Legal and Ethical Leadership in Management
Legal and Ethical Leadership in Management
Porchia McCray
Argosy University Online
Introduction
This paper will discuss a scenario involving two competing designer and manufacturing companies and their mutual retailer. The names of the two designer companies are Mathis Inc. and Countess Lori- Ann (CLA). The name of the retailor is Normandale’s. Normandale’s is having trouble profiting from the sales of the high priced clothing items made by Mathis Inc. Normandale’s made a request to CLA to duplicate the clothing made by Mathis Inc. The clothing is to be sold at lower cost, in efforts to help increase their profits. In efforts to aide Countess Lori Ann in duplicating Mathis’s clothing line; Normandale sends samples and photos of the clothing to CLA. Mathis has discovered that the counterfeit items are being sold, and has requested that Normandale stop selling the imitation product. Normandale has not complied. This paper will discuss if Normandale’s behavior was ethical or not, state or federal laws in relation to intellectual property, and if Mathis has incurred any damages. The paper will also cover social responsibility, implementation of ethical codes, and personal and criminal liabilities.
Ethical Behavior
Ethics is the study of good and bad behavior; while business ethics takes it further to include the good and bad behavior of a business (Kubasek, Breenan, & Browne, 2009). Knock off products are defined as “Identical (and usually unauthorized but cheaper) copy of a patented, trademarked, or copyrighter product of work” (WebFinace Inc., 2013). Is it ethical for Normandale to sale the knock off products at lower prices? It was very unethical for Normandale to secretly request and aide a competitor of Mathis to duplicate the clothing line without consent from the original designer. It was also unethical to sale the product at a lower price. The company broke several business ethics such as being honest, acting with integrity, and several
Porchia McCray
Argosy University Online
Introduction
This paper will discuss a scenario involving two competing designer and manufacturing companies and their mutual retailer. The names of the two designer companies are Mathis Inc. and Countess Lori- Ann (CLA). The name of the retailor is Normandale’s. Normandale’s is having trouble profiting from the sales of the high priced clothing items made by Mathis Inc. Normandale’s made a request to CLA to duplicate the clothing made by Mathis Inc. The clothing is to be sold at lower cost, in efforts to help increase their profits. In efforts to aide Countess Lori Ann in duplicating Mathis’s clothing line; Normandale sends samples and photos of the clothing to CLA. Mathis has discovered that the counterfeit items are being sold, and has requested that Normandale stop selling the imitation product. Normandale has not complied. This paper will discuss if Normandale’s behavior was ethical or not, state or federal laws in relation to intellectual property, and if Mathis has incurred any damages. The paper will also cover social responsibility, implementation of ethical codes, and personal and criminal liabilities.
Ethical Behavior
Ethics is the study of good and bad behavior; while business ethics takes it further to include the good and bad behavior of a business (Kubasek, Breenan, & Browne, 2009). Knock off products are defined as “Identical (and usually unauthorized but cheaper) copy of a patented, trademarked, or copyrighter product of work” (WebFinace Inc., 2013). Is it ethical for Normandale to sale the knock off products at lower prices? It was very unethical for Normandale to secretly request and aide a competitor of Mathis to duplicate the clothing line without consent from the original designer. It was also unethical to sale the product at a lower price. The company broke several business ethics such as being honest, acting with integrity, and several
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