Santa Catalina y la muerte de Nicolás de Tuldo

The big theme revealed from the question fifteen is ‘Ethics is a factor of CRM’. Some sub-themes also developed to support the big theme are discussed below:

5.15.1 Understanding and impact of Ethics

The interviewees believe that the term ‘ethics’ means providing good guidance to customers. More specifically it means telling customers directly what is right and what is wrong, and helping them to choose the right product for their needs. It also means guiding them about what they should and should not do, regarding their business dealings. This might mean suggesting ways that they can save time and money, as one’s experience should be used to provide guidance, and to minimize the business risk.

However, the respondents repeatedly focused on some incidents such as not to guide them to expensive products for generating more revenue; not to offer something which is not affordable to them; in case of selling food, always show the utmost respect to the people’s believe and taking care of their dietary needs; make them aware of product wastage; and finally, share full product information and explain to them about the pros and cons of the product. Some interviewees surmised that being honest and truthfulness are key prerequisites of being ethical.

An interviewee (X4) stated that ethics teaches us about personal thinking, quality and the responsibilities of being a good businessman. This requires an understanding of customers’ needs. A business owner’s professional experience and freedom can help

them to understand customers’ needs. However there must also be an interest among the business owners in being ethical. Being ethical is a person’s sole interest of showing morality and being more humane in the practical field. We can see lots of Muslim businesspersons who have engaged in unethical activities where as lots of non-Muslims are very honest and ethical in their business activities. Being ethical goes beyond religion according to one interviewee:

It is not just religion but also as a human being you have to be honest and avoid cheating. You cannot offer a veggie burger with animal fat to the vegetarian or you cannot offer pork. You can earn the money through cheating but at the end you are stealing people’s money. (X15).

Furthermore, the teaching of Islam is very clear and straightforward and states that every human being (Muslim) should be honest and truthful where no one has chance to be unethical. It is illegal in Islam to make excessive profit and engage in fraudulent activities whilst dealing with customers. Interviewee X22 reflects on Islamic business ethics and accountability:

Islam clearly says that you have to be accountable for all sorts of your transaction especially when you weight the product and when you count the money. Always do it carefully so that customers will get their full right and you keep your position to the Almighty. (X22).

An interviewee clearly articulated how their business maintains its religious values in its business practice:

Customer satisfaction is our main priority. Even if we sell promotional products we explain all pros and cons of the product to the customers. When we sell a product we make reasonable profit. We never try to rip off a customer, which is very unethical and equivalent to breaching the Islamic rules. We try to ensure extra facilities to some customers like women travelling alone, women travelling with children without their husband, disabled people, elderly people etc. We find out their problems or identify what assistance do they might need. (X8).

Being problematic with customers in order to make profit is unethical and against the teachings of Islam. For instance, according to the interviewees/respondents, selling defective products under lucrative packaging, offering low quality product at the same price of high quality product, and mistreating customers are all unethical practices. It may cause the business to lose customers, and although this might generate profit for the business, this would only be in the short-term. On the other hand, some business owners had found to be showed their illegibility when they have asked to engage in any illegal practices by their customers. Something interesting is that although the business owners are advocating equal treatment for all, they are apparently more non- Muslim customer centric. Muslim business owners spend more time explaining the product to the non-Muslim customers rather than Muslim customers (X16, X17), although receiving additional explanation is also appreciated by Muslim customers too.

The above does not necessarily mean that Muslims are always ethical. The interviewees believed that Islamic business organizations are more ethical than other organizations. Nevertheless, non-Islamic business organizations are also showing an interest in being ethical and sometimes borrow Islamic terms to indicate this. For example, one interviewee observed that:

Some organizations are developing slogans with borrowed words like using the word ‘EKIN’[Arabic word] instead of ‘RELY/TRUST’. This Arabic word is a value of Islam. The word also assures customers that we are ethical, honest, and trustworthy. We are not engaging in ‘give and take’ based robotic transactions. And Muslims are more reliable in business dealings than others. (X4).

He suggested that customers will realize sooner or later how ethical the business is, and will become closer to you when they find you firm are ethical. Customers will also understand one day if you are not ethical or if you mislead them, which result in the breakdown of relationships (X6).