Reference no: EM133442866

If you were a Senior Executive at Pepsi and a Coca Cola employee said they'd sell you Coca Cola's marketing plan and a sample of Coke's upcoming product, would you buy it? This was a question that was asked in an online survey to both marketing and advertising executives. These executives knew that if they were to purchase the marketing plan, it would give Pepsi a significant competitive advantage over Coke. 67% said that yes, they would buy the marketing plan, but only if there were no negative repercussions for them (Kerin & Hartley 2016).

This actually occurred! Pepsi-Cola then contacted Coca-Cola to inform them that a Pepsi employee had been solicited to buy Coke's marketing plan and Coke, in turn, contacted the FBI. The FBI paid the employee $30,000 in an exchange, and later the employee was arrested. Even though Pepsi would have had a huge competitive advantage had they possessed Coke's marketing plan, Pepsi stated that they called the FBI because they had to act responsibly. Although the competition is tough, Pepsi believed that companies need to be ethical, fair, and legal.

1. Imagine you were the Senior Executive at Pepsi and explain what you would have done. Would you have purchased the marketing plan, as 67% of survey respondents said, if there were no negative repercussions? Why or why not?

2. Evaluate the scenario and the matrix presented in the lecture. Do you believe that this action falls under "Unethical but Legal" or "Unethical and Illegal" category? Explain your reasoning for selecting this classification.