Ethics and Social Responsibility in Business In marketing as in other aspects of business, it is critical that professionals make sure to act in an ethical manner both legally and socially. In this age of interconnectedness, one unethical move can become an Internet video or comment that spreads rapidly, not just locally but potentially throughout the world. From a marketing standpoint, it is critical to take into account the impact of an organizations decisions on other people and the environment. However, how you communicate the expected conduct required in a business is as important as the ethical expectations themselves. Most companies have a written Code of Conduct as well as other corporate statements that communicate the expected behavior and values of the firm. In this Assignment, you will engage in the development of the following professional competencies: Make ethical decisions and solve problems Written Communication In this Assignment you will read the Cengage Case Study: ?Barclays Bank: Banking on Ethics? and then respond to the checklist items in a critical essay based on a scenario. Below is the scenario Case studY Chapter 3 On February 28, 2012, the United States Department of Justice announced a criminal investigation into abuse of the LIBOR, an important interest rate regulated by the British Bankers Administration. Four months later, Londonbased Barclays Bank was fined more than $440 million by United States and English financial regulatory agencies for knowingly manipulating the LIBOR to its own advantage. The political and economic uproar that followed the exposure of Barclays actions led to several resignations (including that of Barclays CEO Bob Diamond) and further criminal investigations. Former governor of New York Eliot Spitzer called the incident the mega-scandal of megascandals, while journalist Robert Scheer christened it the crime of the century. The LIBOR, short for London Interbank Offered Rate, is the interest rate banks pay when they borrow money from each other. To calculate this rate, up to 20 influential British banks report their own proposed bank-to-bank lending rates. The highest and lowest rates are trimmed off, and the remaining rates are averaged, creating the LIBOR. A low LIBOR often points to financial stability, while a high LIBOR indicates that banks lack confidence in each others economic health. What Barclays was fined for was proposing artificially low bank-to-bank rates to make itself appear more stable than it actually was. However, further investigations indicated that Barclays colluded with other banks and perhaps even the British government to impact the LIBOR itself. An unnaturally low LIBOR would suggest greater economic stability than actually existed, misleading investors and loan-seekers in a potentially volatile market, and thus creating profit for the banks involved in the collusion. The rate manipulation carried out by Barclays affects not only London banks and business executives, but also small businesses and individualsp erhaps even you yourself. Because it has historically been considered trustworthy and economically accurate, the LIBOR is used all around the world as an interest rate and financial instrument benchmark. Everything from currency values (including the United States dollar) to multimillion-dollar corporate debts to home mortgages to individual student loans depend on the LIBOR. While it may not seem like it, each of these is a product that is marketed and sold. As loans and exchanges of varying types are banks primary sources of profit, banks compete to exchange these products within a market. At the consumer level, consider how many car and credit card commercials you have seen advertising a low interest rate. Hundreds of trillions of dollars worth of these financial products have been sold based on the LIBOR a rate that may not in fact accurately reflect the worlds shaky economic standing. Journalists and economic analysts have been quick to reject the ethicality of Barclays actions. As information about the LIBOR scandal broke, TIME contributor Christopher Matthews wrote, [Barclays alleged collusion] speaks to the moral compass, or total lack thereof, of the worlds financial professionalsthe public and the government no longer trust the industry to set its own standards for acceptable behavior. In a piece for The Nation, Robert Scheer said, The modern-day robber barons pillage with a destructive abandon totally unfettered by law or conscience and on a scale that is almost impossible to comprehend. Dennis Kelleher, president of nonprofit financial watchdog organization Better Markets, Inc. was perhaps most condemnatory of all: What we probably need is to wipe out this entire generation of so-called banking leaders who apparently have no ethics or integrity. While the total sum of the LIBOR scandals consequences are yet to be seen, Barclays actions may go down in history as a monumental failure in business ethics and corporate social responsibility. Sources: Christopher Matthews, LIBOR Scandal: The Crime of the Century?, TIME, July 9, 2012, http:// business.time.com/2012/07/09/libor-scandal-the-crime-of-the-century (Accessed July 10, 2012); Danny Guttridge, Understanding the LIBOR Scandal, Kapitall Blog, July 9, 2012, http://wire.kapitall.com /investment-idea/understanding-the-libor-scandal (Accessed July 10, 2012); The Mob Learned from Wall Street: Eliot Spitzer on the Cartel-style Corruption behind Libor Scam, Current, July 3, 2012, -on-the-cartel-style -corruption-behind-libor-scam (Accessed July 10, 2012). BarclaYS Bank BankinG on ethicS 1CCAASSEE

