Ethical Issues in Sales
Ethical Issues in Sales: Two Case Studies
Thomas L. Carson
Ethical issues in sales are an important and neglected topic in business ethics. Roughly 9% of the U.S. work force is involved in sales of one sort or another. But very little has been written about ethical issues in sales.
Case 1: Shoe sales [The following case is taken from a paper that I received from a student. I am using this case with the student’s permission. The student did not want me to use his/her name. I have made some minor stylistic and grammatical corrections, but otherwise, the description of this case is taken verbatim from the student’s paper.] My introduction to retail sales began at the age of seventeen in a small “stocks-to-suits” men’s store. The old-timers I trained under endowed me with several pearls of wisdom that are universal to success in any sales: “don’t make friends, make money,” and “first you get their confidence, then you get their trust, then you get their money.” In order to achieve the objective of making money the tactics employed are often morally questionable. Two examples may help to illustrate the type of tactics I am considering. 1) My present position as a women’s shoe salesman often necessitates the use of lying and
Thomas L. Carson is Professor of Philosophy at Loyola University Chicago. He is a member of the editorial board of The American Philosophical Quarterly. He has written many papers on business ethics and is also the author of The Status of Morality (Reidel, 1984) and co-editor (with Paul Moser) of Morality and the Good Life: 20th Century Ethical Theory (Oxford, forthcoming).
deception in order to make a sale. For example, it is useful to develop a sense of urgency or need on the part of the customer to buy a particular shoe. (It is easier to make the sale if they need a shoe rather than simply want it). Once a customer selects a specific shoe the salesman creates the urgency by stating, with much false sincerity and steady eye contact, “Ooh, that
Thomas L. Carson
Ethical issues in sales are an important and neglected topic in business ethics. Roughly 9% of the U.S. work force is involved in sales of one sort or another. But very little has been written about ethical issues in sales.
Case 1: Shoe sales [The following case is taken from a paper that I received from a student. I am using this case with the student’s permission. The student did not want me to use his/her name. I have made some minor stylistic and grammatical corrections, but otherwise, the description of this case is taken verbatim from the student’s paper.] My introduction to retail sales began at the age of seventeen in a small “stocks-to-suits” men’s store. The old-timers I trained under endowed me with several pearls of wisdom that are universal to success in any sales: “don’t make friends, make money,” and “first you get their confidence, then you get their trust, then you get their money.” In order to achieve the objective of making money the tactics employed are often morally questionable. Two examples may help to illustrate the type of tactics I am considering. 1) My present position as a women’s shoe salesman often necessitates the use of lying and
Thomas L. Carson is Professor of Philosophy at Loyola University Chicago. He is a member of the editorial board of The American Philosophical Quarterly. He has written many papers on business ethics and is also the author of The Status of Morality (Reidel, 1984) and co-editor (with Paul Moser) of Morality and the Good Life: 20th Century Ethical Theory (Oxford, forthcoming).
deception in order to make a sale. For example, it is useful to develop a sense of urgency or need on the part of the customer to buy a particular shoe. (It is easier to make the sale if they need a shoe rather than simply want it). Once a customer selects a specific shoe the salesman creates the urgency by stating, with much false sincerity and steady eye contact, “Ooh, that