman International, particularly as a food and beverage company, and it provides valuable insights for navigating ethical dilemmas in the global marketplace. The report highlights five key factors for overcoming ethical issues and provides a detailed discussion of each.

Running head: BUSINESS ETHICS
Business ethics
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Introduction
Business ethics can be considered as one of the major issues or challenges being faced by
the contemporary business organizations. This is the mainly due to the reason that in the current
market state of affairs, there are huge number of competitors available and thus emergence of
unethical business practices are having more probability (May, Luth & Schwoerer, 2014). The
more is the competition in the market, the more will be the emergence of unethical business
practices to stay ahead in the competition. However, on the other hand, emergence of the
unethical business practices is also having adverse impact on the business organizations (Floyd
et al., 2013). This is due to the fact that unethical business practices lead to the negative word of
mouth in the market.
This paper will discuss about some of the ethical issues being faced by the contemporary
business organizations and how these issues can be overcome. The ethical issues that can get
emerged due to the increase in the impact of globalization will be discussed in this report.
Increased rate of the localization
One of the major ethical issues being faced by Goodman International is offering global
and universal products in all their markets. This is due to the fact that different regions are
having different cultural aspects and they are having different expectations and preferences in
terms of food and beverage. Thus, it is recommended that Goodman International should initiate
the strategy of localization in order to have distinct product offerings for different customer
segments (Bresciani & Ferraris, 2014). Localization strategy refers to introducing the products
according to the local taste and preference in the target market. The core product may be the
same but the added elements and benefits can be altered in accordance to the trend of the target

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market. However, in this case, it is important for Goodman International to effectively determine
and identify the trend and preference pattern of the target market in order to have the
understanding about what to offer (Karlicek et al., 2013). Thus, this will help Goodman
International in effectively meeting the expectation of the target customers and the probability of
emergence of ethical issues in dealing with customers from different social background will be
less.
More concentration on quality over quantity
In the current competitive business scenario, business organizations are the having the
tendency of preferring quantity over quality in order to have short term goals and objectives
fulfilled. In order to attain the quantity in short time span, unethical business practices are being
initiated. Thus it is recommended that Goodman International should have more concentration
for quality over quantity. This refers to the fact that Goodman International will be more focused
on providing the exact value to the customers (Dabholkar, 2015). In addition, if the quality can
be maintained and customer value can be enhanced, then the issue of unethical business practices
will have less probability.
It should also be noted that Goodman International will gain profit from concentrating
more on quality in long term. This is due to the reason that customers always look out for exact
value in return for their price. Thus offering quality products will help Goodman International in
attaining long term goals by means of enhanced level of customer satisfaction and loyalty (Rego,
Morgan & Fornell, 2013). This is another effective strategy that can help Goodman International
in avoiding the probability of origination of unethical business practices.

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Consideration for local tradition and culture
In the global marketing practices, one of the major factors to be considered is respecting
the culture and social traditions of the target market. However, in the recent time, globalization is
leading to the emergence of the ethical issues by not effectively fulfilling the local cultural
aspects (De Mooij, 2013). This is due to the reason that cultural and social elements are different
in different regions and initiating the globalized marketing activities may have negative impact
on the target customers. Thus it is recommended that Goodman International should have more
focus for local culture and tradition in initiating the marketing activities. It is also being
recommended that the marketing activities should also be more localized in different target
market rather than having the universal marketing approach in different markets. This will also
help Goodman International to effectively cater and target local market customers by marketing
according to the social traditions.
It should also be noted that ethical issues can get emerged if the marketing approach
initiated by Goodman International cannot meet the social norms of the target market. Thus, the
effectiveness of the entire marketing activities will get hampered. On the other hand, initiating
marketing activities in more localized manner will help Goodman International to have more
ethical approach in their marketing.
Relationship marketing
In the current business scenario, relationship marketing is also important considerations
for the business organizations. This is due to reason that in the current scenario, taste and
preference pattern of the market is frequently changing. Thus, it is becoming more important for
the business organizations to have effective relationship with the customers beyond the concept

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of just selling the products in order to effectively identify the change in the market trend and
scenario (Hennig-Thurau & Hansen, 2013). In addition, relationship marketing will also help
Goodman International to have the effective policy of determining the needs and requirement of
the customers. The more effective will be the determination of the need and requirement of the
customers, the less will be the probability of origination of unethical issues. This will also help
Goodman International to avoid mismatch between actual value for the customers and their
desired level.
On the other hand, initiation of relationship marketing will also help Goodman
International to identify the shortcomings in service delivery. Thus, effective identification of the
issues and shortcomings will also enable them to avoid the unethical practices in the process.
Initiation of social marketing
Social marketing is another trending marketing concept in the recent time. This concept
refers to the process of marketing and promotional activities through social welfare. It is
recommended that Goodman International should also initiate the process of social marketing.
This is due to the reason that with the help of social marketing, Goodman International will be
able to enhance their market goodwill and also promoting their products. In addition, it should
also be noted that social marketing will also help Goodman International to overcome the issues
of unethical business practices (Burchell, Rettie & Patel, 2013). The unethical business practices
in marketing approach can be adjusted with the social welfare through social marketing.
Furthermore, social marketing will enable Goodman International to have positive brand
value and identity in the market. This will help them to reduce the impact of the unethical
business practices among the customers. The more will be the social welfare, the more will be

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the positive perception among the customers regarding Goodman International. The ethical
approach will get further amplified with the help of initiating social marketing for them.
Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded that Goodman International is having number of unethical
business issues in their marketing activities. These issues are mainly relevant in the cross cultural
business scenario. In this paper, there are number of ethical issues being identified and discussed
along with discussing the required steps that should be taken in order to overcome them. There
are major five factors are being discussed. It is concluded that being food and Beverage
Company, Goodman International is having more importance to ensure their ethical approach in
their marketing activities. The strategies discussed in this paper will further help Goodman
International to overcome the different ethical issues.

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