Our Ethics Imperative

Leading sales organizations no longer debate the legitimacy of a strong role for ethics in guiding their organizations’ activities. Successful and sustained sales organizations share a universal trait – they are focused on providing value and sharing with their communities.

Sales organizations are being implored to play an increasingly significant role in addressing important societal issues – education, the environment, health care. Preparing future sales organization leaders to seek leadership roles can have a significant impact in moving those organizations and our society forward toward resolution of some of our more pressing issues. Further, preparing future sales organization leaders to seek leadership roles insures that creative and entrepreneurial talent will continue to be forthcoming from universities.

Ethical selling is about developing trust. The Professional Selling Program at UT Arlington emphasizes encouraging students to act rightly, to say the right things and write the right things, to not over-promise and to make sure that customers and prospects are fully informed. When sales professionals act ethically they can and will attract ethical customers. They will also be able to identify customers that may not be so.

Ethical selling provides a framework that allows sales professionals to manage successes and failures. While success is preferred, experience and character are best acquired and developed when we lose, when we learn and grow from it.
The Professional Selling Program at UTA addresses the growing challenges faced by sales organizations and the expected roles for which future leaders will be summoned to action. This is the imperative confronting university educators today and the Professional Selling Program at UTA is established to take a lead role in meeting that challenge.

The Professional Selling Program at UTA draws from the collective experiences of business, other academics, business and other organizational leaders to provide a strong, ethics-based, decision-making foundation, one which emphasizes actionable and sustainable business practices.

The Professional Selling Program at UT Arlington has crafted a set of policies and practices which are intended to promote ethical and legal behavior of all its partners and deter wrongdoing and improper conduct. All UT Arlington sales faculty and sales students recognize the importance of ethics and, as such, will….

• act according to the highest standards of ethics in the conduct of sales activity, while in the program and upon graduating from the program.
• avoid even the appearance of questionable behavior
• endeavor to always engage in thoughtful behavior as no code of conduct can replace human judgment
• comply with all College of Business and University of Texas at Arlington ethics policies and procedures.

The code….

• seeks to illuminate areas of ethical risk and the need for appropriate business behavior
• provides guidance concerning conduct that is prohibited
• provides guidance concerning appropriate procedures for the management of and the reporting of unethical or illegal behavior
• is designed to provide assistance in crafting a culture that values and rewards ethical and legal behavior

The Professional Selling Program at UT Arlington interfaces with many students and other partners from around the globe. Therefore, we recognize the existence of various laws and regulations. We respect the culture and traditions of those from other parts of the world and are sensitive to the communities and the environment in which we operate. We believe that the College of Business’ policies relating to the ethical conduct of business activity transcends borders. Thus, the code is applicable to every person, regardless of heritage, even if aspects of the code are not mandated by law.