Business Society and Planet Public Relations

Question: Discuss about the Business Society and Planet for Public Relations. Answer: Sales and Marketing Manager: I have to think about the deal that was proposed by the Minister of Punjab. Our company has some ethical practices. If our company does not follow ethical codes of conduct, then the community might create a misconception about the company. I have to think other ways of getting the job done. What is your opinion? Sales Area Manager: I will agree with the opinion of the Minister of Punjab. According to me, giving a part of commission to him will not hamper the profit of the company. His support will help the company to penetrate into Indian market. Soft drinks market of India is huge. Coca Cola can make immense profit by selling its various ranges of products in the market. Sales and Marketing Manager: Okay, you have a point. However, I have to think over it. It is a huge responsibility for me. Creating agricultural jobs for 50,000 people in Punjab is not at all an easy task. The senior management of the company have to think over it. We have to think about fulfilling the requirements of the Indian government. Sales Area Manager: You have a point Sir. We have to rethink on the matter. It will be a big decision of the company to enter into the soft drinks market of Coca-Cola. Many factors we have to consider while taking the decision of market penetration. Sales and Marketing Manager: Exactly, this is the point I am thinking about. We have to analyze both the requirements of the company and Punjab government in order to enter a joint venture with the Punjab government (Pop et al. 2014). Sales Area Manager: Well, I think that we should propose a meeting with the marketing and sales team along with the strategic management team. Their opinion is also required for making this decision. However, CEO is in favour of the proposal of the Minister of Punjab. After a moment of thinking with the proposal of Sales Area Manager, he agreed to the meeting with the other operational managers of the company. Sales Marketing Manager: Ok man. Go ahead with the meeting. Inform the managers about the issue of the ethical dilemma and send a mail regarding the timing of the meeting. Make sure that every manager must attend the meeting. It is of first priority. Sales Area Manager: Yes Sir. I will do it accordingly. I am sending the mail to the managers of the branch regarding the meeting and informing them to gather at the conference hall. Sales Marketing Manager: Ok. Do whatever you want. Make them gather at a place as soon as possible. I have to discuss the issue with them. Opinion of the managers is also very important. Well in this meeting, I will also get to know about their awareness level regarding the ethical code of conduct of the company (Frederick 2013). Few hours passed. The managers of the branch gradually gathered at the conference hall. Everyone is discussing about the market penetration of Coca Cola in India. Sales Marketing Manager arrived at the location within a while. Sales Marketing Manager: Hello managers. A very good afternoon to you all. Hope all of you are doing well. I assume that everybody know about the topic of discussion in the meeting. Well, before starting the meeting, I want to give you a brief regarding the topic. After the briefing, I would expect about your valuable opinion regarding the ethical issues faced by the company in terms of market penetration. After the meeting is over, the marketing manager is surprised after hearing the opinions of the managers regarding the ethical issues. He thinks of discussing the matter with the CEO of Coca Cola. In the meanwhile, CEO asked the manager about his opinion regarding the expansion of the company in Punjab. CEO: Manager, what is your decision related to our Punjab government joint venture. I have heard that you have headed a meeting over the office. Can you provide the details of the meeting you have done with our branch managers. What are the points that the branch managers have raised about the joint venture? I want every details of it. Sales Marketing Manager: Yes sir, i will convey each details of the conference. Sir, I am surprised that our managers do not have a clear conception about the ethical codes of conduct. CEO: Why are you surprised man? What happened? What did the managers say about our ethical codes of conduct? Just tell me everything about it. Sales Marketing Manager: Surely, sir, I have noticed that the managers do not have any basic conception about the new policies of ethical codes of conduct. Hence, the opinions they are giving regarding our joint venture cannot be considered. Since our company follows participative leadership, another meeting should be conducted related to the issue of joint venture with the Punjab government (Stone 2013). CEO: