Case: A team of marketing managers for a major differentiated consumer products company has been instructed by top managers to develop new strategies to increase the profitability of the company’s products. One idea is to lower the cost of ingredients, which will reduce product quality ;another is to reduce the content of the products while maintaining the size of the packaging ; a third is to slightly change an existing product and then offer it as “new” premium brand that can be sold at a higher price.
Questions: Do you think it is ethical to pursue these strategies and present them to management? In what ways could these strategies backfire and cause the company harm?
Required criteria: originality of approach; quality of analysis; coverage of all issues in the ethical dilemma; quality of written presentation; and evidence of serious work.