Marketing Chiefs' List of Ethical Concerns

Amid corporate scandals rocking the U.S., including cases involving brand names such as Enron, Tyco, Pfizer and Martha Stewart, a new poll from IDG's CMO magazine reports the top 3 list of E. concerns U.S. senior marketing executives have:



- 48% of marketing executives believe improper accounting practices is number one among three top ethical issues facing U.S. bizz, followed by

- conflicts of interest (42%) and

- deceptive sales and marketing practices (42%).



Fully a third (31%) of marketing chiefs are not confident U.S. companies are taking appropriate actions to stem the tide of corporate scandals. In their careers as marketers, the executives say they have personally witnessed colleagues: participating in high pressure, misleading or deceptive sales tactics (45%); misrepresenting company earnings, sales and/or revenues (35%); withholding or destroying information that could hurt company sales or image (32%), and conducting false or misleading advertising (31%).



When asked the best way to deter future unethical behavior,

- 73% answered increasing penalties for offenders,

- 64% suggests employee education programs, and

- 52% recommends continued publicity about those being punished for unethical behavior. See full CMO Magazine Poll results

Valuation

An executive was interviewing applicants for the position of divisional manager. He devised a simple test to select the most suitable person for the job. He asked each applicant the question, "What is two and two?"



The first interviewee was a journalist. His answer was "Twenty-two."



The second was a social worker. She said, "I don't know the answer but I'm glad we had time to discuss this important question."



The third applicant was an engineer. He pulled out a slide rule and showed the answer to be between 3.999 and 4.001.



The next person was a lawyer. He stated that in the case of Jenkins v Commr of Stamp Duties (Qld), two and two was proven to be four.



The last applicant was an accountant. The executive asked him, "How much is two and two?"



The accountant got up from his chair, went over to the door and closed it then came back and sat down. He leaned across the desk and said in a low voice, "How much do you want it to be?"



He got the job.