Billie Daniels:

Ethical and Legal

Responsibilities of Sales
Representatives

Submitted By
Group 3
Suyash Nigotia 13P116
Ashir Madaan 13P131
Kaushik Nihalani 13P148
Mayank Rathore 13P150
Nikhil Jain 13P152


Case Facts
Billie Daniels, a district sales representative
for Consumer Food Wholesalers Inc.
Poor management of stores and profit
motivation leading Billie into launching a
scheme
Small Payment to selected head storemen for
increasing store effeciency
Scheme proved fruitful: Billie named
Representative of the Year + Other Rewards
Complain in CFW HQs against Billie for
paying off a store man
Managerial decision while considering laws
and ethics!
Major considerations Illegal or
Unethical?
Studying the
countrys
laws guiding
the
organization
Sales
Representative
s and
Managers
adherence
Companys
ethical code
of conduct
and
enforcement
Personal
code of
ethics
Matters such as Price discrimination, bribes, kickbacks,
insider trading, or conflicts of interest are practices which are
considered evidence of managements deficient ethical code
It is a legal and acceptable practice for a manufacturer to give
a department stores sales clerks push money to promote
manufacturers brand
Considering the price of the gifted item Classification into
reasonably priced and tastefully selected
Flow of information from subordinate to supervisor: Billies
claim that the scheme was actually started before Fred took
over


Analyzing Fred Harpers
dilemma
Lacks in confidence: Just when Billie in outer office,
began thinking how to handle the interview
Being in CFW for only 18 months, might not be much
aware of guidelines set in CFW other than creed: a prior
research is required
Lack of clarity in gifting policies: decision of firing to be
taken by higher authorities, since Fred has limited
experience in the company
His own candid admission of what he thought was the
right practice
Ethical standards are set by society Scheme
running for two years and only one store man out of
many felt that it was wrong
Freds responsibility to gain knowledge about
companys laws and ethical practices
Also, clear communication to subordinates at the time
of their induction is missing




Where Billie went wrong?
Motive of gaining Personal Profits
Concealed information through private
arrangement to mail the cheque
Didnt subscribe to personal code of ethics: had a
moral duty to inform the company
Exploited the companys failure in clearly defining
gifting policies
Although, quarterly cheque is of small
amount
Internal Revenue Service(IRS) limits $25 a year
on the amount for business gifts per person
Intention of gifting not there since he calculated
the schemes amount as a percentage of
commission and high probability that the amount
exceeds the IRS limit



Recommendations
Frame a gifting policy as:
Well-defined in line with countrys laws
Ensure uniformity across different stores in
different sales territories
Clear definition required over what falls under
the purview of reasonably priced and
tastefully selected
Higher control on the salespersons in
order to make sure they dont take the
decisions on their own any new policy
needs approval from National Sales
Managers



Thank
you!