- Published: November 17, 2021
- Updated: November 17, 2021
- University / College: Johns Hopkins University
- Level: Masters
- Language: English
- Downloads: 5
The BP and Toyota cases concern companies that acted in ways that would clearly cause harm to the public and/or the planet. To do so, individuals at many levels played a part. If you worked in the marketing department of BP or Toyota, explain your departm
Ethical Marketing Cases of BP (Beyond Petroleum) and Toyota clearly show that large organizations have an ethical duty towards the environment and should take every necessary step to avoid harm. Their duty is not just to detect any harm their goods and services can cause to the consumers. They even have a duty to ensure that the best practices are being followed by each and every department. Marketing departments of these large corporations have a responsibility of carrying out their functions while ensuring that they operate in an ethical manner. Marketing departments that aim at operating in a socially responsible manner tend to keep their customers first while making any marketing decisions. While carrying out marketing duties in an ethical manner, large corporations such as BP and Toyota need to ensure that they do not cause harm if they are aware about the possible harmful consequences of performing any marketing duties. This means that they need to ensure that the products that they are offering are safe enough for the customers (Kotabe 523). For example: the pickup trucks sold by Toyota during the period of 2013 experienced failure of engine due to issues with its valve spring problem (Jensen 1). These pickups are already in the market and this shows that the marketing department failed to identify that their products have faults before delivering the products to the customers. It is even the ethical duty of marketers to ensure that they do not provide wrongful information to their customers. For example: the marketers of Toyota were held responsible during the period of 2007 for exaggerating information that their Prius was healthy for the environment (Blewitt 213).
Works Cited
Blewitt, John. Understanding Sustainable Development. 1st ed. London: Earthscan, 2008. Print.
Jensen, Christopher. Log In – The New York Times. Nytimes. com. N. p., 2013. Web. 28 Aug. 2014.
Kotabe, Masaaki, and Kristiaan Helsen. The SAGE Handbook Of International Marketing. 1st ed. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2009. Print.