Business Ethics Question

[Cody903]

I've been in sales for 25 years and couldn't possibly disagree more. There's fierce competition and there are certainly those that will lie, cheat and steal but the companies and people that thrive ALWAYS have a moral compass and ethical lines they simply wont cross no matter the circumstanes

^^^My faith is in this

[Buckley99]

I've been in sales for 25 years and couldn't possibly disagree more. There's fierce competition and there are certainly those that will lie, cheat and steal but the companies and people that thrive ALWAYS have a moral compass and ethical lines they simply wont cross no matter the circumstanes

I see business the same way. In our industry it is very common to sell product to/buy product from competitors. In addition, it's a small world. The guy you are competing with today may be your boss tomorrow. As far as I'm concerned, ethics are not situational. You either are or you are not.

[jmeghunts]

I see business the same way. In our industry it is very common to sell product to/buy product from competitors. In addition, it's a small world. The guy you are competing with today may be your boss tomorrow. As far as I'm concerned, ethics are not situational. You either are or you are not.

[bdchorn]

I see business the same way. In our industry it is very common to sell product to/buy product from competitors. In addition, it's a small world. The guy you are competing with today may be your boss tomorrow. As far as I'm concerned, ethics are not situational. You either are or you are not.

Yep. I've also had competitors become customers. Small world indeed

[R Dubya]

1. Tell Tom you have to relay the info to John.
2. Let John know what is going on. Do not mention Tom to John.

[Radar]

I have been in retail sales for 15 years and own my business. I have competition all around me 5 days a week. I have been fortunate enough to hold my own against the other guys. I have been in situations many a times where I could take advantage of someone, however I will not and cannot. It has happened to me and cost me thousands of dollars out my pocket.
I take care of my customers and provide them with the best customer service available, I will warranty products at times that have no warranty and take the hit for a good customer as I will get it back in the long run. When you have repeat customers for 15 years and start selling to their children or grand children all cant be wrong. So there is ethics in MY business.

[Charles]

I have been in retail sales for 15 years and own my business. I have competition all around me 5 days a week. I have been fortunate enough to hold my own against the other guys. I have been in situations many a times where I could take advantage of someone, however I will not and cannot. It has happened to me and cost me thousands of dollars out my pocket.
I take care of my customers and provide them with the best customer service available, I will warranty products at times that have no warranty and take the hit for a good customer as I will get it back in the long run. When you have repeat customers for 15 years and start selling to their children or grand children all cant be wrong. So there is ethics in MY business.

[crawdaddct]

How is he a thief? Tons of folks work for companies before they break out on their own doing the same thing and become direct competitors. If the guy can better his life by doing it in his own then more power to him. I wouldn't be running my mouth about it though until I was ready to make a move.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It depends mainly on the employer. If they have in there employees contracts that they cant leave and compete, or they protect trade secretes or intellectual property, then it would be up to a court to decide. A coworkers of mine's husband did that, left his job after 10 years. Him and buddy thought they could do the job better. Didn't realize his contract said he couldn't use a certain tool for two years after quitting, because the company had trained him to work the machine. He eventually got that thrown out, but he spent so much on lawyers to fight his ex-employer, he didn't have the funds to start his business. The terrible thing was none of the other companies in the trade would hire him either, because that ex-employer kept threatening to file on them. He eventually had to find something else to do.

[Charles]

I remember years ago I interviewed a potential sales person that was currently working for one of my competitors. During the interview the sales person showed me a very large three ring binder of my competitors customer base. They thought I would hire them right away because they had the customer base. First thought that came to my mind is how soon will they being doing the same with my customer base. I called my competitor and made him aware of the situation. The next day, said sales rep. left me a rather nasty voicemail

IMO, what the sales person was doing is considered theft and they lack integrity.

[bdchorn]

I remember years ago I interviewed a potential sales person that was currently working for one of my competitors. During the interview the sales person showed me a very large three ring binder of my competitors customer base. They thought I would hire them right away because they had the customer base. First thought that came to my mind is how soon will they being doing the same with my customer base. I called my competitor and made him aware of the situation. The next day, said sales rep. left me a rather nasty voicemail

IMO, what the sales person was doing is considered theft and they lack integrity.

[Doug Roberts]

1. Tell Tom you have to relay the info to John.
2. Let John know what is going on. Do not mention Tom to John.

^^^^^Thats what I would do.

[wal1809]

I got a hundred saying the "trusted employee" jumps ship as soon as the other dude is open for business.

I was going to say, fire Tom as well. What other reason would he have so much knowledge about the marketing his friend was using. Guaranteed he has more knowledge about whats happening than what you suspect.

[wal1809]

I remember years ago I interviewed a potential sales person that was currently working for one of my competitors. During the interview the sales person showed me a very large three ring binder of my competitors customer base. They thought I would hire them right away because they had the customer base. First thought that came to my mind is how soon will they being doing the same with my customer base. I called my competitor and made him aware of the situation. The next day, said sales rep. left me a rather nasty voicemail

IMO, what the sales person was doing is considered theft and they lack integrity.

love it

[tigerscowboy]

I see business the same way. In our industry it is very common to sell product to/buy product from competitors. In addition, it's a small world. The guy you are competing with today may be your boss tomorrow. As far as I'm concerned, ethics are not situational. You either are or you are not.

BINGO. Excellent comment.

[mpotts]

Without going into a ton of detail...the longer this guy is employed, with the intention on competing, the more information he can siphon from them to help him in his new venture.

Agreed it happened to me. I would give them a heads up he could hurt their business without doing any work himself and just stealing their contacts.