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?

John Smith Scenario

Should John Smith sell the names? Does the AMA Statement of Ethics address this issue? Go to AMA website; look at their Statement of Ethics; write a blog posting on what the AMA Statement of Ethics contains that relates to John Smith’s dilemma.

John Smith should not sell the names. The American Marketing Association Statement of Ethics broadly addresses this issue. First off, the statement of ethics is a list of ethical norms and values that marketers should follow. In this specific case, it relates to "foster trust in the marketing system", listed under ethical norms. What this means is that marketers should be striving to do what's best in good faith as well as avoiding deception in pricing, product design, and communication. In the scenario it states that he could potentially be selling personal information to another company without their consent. In doing this he would be violating the the ethical norm having to do with having trust in your company. Just from the introduction to the Statement of Ethics site alone shows he shouldn't make this deal and deceive his customers.

There are also other places within the statement of ethics that are relevant to this scenario. Listed under the ethical values section is honesty. It states in this section that marketers should strive to be truthful in all situations and at all time. This is relevant because if John goes along with this deal he will break this code. Unless John told the people who filled out the survey that their information may be distributed, that would be fine. By not listing that on the survey he would be dishonest by selling their information without their consent. Also under ethical values is fairness. In this section it is stated that marketers should avoid knowing participation in conflicts of interest and seek to protect the private information of customers, employees and partners. John would be breaking this code also if he went through with the deal. He would not be protected his customers personal information only for his benefit.

Since John would be breaking many codes within the American Marketers Association Statement of ethics he should not sell the names for $8,000. Right of the bat you would be able to tell he is breaking the code "foster trust in the marketing system" listed at the top of the website. It would not be right of John Smith to break this ethical norm. Also, he would break ethical values going along with this decision. This would include breaking the honesty and fairness codes. My immediate reaction to this question was yes. The reason for this was because John Smith needed the money for himself and his employees. But after doing some research on the American Marketers Association website it was clear this would be an unethical action. Do you believe it is unethical for a company to give personal information out, such as this instance, if their is fine print at the bottom stating that your information may be distributed?