REVIEW AND APPLICATION QUESTIONS
1. Define business ethics. (LO 1)
2. Why are salespeople considered boundary spanners? (LO 1)
3. Describe why business ethics is such an important topic in sales management. (LO 1)
4. Define vulnerability in a business context. Provide an example for each of these scenario:
a. Salesperson is vulnerable to a customer based on a knowledge deficit.
b. A customer is vulnerable to a salesperson based on naivete.
c. A sales manager is vulnerable to a salesperson based on a power discrepancy.
d. A customer is vulnerable to a salesperson based on power discrepancy. (LO 1 , LO 3)
5. A sales manager sends a salesperson to a Latin American country, noted for corruption in business, to work on closing a deal to supply parts to a heavy equipment manufacturer. The salesperson will be able to close the deal only if his company provides a bribe (a new Cadillac) to a buyer from the manufacturer. How would you resolve this decision? Based on your decision, would you say your moral philosophy leans more toward idealism or relativism? How would a person with the other moral philosophy resolve the situation? (LO 4)
6. List and define each dimension of moral judgment. (LO 4)
7. List at least ten salesperson behaviors that would generally be considered unethical. (LO 5)
8. What is the Clayton Act? (LO 6)
9. When is price discrimination considered legal? (LO 6)
10. Define ethical climate. List two local companies that you are somewhat familiar with. What do you think the ethical climate is like in these companies? (LO 5)
11. If your university was a workplace, what would the ethical climate be regarding each of its four dimension? (LO 5)
12. What is ethical stress? How can ethical stress be resolved in the workplace? (LO 7)
13. Do you believe that the common negative perception of salesperson ethics is fact or fiction?
14. Question for Thought: Consider the material in the chapter describing the sales manager and the salesperson’s role as a boundary spanner. Do you believe the boundary-spanning nature of selling is responsible for the bad reputation of salespeople? (LO 2)