The ethical dilemmas of salesmen essay

After reading the book Good Faith and watching the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, I was able to analyze the actions of the characters and identify their views on ethical behavior. Both the book and the movie concentrate on salesmen of the real estate companies. The common goal that all salesmen aim for is to become successful by getting high profits from selling different properties. Behaviors such as lying, disobeying the law, or stealing are seen as unethical in the society. On the other hand, behaviors such as acting with integrity, and caring about clients needs are viewed as ethical acts.

Every employee has different views regarding the appropriate behavior in the company. Some of the employees choose to compete with each other and betray their friendship over money, while others follow honesty as an important element in their job place. Unfortunately, not many salesmen consider having qualities such as integrity as important in business organizations.

Good Faith and Glengarry Glen Ross talk about different characters and their strategies on gaining success in the organization. The main character in the book was Joe Stratford, who was a salesman of a company. Joe possesses great personality qualities like honesty and intelligence. He is an example of a decent salesman in the real estate world. Joe does not only care about making money but he also shows concern to his clients and cares about their satisfaction. Joe’s adulthood played a big role in shaping his moral views.

He was raised by a religious family that taught him to act with decency and integrity. Joe was a good son to his parents. He cleaned out the rain gutter and brought his parents some treats at Thanksgiving.