Developing Leadership Character in Business Programs - Assignment Example

?Even a cursory level of analysis reveals the fact that the overall attractiveness of an individual has a great deal to do with the way in which society understands them, the way in which they understand themselves with relation to society, and the overall level of potential success that the individual might hope to achieve in the future. As such, the unfortunate realize nation that can be had is the fact that beauty, a completely and entirely subjective norm, has an overbearing level of importance with respect to the way in which an individual is understood by society, understand themselves, and can forge their own destiny. With respect to the case of Hugo seeking to present his opinion with regards to the new product line that is being marketed, this specific analysis will focus upon three distinct questions and the means through which an ethical interpretation of this specific issue can be affected. Accordingly, the first question will be concentric upon representing the ethical issues that are demonstrated and coming to an ethically reasoned course of understanding with respect to the best practices that could be exhibited by Hugo. The second question focuses upon the most challenging aspects of this analysis and the use and application of ethical theory to make the relevant decisions. Finally, the third question helps to review the experience and provide a discussion and analysis upon how the course module has helped in affecting an ethical decision-making structure within sections 1 and 2. It is the further hope of this author that the analysis will be useful in not only representing the overall level of knowledge which was gained within the course but also helping to craft a very realistic and likely scenario that could have a great deal of relevance with regards the way in which future ethical business decision-making is engendered. Question 1: Firstly, rather than being overwhelmed by the complexity of this specific case, it is necessary to understand that a seven step utilitarian method of understanding can be applied to the marketing approach and concerns that Hugo represents. This seven step approach includes the following: the representation of the facts, the representation of the ethical issues, a discussion of the alternatives, a discussion and representation of the stakeholders, and analysis of the ethical alternatives, a discussion and analysis of practical constraints, and a discussion and analysis of which actions to take and why. Firstly, with regards to a discussion of fact, it must be understood that Hugo has already presented a profound level of research which helps to denote the fact that individuals who are measurably less attractive than average experience a great deal of physical and psychological harm throughout the course of their lives. The psychological harm is oftentimes in direct due to the fact that individuals within society actively judge them and determine themselves as somehow better than those who are physically less appealing than they are. By means of comparison, the physical drawbacks that had previously been denoted are oftentimes secondary and in direct; resulting from the fact that an individual who experiences the primary censure and ridicule that society is able to pour upon them for being physically less appealing than their counterparts can have a litany of different negative impact upon the overall health and longevity of the individuals. This oftentimes takes place with regards to an increased level of heart disease, high blood pressure, and a litany of different issues. Secondly, the ethical issues involved in this case necessarily are concentric upon the question of whether or not a particular marketer has an ethical responsibility to represent their products in a thoughtful and societally conscious manner. From a review of history, it can and must be noted that marketers helped to engender and promote biases, norms, and/4 sexism, racism, or levels of xenophobia. Accordingly, one does not need to look into the distant past to realize that marketers have leveraged societal bias and prejudice as a means to sell products around the globe (Crossan et al., 2013). Systemic sexism within advertising has been something which has recently been denoted and advertisers have slowly begun to correct. As such, seeing a cleaning product advertised that clearly denotes a stay-at-home mom whose sole purpose is to cook and clean for her family has become almost unheard of in the current era (Engelbrecht, 2012). An alternate ethical issue that is represented within this particular case has to do with the fact that Hugo may necessarily be facing a situation in which the firm has one of two choices. Either the firm can engage in a widely profitable marketing campaign that utilizes these unattractive individuals as a means of selling the product or Hugo and the firm might be facing a situation in which no alternative marketing technique has been researched, promoted, and engaged; lending Hugo and the firm to a situation in which the further profitability of this particular product line is in question. Therefore, the obvious ethical issue that this particular case represents is one in which profitability and further business development might be very well placed against an abhorrent marketing practice that is ethically questionable. With respect to the alternatives that exist with regards to this specific case, the first and most obvious is with regards to seeking to craft an alternate marketing approach that would not heavily leverage the use of unattractive individuals as a means of promoting the particular message or product integration in question (Franks & Spalding, 2013). Further, any alternative that does not seek to reinforce societal prejudice against people that are physically less appealing than others would be a preferential approach to the issue. In short, seeking to denote each and every alternatives this specific integration would necessarily require a dissertation length response. However, it should be stated that the alternatives to this particular approach would most suitably be met by seeking to utilize a cross-section of individuals or/and “average” that could minimize the level of harmful comparison that might otherwise be engendered (Rasche et al., 2013). A clear delineation of the