Requirements You are asked to conduct an ethical audit of an organisation of your choice. This may be the organisation you work for, or an organisation with which you are familiar. It may be a commercial, governmental or not-for-profit organisation. Guidance General Guidance This assignment requires you to present a balanced audit by critically analysing a range of marketing activities, drawing on a variety of frameworks, tools, guidelines and regulations. You are encouraged to consider the broader scope of an organisation’s marketing practice, recognising different perspectives and where you think ethical issues have and have not been addressed by your chosen organisation, as appropriate. (a) Introduction Provide a brief overview of your chosen organisation, identifying salient information about it and its context (current ethical issues facing its industry). (approx. 200 words, 10% of marks) (b) Analysis Making use of relevant frameworks, tools, guidelines and regulations, analyse the ethics of at least three of the following marketing elements for your chosen organisation: Target marketing Identify the target market of your chosen organisation. You should consider whether any ethical issues result from inclusion and exclusion decisions and the potential vulnerability of targeted consumers. Product or service You should consider the classification of the organisation’s product or service in Kotler’s product classification matrix, as well as safety, packaging, branding and obsolescence (if relevant) issues. Murphy et al.’s questions and advice for new product development might also help you in analysing the organisation’s product. Price Consider the pricing tactics the organisation uses and whether any might raise ethical issues. You might also wish to comment on risk factors associated with the industry characteristics of your chosen organisation. Promotion Consider the content and placement of the organisation’s promotions and identify any ethical issues arising from them. Include all forms of the organisation’s promotion in your analysis, including advertising, direct marketing, Internet Marketing
and personal selling if appropriate. Examine the extent to which the organisation’s promotions comply with relevant codes and guidelines, including the Ethics Checklist for Advertising by Garrett. Distribution Analyse the organisation’s distribution activities and identify any ethical issues arising from its purchasing, supply, retailing and international or global marketing activities, if appropriate. (approx. 1,200 words, 60% of marks) (c) Suggested actions Suggest ways in which the ethical issues raised in your analysis might be addressed, referring to module concepts where relevant. (approx. 600 words, 30% of marks)