The ethical dilemma faced by Peter

Perter was assigned to San Francisco are by his company, and his targets were high since the company had expected him to do his job and sell advertising to both existing as well as new customers of his company. However, he found out that the city of San Francisco was different from others. Most of the businesses that he sold to were unnecessarily spending a considerable part of their budget towards online advertising since they thought it would give their business a required boost (Deshwal, 2016). Small auto body shops or family-owned restaurants were ready to spend money on online advertising, which was not even required.

Most of the business owners did not know the concept of online advertisement fully and had limited knowledge about the subject. Also, the businesses which had the least chance of being searched online had opted for online advertising and were spending more money on it as compared to other aspects of their businesses. As a result of this, he had to be honest with his clients and explain the conditions to help them chose better.

Virtues of Peter and his motivation

Peter had shown honesty and integrity towards his job. He had chosen to be honest, and explain the situation to his clients, so that they can form their own decision. He felt that he was obligated towards them, and needed to level with them completely. He even offered lower packages to customers by downgrading them from their existing package. The main objective and motivation behind this act of Peter were that he hoped to successfully retain customers and maintain the business as well (Hawkins, & Hoon, 2019). As a result, this happened soon enough, and he managed to retain many customers, who further referred his business to others, thereby making up for his initial loss.

Risks faced in this decision

Peter had decided to be honest with his customers, and quote them the right price instead of the excessive amount paid by them earlier. However, this decision had many challenges ahead for him. Firstly, he faced the imminent danger of losing business to any competitive business. Secondly, since he started recommending lower packages to his customers, the profit margin had become relatively small. Lastly, Peter and his company faced a significant challenge from the emerging business in the city, which had grown at a rapid rate and clustered the city (Roose, 2018). Since San Francisco was the high tech capital of the world, many companies had been growing up at Silicon Valley, which could have been proved to be a competition for Peter and his company. Peter had pitched this problem to the executives of his company, with the help of his sales manager. The executives feared that the lowering of quota for San Francisco would result in other territories vying for a lower quota as well. Also, the company had to conduct business selectively in the city as there were limited new customers with potential, which meant that there was a risk of lowered revenues.

Factors that may assist people in making moral decisions under pressure

When the business is tight for a company, the main objective should be customer retention rather than expansion of business (Díaz, 2017). Peter had realized that the market in San Francisco had become saturated, and instead, he focused on retaining his existing customers by telling them the truth and downgrading their packages. He had felt that losing out fast money would fetch him profit in the long run, and that happened. Peter did what many people in business fail to do. He saw the potential of a long term profit by enduring a small term loss. He had confidence in his honesty and knew that it would pay off. If the market is saturated or has limited potential for growth, one can prosper in business by retaining the older customers by serving them properly instead of aiming to maximize profits.

Since Peter was honest in his business and had felt a need for disclosing everything to his customers, he had gained more business by retained customers and referrals, although suffering an initial loss in the business. This goes on to show that sound business practices will ultimately prove out to be profitable for the company, even though it may seem harmful in the beginning.

References:

Deshwal, P. (2016). Online advertising and its impact on consumer behavior. International Journal of Applied Research, 2(2), 200-204.

Díaz, G. R. (2017). The influence of satisfaction on customer retention in mobile phone market. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 36, 75-85.

Hawkins, D., & Hoon, S. (2019). The Impact of Customer Retention Strategies and the Survival of Small Service-Based Businesses. Stephanie, The Impact of Customer Retention Strategies and the Survival of Small Service-Based Businesses (August 29, 2019).

Roose, K. (2018). Silicon Valley is over, says Silicon Valley. New York Times.