The Meaning of the Word Oxymoron - Essay Example

? Sales Ethics – Is It an Oxymoron? Sales Management Assignment 28 March “Oxymoron, the figure of logical contradiction, is thus a functional counterpart of analysis, the paradigm of consistent philosophical discourse. “ (Pirandi 2004, 368) The above definition of oxymoron is a good starting point for our debate on this interesting topic of sales ethics is an oxymoron. The meaning of the word oxymoron is derived from the Greek language meaning ‘sharp dull’. It is the combination of contradictory words and is used in different ways for e.g. adjective-noun, noun verb combinations etc. Bringing two words, different in meaning together to form a figure of speech is known as an oxymoron. The examples can be a deafening silence, beautiful ugly, constant variable etc. The use of oxymoron for sales ethics puts forward the meaning that sales and ethics are two opposite concepts. To explore this in detail, the phrase sales ethics is an oxymoron means that in sales there is no place for ethics. The sales persons cannot be ethical if they have to get their work done properly. The sales force has to maneuver facts, figures and details in order to sell their product and beat competition. The corporate race these days compels the companies and their sales representatives to speak positive about their product and make it appear larger than life in order to attract customer attention. In this era of increasing prices, fierce competition, the firms cannot add too much value to their products but are compelled to show a luring picture so that their sales graphs go up. These days it is all about graphs number and profits, goodwill, loyalty has taken a back seat. Having mentioned the above general perception regarding sales and ethics, let us validate and form an opinion based on concepts and analysis. For centuries the great writers and philosophers have been trying to come up with the definition of ethics. The word ethics is a complex concept and its complexity is derived from the lack of a universal definition. Ethics is different for different people, what I believe to be ethical may be unethical for someone and vice versa. “Ethics, in fact, is all about fairness and equity, and a fine balancing act, the balancing treatment of the two parties involved, sharing of benefits and losses, and sharing of the good and bad consequences or misery imposed by calamities, natural events etc.” (Madhavan 2008, 4) The field of ethics is very subjective; it is a personalized value system and judgment that varies from person to person. It deals with a person’s emotional values along with the logical benchmark; anything below that line of ethics is unethical and wrong. But the fine line between being ethical and unethical has blurred over the years. More and more firms are entering into marketing gimmicks and tricks and trade of the sales games and calling it ethical because of its commonality. Having talked about personal or individual ethics let us now explore business ethics. In any organization the value and opinions are formed by the people working in it. How well an organization carries out its value and conveys it to its customers depends upon the conduct of its employees. “Business ethics is the study of business situation, activities, and decisions where issues of right and wrong are addressed.” (Crane and Matten 2007, 5) The firms need to establish a morally right and wrong criteria as an ethical value system in the organization. Every individual in the organization should work towards the good of the organization and individual selfish gains should be avoided for the firm and society to prosper in an ethical manner. However, the real world of business posses several ethical confusions and issues to the sales force putting them into an ethical dilemma.”Anyone who wants to succeed in sales should be aware of the ethical issues that can arise. For a number of reasons, activities related to sales seem to have a greater frequency and level of ethical issues.” (Carter 1998, 137) The sales people, who go out there and face it all, have to bear with the bribes, deceiving customers and dishonest acts and contracts. The points that does make sales ethics an oxymoron is the unethical advertising that the force has to come up with in order beat competition and reach to the customer. For example, many cosmetic companies use fake eyelashes for the advertising of their mascara and eye products. Now this is false advertising and promoting your product for something that is not present. Now the sales force is faced with numerous such challenges every day. If their manager comes up with a dishonest contract or a contract where terms and conditions are either concealed or misleading, this automatically puts sales into an unethical picture. For example, a local apparel store placed a SALE sign and placed 90% under it. However, when customers went in the store they read the fine print that said SALE – pay 90% only i.e. the sale was only for 10% leading an outrage in the people visiting the outlets. Thus, these things have become a routine is the sales world thus making it difficult for organizations to be ethical. After all the practicalities and the daily situations faced by the sales forces and business, I do not agree the sales and ethics are oxymoron. Why? I have the reasons for my opinion. A term labeled ‘discretionary responsibilities’ goes beyond the daily realm of social responsibility. “Discretionary responsibility is purely voluntary and guided by company’s desire to make social contributions not mandated by economics, law or ethics.” (Futrell 2008, 38) We should be responsible through our inner desire to do good for the society as a whole. An ethical sales force is a long term sales force. As for the basic definition of a business i.e. a business is a going concern, so in order to keep our business alive one needs to hold the ethical values closer to the work conducts. Using ethical advertisement, correct promotion and open credit contracts will build customer confidence. This confidence in your product will lead to customer loyalty which in turn will produce a long term surge n profits and company’s goodwill will increase too. Thus, unethical practices can only lead to windfall gains in the short term and lawsuits and fines in the long run, resulting in the closure of business. On the other hand a clean and ethical sales force builds an ever lasting positive image of an firm and helps the firm grow and the society a better one to live in. Therefore, after all the debate I do not agree that sales and ethics is an oxymoron, they need to be on the same side for the firm, economy and society to grow and prosper. References Carter, Tony. 1998. Contemporary Sales Force Management. NY: Haworth Press Inc. Crane, Andrew and Matten, Dirk. 2007. Business Ethics. 2nd ed. NY: Oxford University Press. Futrell, Charles M. 2008. Fundamentals of Selling. NY: Tata McGraw Hill. Madhavan, K S. 2008. Business & Ethics - An Oxymoron? 1st ed. Hyderabad: Shiglo Institute. Pirandi, Michele.2004. The building blocks of meaning: ideas for a philosophical grammar. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Co. Read More