Initiating structure for legal and ethical decisions in a global sales organization

As sales organizations increase their global operations, there is a need fo r creating organizational guidelines to establish standards of conduct. Thi s article provides evidence from research, practice and government initiati ves that support the need for guidelines to promote legal and ethical condu ct in a global sales organization. The sales function of most organizations has a unique set of risks and responsibilities when interacting with custo mers and often confronts ethical conflict in a cross-cultural setting. Sale s organizations with international operations could use the recommended gui delines for initiating structure to improve and facilitate their legal and ethical performance. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.