Societal Impacts of Marketing This case was writen by Judy Cohen. Assistant Prof

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Societal Impacts of Marketing This case was writen by Judy Cohen. Assistant Profes sor of Marketing Rider College Lawrenceville, New Jersey Len Quill has been working for Artifacts, Ltd., an importer of ethnic arts, for 4 years. Le was uniquely suited for a position at Artifacts, having majored in marketing and minored in cultural anthropology in college. Len started his career at Artifacts in the importing department of the home office in the United States. He soon became a buyer, traveling through South America and buying native arts from local communities. One of his major sources of artifacts is the Puna Native American tribe. Len became so interested in the tribe that he learnod their native language, and now he is the only person from Artifacts who works directly with the Punas. On a stop back at headquarters, Len's boss, Mary Mathers has asked Len to join her and a client for lunch. The client is Bob Littman, who owns several art galleries specializing in ethnic arts. Bob is very interested in the arts of the Puna Native Americans. The Puna Native Americans make woven baskets which are very distinctive. The shapes, patterns, and colors of these baskets denote symbols of important events in the tribe's long history. Although Bob is interested in the baskets, he wants to change the patterns and colors to reflect the tastes of his customers. It would be Len's job to market the idea to the Punas. Of course, the Native Americans would receive a good price for their wares. Although the Punas are not poverty stricken, there is certainly room to improve their standard of living. Mary Mathers is very enthusiastic about this opportunity; it will result in a large profit for Artifacts, Ltd. Len is not sure he wants to convince the Punas to change their artwork. As an anthropology major, Len learned of many societies which weakened when basic cultural symbols were changed. Even if the Punas are eager to enter into the contract to make the new type of baskets, Len is concermed that they are not aware of the damage such changes can do to their society. Len is leaving in a week for his next trip to South America. He is still unsure about how to handle the deal with Bob Littman. No contract has been signed, nor will a contract be signed until and unless Len gets an agreement from the Puna tribal council. Just as he is pondering this situation, Mary calls him into her office. Mary informs him that, if the Puna are willing to make baskets according to his specifications, Bob Littman insists on placing a large order that will be due in a short period of time. Len knows that in order to meet the deadline, the Puna would need to have both men and women working on the baskets. Traditionally however, making the baskets has been women's work. 1. 2. Who are the stakeholders and what are their stakes? How would you assess the stakeholders' legitimacy and power? What is the social responsibility of Artifacts, Ltd.? In this case? What are the ethical issues in this case? For Len? For Artifacts, Ltd.? For Littman? Should Len quill impose his own personal concerns upon a company decision What should Len do and why? Who are the stakeholders and what are their stakes? How would you assess the stakeholders' legitimacy and power?

Explanation / Answer

Part 1 ) the stakeholders along with their stakes are :-

1. Len Quill:- ensuring cultural integrity in punas

2. Artifacts Ltd :- Getting a good order

3. Punas :- Getting good money and their cultural (but they are not aware regarding how the deal is going to impact their cultural just yet )

4. Mary mathers :- Career

5. Bob littman :- Getting good quality and distinct artifacts for his art gallery which are modified to suit customers taste

How to assess the stakeholders legitimacy and power :- Such assessment is always subjective but you can use a power , legitimacy and urgency model of classifying stakeholders into Dormant , Discretionary , Demanding, Dominant , Dangerous , Dependent , Definite and Nonstakeholders. IN this case Bob is an example of dangerous stakeholer , Len is an dependent stakeholder.

PART 2) Artifact Ltds business is based on ethnic groups producing their artifacts and in this case there is a chance that the business deal may prove deterimental to Punas Culture. This will result in poor cultural identity and integrity and in long term will hamper Artifact ltd and hence they have a responsibility to care and nurture the culture of Punas or for that matter any ethnic group that supplies their product to them.

Ethical issue for Len is whether to go with or against his company while For Artifact and Littman is to whether or not exploit an ethnic group for their own business gains.

No, Len should not impose his own personal concerns but he should definitely present his case to his boss citing long term adverse impact on company itself and tell her that he will present the full scenario and his concerns to the Punas. As a responsible manager he is also responsible for the sustainability of Punas as well as his company and if there is a risk of losing cultural identity then this can prove deterimental to all concerned. So he should talk in confidence with his manager but should not take a backstabbing action

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