Lockheed Martin, which in turn handles bidding process, negotiations, and gratification of government deals. Lockheed Matn has a popularity for performing business country wide and worldwide and is well respected in the industry. The company and competition or similar manufacturers including Ball Company regularly perform marketing and advertising research to determine what products/services would be best suited for customer interests.
Exploration suggest that a business such as Lockheed must engage in the highest level of moral standards when doing marketing and advertising exploration to ensure that clients and people are adequately educated of their promoting practices and the uses the business has pertaining to collecting information that is personal.
The company provides crafted a code of ethics depending on the highest ethical standards that suggest that it is crucial to the companies livelihood the fact that best interests of the consumer be maintained always. It is recommended that the corporation go one particular step even more and enhance their program by giving regular examination and monitoring of marketing and advertising practices to ensure that advertising agents and advertisers happen to be consistently sticking with corporate ethical and moral standards when advertising and conducting organization. The record below information all of these aspects of the corporation and their business practices as well as investigates the moral questions that arise from marketing and advertising practices.
Dear Management:
Introduction
Lockheed Martin can be described as worldwide technology leader engaged in several different business activities including marketing and advertising study and campaign. The businesses motto is “we never forget who our company is working for” (LM, 2004). The motto suggest that the business is dedicated to the highest level of moral standards and moral considerations.
The organization, with hq located in Bethesda, MD is usually organized and structured around several “central core business areas” which include Aeronautics, Electronic Systems, Information Technology and Solutions and Built-in Systems and Solutions (LM, 2004).
Within a corporation with as much affect as Lockheed Martin provides, it is vital the highest honest and moral standards are upheld in most manner of business transactions which include marketing and advertising. Merchandising agents with the company have a responsibility to collect data from customers in a manner that can be fair, ethical and genuine. They have a duty to provide buyers with information regarding business procedures and the nature of the data that is accumulated. As a head in the industry, the business has an obligation to set an illustration for others conducting organization in the technology industry.
Situational Analysis
The organization is one of the major technology oriented companies on the globe dedicated toward innovation. It can customers contain international brokers and U. S. government agencies including the Office of Security, Agriculture, Homeland Security and more.
Currently the firm employs a lot more than 130, 1000 people around the world and is involved in several different actions including exploration, design, develop and production of technology systems, products (LM, 2004). The businesses sales surpass more than 23 billion in 2003 only (LM, 2004).
In the Lockheed Martin code of integrity, the company says that it is dedicated to “developing, generating and redecorating products and services from the highest quality with delivery to the customer on schedule in a fair price” (IIT, 2004). With regard to merchandising the company acknowledges that good advertising material is usually an essential component to do business, and that the corporation can be committed to attaining information about customers, competitors and suppliers during doing business in an ethical fashion from openly available sources (IIT, 2004).
Bribery, the “giving of gratuities, wire-tapping, burglary, thieving and kickbacks” are referred to as unacceptable options for colleting information (IIT, 2004).
Research
Promoting representatives have got a responsibility to provide buyers with information about the company’s products at request, including the technical specs and stipulations of use of any tools. Marketing actions must be perceived as fair and. In order for this to occur businesses have a responsibility to see customers of the marketing and advertising procedures at all period, and execute business in a manner that builds a foundation to get trust and ethical business relationships (Clark, Hyman Tansey, 1994).
Organization ethics needs that a online marketer and advertiser makes advice about the company plus the corporations techniques available to potential clients and visitors in a visible and easily available place; realises regarding a company’s advertising practices should be easily identified, read and understood so that customers may easily translate and understand the range of organization conducted by corporation plus the scope of promoting and marketing processes (DMA, 2004).
In addition the organization will need to provide consumers with contact information and a notice needs to be provided to any or all customers or consumers before the time details is collected that is personal in nature and will be employed for marketing or advertising uses (DMA, 2004). This will ensure that customers have no questions relating to business procedures and types of procedures. If the firm operates or perhaps conducts business online or offers an online web page for support and details to consumers, it is equally essential that customers will be informed of any marketing or marketing practices that might involve number of personal information online (DMA, 2004).
When details is gathered about clients other companies generally provide realize that includes details pertaining to the (1) characteristics of the details collected and the types of uses the information will be used to get including marketing, (2) whether or not the information will probably be transferred to third parties, (3) if the information is utilized by the organization or simply by outside agents working on you can actually behalf, (4) what methods are in position the assure the privateness of the info collected (DMA, 2004).
One other business ethics responsibility is the responsibility of the company to honor a customer’s decision if that they decline to supply personal information and also to still handle that customer with the maximum respect and dignity.
The Direct Promoting Association screens members to make sure that they are in compliance with ethical rules on a consistent basis (DMA, 2004). Individuals members that are not in compliance face severe penalties and might lose membership with the connection.
Early studies conducted of marketing and advertising practices among agency executives show that many executives are worried about issues related to fairness and trustworthiness (Carlin, Castleberry French, 1993). These research found that the corporation’s standing with clients only is out there when the consumer trusts the integrity from the corporation, and a lack of trust harms the organizations capability to develop future relationships (Carlin et. ing, 1993).
Promoting is the that is constantly explored by an ethical standpoint. A survey conducted of the Advertising Research Connection suggests that people can be affected regarding decisions of correct and incorrect from their superiors, thus it is essential that management in the corporation make decisions using only the best levels of moral reasoning (Carlin et. approach, 1993).
Gulas Mckeage (2000) suggest that idealized portrayals can also be seen as ethically misleading and thus a corporation provides the obligation to expose consumers to true to contact form rather than idealized images with their products/services of corporation (p. 17). The consequences of idealized marketing and advertising may be negative on the public and exacerbate problems that are ethical in characteristics with regard to business practices.
Clark simon, Hyman Tansey (1994) claim that advertising ethics affects the practice of everyday business in lots of subtle and prominent techniques and that integrity in merchandising will continue to be a prevalent area of discourse intended for future analysts. Lockheed Martin need consider adequate procedure for ensure that customers and people are well informed of business methods in order to abide by the ideas presented previously mentioned.
Recommendations/Directives
At this point Lockheed’s code of ethics suggest that it is upholding the greatest moral specifications when doing business with consumers. There are opportunities to get ethical removes to occur non-etheless in the practice of marketing and advertising study. Lockheed Martin needs to make sure that the information they will collect that may be personal in nature and relevant to certain agencies is definitely kept confidential at all times. In addition they must ensure that they can be notifying every customers with their intent when collecting info and informing them from the uses for that information.
This practice is definitely ‘overlooked’ in the wonderful world of marketing. This kind of a infringement of confidentiality and carry out can result in a loss of rely upon the business marriage and make misgivings with clients. Moreover a breech of trust would be disastrous for the industry huge that impacts so many other locations of global technology enterprise.
I suggest that ideas and methods be integrated to develop a marketing and advertising auditing plan to prevent a breach of conduct and ethics on behalf of staff, much like the particular Direct Promoting Association has implemented to get members. Promoting activities must be monitored on the monthly/bi-annual and annual basis to ensure that the knowledge acquired by customers is performed in a manner that is ethical and moral all the time.
Conclusions
It is important that corporations conduct marketing and advertising activities in a fashion that is just, genuine and upholds the highest