Competition Unit

Competition & Ethics

Unit Plan Assignment – Marketing. COMPETITION. Lesson 3

Lesson 3 : Competition and EthicsNOTES Handout

The Prisoners Dilemma:

Company Ethics:

•__________________________ – false claims of preference over competition•__________________________ – competitive information•_______________________________________________ – faulty claims, broken promises, mis-representing product or service information

Employee Ethics:

•__________________________ – Employee ‘spying’ to gain competitive information•_____________________________________________ – not properly disclosing data / spinning data•_____________________________________________’ – not stopping unethical behaviour when you know it is happening.

Article Notes (space for note taking during class discussion):

Prisoner 1 CONFESSES Prisoner 1 SILENT

Prisoner 2 CONFESSES

Prisoner 2 SILENT

Unit Plan Assignment – Marketing. COMPETITION. Lesson 3

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Prisoners Dilemma

2 Volunteers to do this at the frontEveryone else will do it in pairs at their desks

TO START – rip a sheet of paper in half, on one, write “SILENT” on the other write “CONFESS”

Fold the papers up & hold them on your lap Do NOT show your partner which one is

which, but you should know the difference

Unit Plan Assignment – Marketing. COMPETITION. Lesson 3

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Prisoners Dilemma

Situation: Two suspects are arrested by the police, with insufficient evidence

for a conviction Prisoners are separated and each of them are offered the same

deal: If one testifies for the prosecution against the other (“confess”) and

the other doesn’t (“silent”), the betrayer goes free and the silent accomplice receives the full 10-year sentence

If both remain silent, both prisoners are sentenced to only six months in jail for a minor charge

If each betrays the other, each receives a five-year sentence Each prisoner must make the choice You don’t know what choice the other prisoner will make. So this

dilemma poses the question: How should the prisoners act?

Unit Plan Assignment – Marketing. COMPETITION. Lesson 3

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Ethics

Why discuss ethics in Competition Unit?

Unit Plan Assignment – Marketing. COMPETITION. Lesson 3

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Company Ethics

What is ethical behaviour? What might companies do that would be

considered unethical, related to competition?Claimed superiorityInformation seekingFalse advertising / representation

Unit Plan Assignment – Marketing. COMPETITION. Lesson 3

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Employee Ethics

Does an employee need to worry about ethical behaviour?

What might an employee do that would be considered unethical, related to competition?Information seekingFalsely representing informationFailure to ‘speak up’

Unit Plan Assignment – Marketing. COMPETITION. Lesson 3

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Articles

Groups of three. Each read one article. Summarize, share with peers. Peers make notes each article. P&G SpyingSpies Among UsWest Jet Espionage

Discussion – discuss with peers; what is your thought on corporate espionage? Is it a problem or just part of competition?