Is it really so? Our managers do not acquaint the new policies. We have to inform the message to the human resource department. The HR managers will have to formulate a training and development program with an objective to convey the new improved ethical codes of conduct of Coca Cola. Otherwise, they will not be able to take any decision related to the expansion of the company or any other decisions related to clients (Kaptein 2013). Sales Marketing Manager: Definitely Sir. I will take care of the matter. You can trust me. I am assuring you that this matter will be solved within few days. At this very moment, i will focus on the joint venture. I have to discuss the matter to the Strategic management team. CEO: Surely. Let me know what are their opinions regarding 50,000 agricultural jobs in Punjab. Sales Marketing Manager: Yes sir, I will let you know. Sales Area Manager comes to the office of the Sales Marketing Manager. He again pushes the marketing manager to accept the proposal of the Minister of the Punjab. However, Sales Marketing Manager decides to have a conversation with the Minister of Punjab. Sales Marketing Manager: Hi, this is Jitender Singh, Sales and Marketing Manager of Coca Cola. Can I have a word with the Minister of Punjab? Minister of Punjab: Yes speaking. How are you doing? Sales Marketing Manager: I am doing well. Thank You. I have called you regarding the 50,000 agricultural jobs in Punjab. Is it the right time to talk to you? Minister of Punjab: Yeah Sure. What is your companys decision regarding my deal? Is it fair enough? What is your CEO is telling regarding my proposal? Sales Marketing Manager: Sir, I wanted to tell you that we respect your proposal. However, our company has some ethical codes of conduct that does not support your proposal (Seele and Lock 2015). Will you agree to complete the deal with another means except the commission? Minister of Punjab: No, it is not possible for me. I want jobs in the agricultural sector of Punjab, which your company is providing. The deal is final and I want commission to grant the joint venture between the Punjab government and Coca Cola. Sales Marketing Manager: Ok sir. We will let you know about the decision of the company. Thank you for your valuable time. Within this telephonic conversation, the Sales Area Manager enters. Sales Marketing Manager informed about the telephonic conversation between him and Minister of Punjab. Sales Area Manager: I have already told you sir that the Minister of Punjab will not agree with our companys proposal. The company will face many political hindrances if it rejects the proposal of the Minister. Political dearth of Punjab is high. I think that Coca Cola should agree to provide commission to the Minister (DiStaso and Bortree 2014). Sales Marketing Manager: You might be right. Well manager I have to rethink over it, as it violates our ethical conduct. It is a very critical decision for our company to maintain the image of the brand in the Indian market. Sales Area Manager: I agree with your point Sir. We should consult about the conversation with the strategic management department and the CEO. Sales Marketing Manager: Yes, I am thinking of informing the matter to the board and senior management of the company. After thinking for a while, Sales Marketing Manager called CEO. Sales Marketing Manager: Hello Sir, Jitender here. CEO: Yes Jitender. Sales Marketing Manager: I want to have an appointment with you. I had a word with the Minister of Punjab regarding our expansion strategy in Punjab. CEO: Yes. What did he said about our policies? Will he convince with our proposal? Sales Marketing Manager: No, Sir. CEO: Well, I think that we should provide 10% commission to the Minister in order to avoid any political disturbances. It is not following our ethical codes. However, it is mandatory. Sales Marketing Manager: Perhaps you are right. This joint venture is very essential for our company. India is a country with huge population. We will earn a substantial profit by selling our all ranges of product in the market. References DiStaso, M.W. and Bortree, D.S., 2014.Ethical practice of social media in public relations. Routledge. Frederick, R., 2013. Global Business Ethics.The International Encyclopedia of Ethics. Kaptein, M., 2013. Business Codes of Multinational Firms: What Do They Say?. InCitation Classics from the Journal of Business Ethics(pp. 525-547). Springer Netherlands. Pop, N.A., Dabija, D.C. and Iorga, A.M., 2014. Ethical responsibility of neuromarketing companies in harnessing the market researchA global exploratory approach.Amfiteatru Economic,16(35), pp.26-40. Seele, P. and Lock, I., 2015. Instrumental and/or deliberative? A typology of CSR communication tools.Journal of Business Ethics,131(2), pp.401-414. Stone, R.J., 2013.Managing human resources. John Wiley and Sons.