stakeholders in question helps the observer/researcher to fully understand the way in which a seemingly inconsequential marketing question has broad and far-reaching ethical ramifications. For instance, the stakeholders with regards to the individual advertising piece would necessarily understand the fact that they were chosen to represent the product due to the fact that they were broadly understood by society as unattractive and ultimately ugly (Nelson et al., 2012). This would obviously have negative ramifications with regards to reinforcing harmful stereotypes and identifications of self that they had thus far engaged throughout the course of their lives (Floyd et al., 2013). Further, perhaps the more salient and harmful aspect of the particular marketing approach in question is with regards to the impact that it would have for stakeholders throughout society. In much the same way as was previously discussed that this particular market integration would be harmful in helping to establish and reinforce understandings of beauty and self worth within the actors specifically involved with the advertising, the very same can be stated with regards to each and every individual who consumes and/or is exposed to this particular form of marketing (Poruthiyil, 2013). In such a manner, the firm itself could potentially be ethically and/or morally responsible for the furtherance of the societal norm that individuals of unattractive nature are somehow funny and can be lampooned at leisure. With regards to the practical constraints that necessarily exists within this particular case, it must be understood that Hugo, as well as the entire marketing team, or doubtless under a great deal of pressure to promote the given product, or product line, and at the same time to maximize the level of profitability for the firm in question (Rutherford et al., 2012). As such, the ethical issue that is represented is whether or not the particular issue at hand warrants the type of response that Hugo is willing to engage. Ultimately, within the business world, and within any aspect of the world for that matter, the individual is constantly faced with questions of ethics and morality and whether or not the response for these should increase or decrease based upon their urgency (Ciulla, 2010). From the information that is thus far been provided, the final determinant of the seven step process comes down to determining which actions take (Holland & Albrecht, 2013). As such, the analysis that is thus far been conducted lens one to understand that the correct course of action that must be engaged is one that can maximize the utility and protection of the most vulnerable individuals within society by promoting the product in question without utilizing specifically unattractive individuals as a means of eliciting a shocked or comedic response from the audience. Ultimately, even though this ethical decision-making harmful for business practice within the short term, the ramifications of choosing the right course of action, in tandem with the potential future benefits of being an industry leader with regards to this specific issue has a litany of different paybacks. Question 2: The most difficult aspect in seeking to challenge the application of ethics within the preceding case necessarily had to do with attributing a level of compunction to Hugo and a firm that he represented. Ultimately, the issue of degrees of severity was an especially difficult ethical concept to engage the due to the fact that the measurement of ethical situations invariably lens one to categorize them based upon their severity and overall level of importance (Carrol, 2010). Due to the fact that this particular author does not ascribe to moral absolutism as the definitive measurement of what should and should not be engaged in each and every situation, the extension of this ethical interpretation meant that determining whether or not an ethical case of enough merit and strength was presented with regards to this specific instance to merit a response was uniquely difficult. However, in seeking to understand the fact that a litany of different stakeholders were involved within this particular marketing approach, and a litany of different individuals would be impacted negatively by propagating the myth of the less attractive individuals inferiority, it was ultimately possible to delineate whether or not the approach was ethical and how a response to it can be fabricated (Mihai & Alina, 2013). Question 3: With regards to the module in question and the way in which ethical reasoning has changed from a review and analysis of this specific case, it must be understood that prior to engaging with this particular module, I had incorrectly assumed that the three arenas of ethical decision-making were somehow separate and distant from one another. This of course makes reference to the three distinctive ethical arenas of the individual, the organization, and the systemic. However, a review, analysis, and delineation of the particular case in question, it became clear that the linkages and interconnections between each of these were profound and existed on a multitude of different levels. As such, an understanding of this interconnected nature of ethics was useful in helping to determine an ethical response to the situation. Bibliography Carroll, AB 2010, 'REFLECTIONS ON THE BUSINESS ETHICS FIELD AND BUSINESS ETHICS QUARTERLY', Business Ethics Quarterly, 20, 4, pp. 715-717, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 3 December 2013. Ciulla, Jb 2010, 'BUSINESS ETHICS: THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD', Business Ethics Quarterly, 20, 4, pp. 718-720, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 3 December 2013. CROSSAN, M, MAZUTIS, D, SEIJTS, G, & GANDZ, J 2013, 'Developing Leadership Character in Business Programs', Academy Of Management Learning & Education, 12, 2, pp. 285-305, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 3 December 2013. 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Rutherford, M, Parks, L, Cavazos, D, & White, C 2012, 'Business Ethics as a Required Course: Investigating the Factors Impacting the Decision to Require Ethics in the Undergraduate Business Core Curriculum', Academy Of Management Learning & Education, 11, 2, pp. 174-186, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 3 December 2013. Read More