ethics and marketing

consider the subject of ethics and marketing, it is difficult not to view the key players with a jaundiced eye. Ad men and others involved in the business of promoting products and even selling presidential candidates, are generally not held in the highest steem because they are the ones who craft the messages that lead many of us to believe that we are being taken.  Many doubtful consumers believe that in many cases, we are being sold a bill of goods.  In the 1950’s Ray Stannard Baker tapped into American doubts about the integrity of advertising in a book in which he characterized advertising as “The Permissible Lie.” Now of course no one wants to enter a field that is viewed with such cynicism. But is the reputation that marketing professionals have garnered over the years,one that has been earned as a result of dubious practices or even chicanery? When we ask, as Albert Carr did in “Is Bluffing in Business Ethical”, it is marketing professionals who draw so much ire.
So let’s make a start and begin with the opening Decision Point on p. 402. Please respond to all of the questions that follow, but my recommendation is that you not tackle the problem until you have completed the chapter because the questions require you to reference materials in the chapter to support your responses.  You may actually want to complete this exercise and the questions that follow, after you complete the other exercises.  Be sure to familiarize yourself with the contents of Table 8.1 on p. 407. I would also suggest that you understand the three concerns expressed in Objective 2 on p. 407.
In the Reality Check on p. 412, the focal point is “obesity”. My question is , whose problem is it? Does responsibility for obesity ultimately rest on the individual or do we have a larger societal problem that does not justify imposing the responsibility on the individual alone? Share your thoughts but in doing so reign in your unsupported opinions. In this instance explain your position by considering the four questions in Table 8,1 on p. 407.
Then we turn to the Decision point on p. 421. In responding to the questions that follow, be sure to reference the materials in the chapter that support your responses. (Your opinion matters but it must be supported by something you have learned in these materials in this chapter.)
On p.426, the subject is ” Marketing to Vulnerable Populations.” Read the Decision Point on p. 428 and respond to the questions that follow.
In the end of chapter materials, please respond to question 6.
Finally, Read 8-2 and 8-5. What are the principal take aways from these two articles?

ethics and marketing

consider the subject of ethics and marketing, it is difficult not to view the key players with a jaundiced eye. Ad men and others involved in the business of promoting products and even selling presidential candidates, are generally not held in the highest steem because they are the ones who craft the messages that lead many of us to believe that we are being taken.  Many doubtful consumers believe that in many cases, we are being sold a bill of goods.  In the 1950’s Ray Stannard Baker tapped into American doubts about the integrity of advertising in a book in which he characterized advertising as “The Permissible Lie.” Now of course no one wants to enter a field that is viewed with such cynicism. But is the reputation that marketing professionals have garnered over the years,one that has been earned as a result of dubious practices or even chicanery? When we ask, as Albert Carr did in “Is Bluffing in Business Ethical”, it is marketing professionals who draw so much ire.
So let’s make a start and begin with the opening Decision Point on p. 402. Please respond to all of the questions that follow, but my recommendation is that you not tackle the problem until you have completed the chapter because the questions require you to reference materials in the chapter to support your responses.  You may actually want to complete this exercise and the questions that follow, after you complete the other exercises.  Be sure to familiarize yourself with the contents of Table 8.1 on p. 407. I would also suggest that you understand the three concerns expressed in Objective 2 on p. 407.
In the Reality Check on p. 412, the focal point is “obesity”. My question is , whose problem is it? Does responsibility for obesity ultimately rest on the individual or do we have a larger societal problem that does not justify imposing the responsibility on the individual alone? Share your thoughts but in doing so reign in your unsupported opinions. In this instance explain your position by considering the four questions in Table 8,1 on p. 407.
Then we turn to the Decision point on p. 421. In responding to the questions that follow, be sure to reference the materials in the chapter that support your responses. (Your opinion matters but it must be supported by something you have learned in these materials in this chapter.)
On p.426, the subject is ” Marketing to Vulnerable Populations.” Read the Decision Point on p. 428 and respond to the questions that follow.
In the end of chapter materials, please respond to question 6.
Finally, Read 8-2 and 8-5. What are the principal take aways from these two articles?