Reference no: EM133539693
STORY: You have just been hired as an outside sales rep for a pharmaceutical company. You will be taking over the territory of one of the top reps in the company who will be retiring. As part of your training, your manager has arranged for you to spend a month with the rep in his territory so that he can introduce you to his clients and you can learn how he manages his territory. You are very excited to learn what you can from this person because he has been so successful with the company. Before you are introduced to the biggest doctor in the territory, the rep hands you a list of restaurants and explains that this is a list of the doctor's favorite places. He goes on to tell you that the doctor has a choice about prescribing the drugs you represent or generic versions. In order to keep the doctor's business, you will need to make sure you thank the doctor for prescribing your drugs with gift certificates or tickets to whatever is playing in town. The doctor and her husband especially love to see Broadway shows.
RESPONSE: Each scenario has discussed an ethical dilemma and how people may be affected by the situation. In this scenario, the ethical dilemma is bribery because it depicts that the sales rep must continuously reward the doctor for him to stay in business with them. In the text, he goes on to tell you the doctor has a choice about prescribing the drugs you represent or generic versions. In order to keep the doctor's business, you will need to make sure you thank the doctor for prescribing your drugs with gift certificates or tickets to whatever is playing in town." This quote most nearly shows how the sales rep must bribe the doctor to continue the business, which is ultimately bad for both them and the company because you are spending money on your customer when you are supposed to be trying to get them to spend money on the company by purchasing products. At this point, the doctor is taking advantage of the fact that he receives these incentives because he knows that he can. Another thing we should take note of is the fact that both the generic and regular brands are being sold to him, which means that he is not always purchasing high-priced products. So, is bribery necessary? Lastly, if it were me, I would bring to the attention of the soon-to-be former sales rep on the project the negative side of bribing customers and how it can affect our company as well as ourselves. It is never okay to bribe because it will eventually get out of hand, and you will not end with the better end of the stick.
Identify the stakeholders in this scenario, for example: the doctor is not giving the customer the option for the cheaper, generic drugs and is only prescribing the drugs sold by the company you work for. How might that impact the customers?
Would you tell the higher-ups at your company what has been occurring? Why or why not?