MBA P715
Entrepreneurship
Week 9
Marvin Ryder
Assistant Professor, Marketing
& Entrepreneurship
From The Hamilton Spectator
Flower Shop Owners Convicted of Tax Evasion
Two Hamilton-area residents whose companies operated several flower
shops face $170,500 in fines and court surcharges after being convicted
of evading provincial sales taxes.
Tony and Steve Castagner had four companies operating under the name
Flowers by the Dozen in Hamilton, Ancaster, and Burlington. They
pleaded guilty to six charges. None of the businesses are currently
operating.
Court was told the brothers were responsible for the corporations’ failure
to pay taxes totalling $288,489 collected from customers between 1998
and 2002 by falsifying monthly returns.
Judge Timothy Culver fined them $70,000 each and granted them 12
months to pay. They must all pay surcharges of $15,250 each to the
Ontario Victims’ Justice Fund. Charges against
the defunct companies were withdrawn.
Public Perception of Ethical
Professions – Top of the Table
Profession
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
2005
2009
Druggist
59%
65%
62%
65%
69%
68%
67%
66%
Clergy
63%
67%
55%
53%
59%
64%
54%
50%
Doctor
50%
58%
52%
51%
56%
66%
65%
65%
Professor
45%
53%
51%
52%
55%
58%
58%
54%
Police
44%
47%
49%
50%
49%
68%
61%
63%
Mortician
30%
32%
35%
34%
36%
36%
44%
47%
Journalist
32%
31%
30%
26%
23%
29%
28%
23%
Percent shown is the sum of “Very High” and “High” responses
Source: The Gallup Poll
Public Perception of Ethical
Professions – Bottom of the Table
Profession
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
2005
2009
Real Estate
Agent
14%
15%
16%
15%
16%
17%
20%
17%
Lawyer
25%
27%
22%
16%
15%
18%
18%
13%
Union Leader
14%
13%
15%
14%
15%
17%
16%
16%
Politician
15%
20%
20%
14%
12%
25%
15%
12%
Advertising
Agent
9%
12%
12%
8%
12%
11%
11%
11%
Insurance
Agent
11%
10%
13%
10%
12%
13%
13%
10%
Car Dealer
6%
5%
6%
6%
8%
8%
8%
6%
Percent shown is the sum of “Very High” and “High” responses
Source: The Gallup Poll
Three “Levels” of Ethics
 Personal Ethics
 Professional Ethics
 Corporate Ethics
How do you handle a conflict
between them?
Consider My Definition of Marketing
The art of finding out what consumers/
customers want and then giving it to them in a
way better than the competition while making a
profit over the long term.
Three Immediate Ethical Dilemmas
 Long-term vs. Short-term profits
 Not everything that people want should they
have.
 Some things people don’t want they should
have.
Ethical Dilemma #1
You invented and are selling a new type of automobile
engine. You heard that a competitor has a new product
feature that will please consumers more and increase its
sales. You suspect that most of this increase will come
from decreased sales of your product. The competitor has
announced that it will give a “sneak preview” demonstration of its new feature at a private customer meeting
held concurrently with the annual Canadian Automobile
Show in Toronto. You will have a booth at the Show and
you could easily try to send a “snoop” to this meeting.
This person would pretend to be a customer but is really
there to learn more about the new feature so you can
develop a competitive response. What would you do?
Ethical Dilemma #2
You launched a small pharmaceutical company which is
doing business around the world. You have just finished
interviewing a very capable candidate for a job as a salesperson. She was the best qualified candidate and her
interview was the best by far. Even when her electric
wheelchair made a funny noise, she was able to make a
little joke and put you at ease. The second best candidate
for the job was not as experienced and he was not quite as
outgoing or friendly. He did look quite athletic and you
learned that he was a good golfer and also a marathon
runner. You know that some potentially important global
customers prefer dealing with men given their national
customs. As well, her wheelchair could make international
travel more difficult. Who do you hire?
More Business Dilemmas
 Marketing Research or Invasion of Privacy?
 Price Discrimination – Should everyone pay the
same?
 Planned Obsolescence – Can products last
forever?
 Serving Unprofitable Markets – Rural/“street”
areas
 Product/Service Similarity – Copycats?
 Promotion to Children, Elderly, New Canadians
Decision Techniques
 Greatest good for the greatest
number
 Balance the rights of individuals
against the rights of the group
 What does the decision say about
the entrepreneur or the company?
 What will “work” in the world as it is?
More Decision Techniques
 The “60 Minutes” Test – Imagine
your decision as a headline in the
newspaper
 The “Golden Rule” – “Do unto others
as you would have others do unto you”
 The “Obituary Test” – How will history
look at the decision?
 The “Shield of Legality” – Is it illegal? If
not, it must be okay.