3 and 4
Module 3
More Sales, Lower Ethics?
At my recent job, I held a position as a Customer Service and Sales Representative for a well-recognized bank. My responsibility was to help customers solve issues and concerns they might have on their accounts, but mainly I was to concentrate on selling them bank products. I started out as a teller and worked my way up to a Sales Rep. As I went through training they instructed us to concentrate on customer service before anything else, but also mentioned that sales were an important part of the position, yet never mentioning that it would be the primary goal. The goal setting level in the bank is determined by the amount of sales the bank needs quarterly. However, these goals differ from the requirements of each individual’s position. There is also a big emphasis on meeting daily sales goals to reach your numbers by the end of the quarter.
As I started working, I realized that it was difficult to meet the daily goals that are expected. The Bank sets goals that are somewhat unrealistic to most of us, particularly because we have the same customers visiting the bank. It is very difficult to sell other products to the same customers since they already have every bank product they need. By the bank setting these high goals, we are pushed to sell to some customers extra checking or savings accounts that sometimes were unnecessary for them to have. Yet, to achieve our goals we encourage them to open the new accounts by saying it would somehow benefit them. I am not pleased with doing this, since we could easily just convert the existing product to the new one without having to open another account for them. The customers have more trouble keeping track of all these other extra accounts rather than just keeping the existing ones with the new benefits. However, not selling them the new products sometimes makes it impossible to meet our sales goal for the quarter.
1) Is it ethical for the bank to keep raising our goals and expect that we keep selling these extra accounts that customers might not really need? (70-80 words)
2) Should I give into the pressure of the company to meet the company’s goal? What should I do? (70-80 word response)
Module 4
The Marijuana Regulatory Dilemma
In the United States in 1996, California’s voters legalized the sale of marijuana for medical use. Since then, over 25 more states have done the same; however, it has yet to be approved on the federal level. This provides a dilemma for businesses in those states that regularly test employees for substance abuse. In Coats v. Dish Network, a Colorado employee who is quadriplegic and used medical marijuana outside of working hours sued for wrongful termination of his job after he tested positive for marijuana. The confusing legal landscape led to his claim that Colorado labor laws (i.e., state laws) deemed his use of marijuana legal and thus his termination illegal. The Colorado Supreme Court ruled against Mr. Coats, however, because Mr. Coats broke the law by using a product that is illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act.
This case highlights the confusing and complex issues of drug policy and law in the United States. Contradictions between state and federal statutes also cross over to the sales of recreational marijuana. In 2014 in the United States, the states of Colorado and Washington began selling it for recreational use and Oregon and Alaska recently approved its sale. Proponents for the legalization of marijuana at the federal level note that regulated markets protect consumers, raise revenues, reduce the costs of enforcement, and put criminals out of business. Arguments against it capture those from the states who have opposed it up-to-date: the public-health effects of marijuana, the increased tax burden, the danger of cannabis “edibles” with young children, and its potentially addictive nature. The legalization of marijuana has been more of a debate in the United States than in other countries, particularly because of the contradictions between state and federal laws. Much of Europe has embraced the sale of medical marijuana, and Australia recently announced similar plans. Jamaica has legalized “ganja” for broadly defined religious purposes and Spain allows users to grow and buy it through small collectives. At the time of this writing, Canada had plans to legalize it for recreational use in 2017.
1) What are the ethical issues in this case? Who are the stakeholders, and what are their stakes? (70-80 word response)
3) U.S. state versus federal law makes this issue particularly complex. What are other examples of industries where U.S. state and federal law are seemingly at odds? (70-80 word response)
