Sales and Distribution Management

Ethical and Social Issues in Sales & Distribution Management : Overview

Therefore, companies try to instill a sense of ethics in their employees and conduct business in a socially responsible way. Indian companies are now more concerned with corporate social responsibility than ever before. Companies in the past were concerned more about making profits than anything else.

But in recent times, firms have realized the importance of corporate social responsibility. Corporate social responsibility has been defined as the commitment made by businesses to contribute to sustainable economic development, to work with employees, their families, the local community, and society at large to improve the quality of life. CSR is a process that helps a firm to function ethically and make a positive contribution to the welfare of society.

All companies are expected to imbibe values pertaining to corporate social responsibility in their mission and make CSR a part of the organizational policies. In order to fulfill their social responsibility, companies need to effectively communicate to the public about the company's ethical policies, set high ethical standards for themselves, and evaluate themselves on ethical performance from time to time through means of ethical audits.

Several countries have passed declarations and policies regarding CSR. The Indian Government has amended the Indian Companies Act, 1956, making it mandatory for companies to conform to certain provisions of this law in order to be accepted as responsible corporates. Although Indian companies have been indulging in philanthropic activities of some kind or the other, corporate social responsibility is a totally different field altogether.

There is a much wider scope for corporate social responsibility in the Indian corporate scenario with its coverage extending to human rights, labor standards, as well as environmental issues. Companies in the current scenario are operating in an intensely competitive environment. Especially during the past 20 years, competition has been rapidly increasing due to globalization.

According to the US Chamber of Commerce, companies may conduct business on any of the following four levels of social responsibility – obeying the law, meeting public expectations, anticipating new social demands, and leading the way. The ethical behavior of an individual is influenced by that individual's stage of moral development. An individual passes through three levels of moral development -- preconventional, conventional, and principled.

In organizations, the management is largely responsible for the ethical or unethical behavior of its employees. A sales manager faces ethical issues that cover the ethical dilemmas of his sales people as well as the ethical aspects pertaining to his decisions regarding hiring and evaluating of salespersons, assigning territories, etc. The ethical issues facing a sales manager may be studied with regard to the sales manager's relationship with his subordinates, the company, customers, and competitors. On the other hand, the ethical issues facing a salesperson pertain to the salesperson's accountability to the top management, and his relationship with other salespeople and with customers.

Chapter 26 : Overview