Abstract
This research assesses the impact of culture on sales ethics in Germany and Mexico on two levels. Level one deals with the national conception of sales ethics, and level two deals with salespeople’s propensity to behave ethically or unethically. As a result of the literature re-view, the research develops three hypotheses: H1) the general understanding of ethical and unethical sales is similar in Germany and Mexico, H2) the acceptance of ethical and uneth-ical sales varies between Germany and Mexico, H3) the propensity for salespeople to behave ethically and unethically differs in Germany and Mexico.From an interpretivist paradigm, this research takes an abductive approach to theory devel-opment, a research design with traces of grounded theory, and a cross-sectional time horizon. In this mono-method qualitative study, empirical data was obtained through 15 semi-struc-tured interviews with sales experts from Germany and Mexico, as well as an external point of view of business ethics and compliance experts from other countries. Validity and relia-bility, as well as ethical considerations, were pertained. Hypothesis one was validated, indicating that Germany and Mexico share a general under-standing of sales ethics. Results reveal that all experts similarly define business ethics, em-brace shared global values such as honesty and respect and condemn unethical values such as greed. In the countries, similar laws on business and sales ethics, as well as codes of ethics, are established. Their shared goal of sales ethics is persisting customer relationships and long-term business success. Hypothesis two could also be verified, which supports that the acceptance of ethical and unethical sales varies between Germany and Mexico. Several fac-tors, including the moral environment, economic condition, culture, legislative framework and enforcement, upbringing and family, education, tradition, gender, religion, and political standpoints, contribute to cultural relativism in sales ethics. Hypothesis three was only partly validated. Mexican salespeople seemed to be more vulnerable to unethical behavior due to political, economic, and cultural conditions. Yet, the awareness of this issue led to strictly ensuring compliance with ethical standards in sales. German sales employees were con-fronted with the same ethical challenges in corruption, the pressure to sell, and the daily work of sales employees, which must be addressed nationally. They use similar approaches, such as leadership, training, and reporting to handle ethics. However, cultural variations must be considered in communication and the enforcement of consequences.
Keywords: Sales Ethics, Business Ethics, National Culture, Germany, Mexico, Ethical Be-havior, Unethical Behavior, Selling, Ethical Conception, Ethical Conduct
| Date of Award | 3 Sept 2023 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Osmar Ernesto Arandia Pérez (Asesor) |