Kimberly Works in the Sales Department of a Consumer Products

Multiple Choice

Kimberly works in the sales department of a consumer products firm. The firm has a strong code of conduct, and during sales training Kimberly and her coworkers were told about the importance of ethical selling. One of the major values stressed was transparency with the consumer. Within the next few months, Kimberly witnessed some of her coworkers who got caught bending the rules get reprimanded, and one even got fired. However, after a while Kimberly realized that this pattern of discipline was inconsistent. Joel, one of her coworkers, has been known to repeatedly steer customers to higher priced products, exaggerate a product's capabilities, and even fail to divulge important safety information to the consumer. Yet because Joel was the highest-performing salesperson, he rarely got reprimanded. Kimberly noticed other people were beginning to follow Joel's lead because they recognized that if these behaviors could secure more sales, they would sell more without ever facing the consequences for their actions. It appeared that Kimberly's organization only punished the lower-performing salespeople for misconduct. Kimberly's company appears to provide the __________ for unethical behavior despite its ethics code and training.

A) peer pressure
B) opportunity
C) organizational values
D) social factors
E) exposure