In Response to David's Post...

What do you think, is it worth keeping the good reputation and not violating as many part of the Statement of Ethics by laying off the workers, or would you sell the numbers to keep bread on your employees tables?

In my opinion I do not think John should sell the names. Like you said, John violates a few categories in the statement of ethics. Since marketers should follow these ethics it would be immoral to break them. As for the workers, if it's necessary for the company to move forward by laying off some workers then it must be done. When you are in any business your objective is to do whatever is best for the business as a whole. Not necessarily what's best for every individual person who works there. Sometimes you must separate personal matters with business matters to come up with the best solution for your company. If John did not want to fire any employees or sell the names, he could possibly work something out. John would have to take the initiative to come up with a tactical way for the firm to make money. This could be anything from developing new marketing strategies, or some type of community service. John could collect donations for a charity where 50% of their donations go to the charity and the other 50% goes to the company that the customer is loyal to. But if all else fails John must take the action to lay off some of his employees. Although personal relationships are very important in any organization, it must not reflect what is beneficial for the company as a whole. I was a witness to this for myself personally. At my job, there was a time when they were selecting certain people to receive less hours due to the recession. Some of the other co-workers were full time employees providing for their family, similar to the people in John's situation. As time went on more and more full time employees were losing hours. I believe this was a wise choice for the place I work. Instead of completely ridding them from the company, they gave them less hours. The may have needed more hours but it was necessary to cut some employees hours. It was beneficial for the company as a whole to cut hours, which is why I agree with that decision. Do you believe you should take personal emotions into consideration when making important business decisions?