Dealing With Ethical Dilemma: Interventions for Sales Force

Introduction

Seamless global business operations call for managing a culturally diverse set of employees. Because different cultures interpret diverse viewpoints differently, it is critical to understand ethical standards of different individuals and create ethically sound work culture. Controlling ethical behavior becomes more difficult with employees coming from different ethnic backgrounds. Although, parenting and socialization, education, and religion provide primary cultural ideals; secondary circumstances also affect ethical conduct. These include disparities in law systems between countries, acceptable management systems for human resources, corporate culture, professional cultures, and codes of conduct. There is widespread consensus that a country's culture is inextricably linked to its managers' ethical behavior. The conduct can be demonstrated in two ways: first, by overt activities such as public or corporate statements and actions regarding ethical behavior; second, through a collection of ethical attitudes and beliefs.

Effective sales management is critical to the success of any organization, and salespersons are considered an integral part of an organization. In today's tumultuous business environment, the sales role must evolve into a dynamic source of business value creation and creativity. The unique role of salespeople as “revenue generators” (Churchill et al., 1979) for any organization is pivotal for its growth and success. Rising consumer demands necessitate a progressive sales organization as an integral component of a customer-centric organization, salesperson versatility tailored to evolving needs, and salespeople acting as primary agents of marketing intelligence providing input to their businesses. Acting as a key person in building trust and loyalty between customer and organization, they are also responsible for achieving high sales levels, thus safeguarding their company’s survival and growth. Furthermore, an interfacing role of salesperson between organization and customers facilitates customer belief and builds and sustains long-term relationships (Doney & Cannon, 1997). Unfortunately, salespeople predominantly suffer regular dissonance due to short-run pressures to attain sales goals and long-run concerns for customer satisfaction and goodwill. Salespeople are isolated from their supervisors and other company employees physically, psychologically, and socially (Belasco, 1966).

Salespeople occupy a boundary position; he/she is often in the unenviable position of having to cope with expectations of two or more stakeholders that are likely to have different objectives (Pruden, 1969; Aldrich & Herker, 1977). As a result, they often find themselves in situations, compelling them to adjust with ethical standards to react to many requests simultaneously (Fukawa & Erevelles, 2014). The multifaceted nature of many sales jobs like selling, customer service, grievance handling, order delivery, relationship building can form a situation for developing ethical conflict (Slåtten, 2008). Without close supervision, salespeople may employ unethical behavior without fear of reprisal (or punishment) from their organization. Due to this organizational and affiliative separation, salespeople may have inadequate knowledge and guidance about appropriate conduct in different selling situations.

Sales professionals are the most common targets of ethical condemnation (Abratt & Penman, 2002; Murphy & Laczniak, 1981). They are challenged to create customer value ethically while meeting their personal and professional goals. In terms of behavior, salespeople must deal with customers from various cultures, social experiences, and educational backgrounds. In addition, they must be able to adjust their behavior as required, sometimes at the expense of ethical standards, to achieve organizational goals. Salespeople encounter ethical dilemmas when dealing with competitors, customers, coworkers, and employers and are inclined to deal with such situations based on their physical and situational ethical conduct (Chonko & Burnett, 1983).