When is business reciprocity appropriate and when is it not?

Certain kinds of reciprocity are appropriate; others are not in business deals. This article looks at three types of reciprocity: gifts, snippets, or bribes, and how to tell them apart.

One type of business reciprocity that would be ethical and appropriate would be a gift, which is something given without anyone expecting you or the company to do anything for that person in return. Such a gift would generally be something of little value, designed to create warm and positive feelings and show one’s appreciation, or it could be given in a spirit of friendship and continue to have a good relationship. For example, some common gifts that would be ethical and appropriate are a bottle of wine, flowers, a framed photo, a small memento from an activity, a calendar, a poster, or any number of small embossed gifts available through gift shops. advertising that can personalize the gift with the recipient’s name. As an example of this general acceptance of these small gifts, several of these premium services are accepted in the business community. Some owners are even on the board of the local Chamber of Commerce, showing that there is widespread support for these types of premium gifts as a form of accepted ethical practice. Some Chamber members also offer sweepstakes prizes, which are designed to gain recognition for the company, but there are no strings attached to whoever wins the prize. So, as a manager of a company, you could ethically offer that prize.

However, it would be unethical to offer a bribe or kickback. A bribe is a gift or monetary payment of value to influence someone to do something, while a bribe is a gift or monetary payment of value paid after an exchange. The difference between giving a gift and a bribe is that a bribe is big enough to influence someone to do or not do something whereas a bribe is paid after the fact whereas there is no such expectation with the gift. For example, a bribe may take the form of an expensive free trip to a travel destination from a hotel or resort in exchange for promoting the hotel or resort, while a bribe may provide that free trip after the contract is concluded. treatment. Hotels or resorts often offer reporters, meeting planners, and travel agents a free ride to feature their hotel or resort, but that’s ethical if reporters aren’t expected to write a favorable article, meeting planners they have to book a meeting there, or that travel agents have to prefer your hotel or resort over another hotel or resort that would be a better deal. However, it is ethical for reporters, meeting planners, or travel agents to make a voluntary decision after the trip about what they want to do based on what is best for their readers or customers.

The key difference that draws the line between what is ethical and what is unethical is the size of the item offered as a gift and the expectation that someone will act in response to having received it or receiving it in the future to benefit the giver of the item in question. a way that they would not act otherwise but to receive a gift. This influence would be an even greater ethical misconduct if it leads the recipient to act to the detriment of others, such as offering an inferior or more expensive service to receive the gift. An even worse violation would be offering a product or service that is harmful, such as sending tourists on a tour by a wholesaler who has inexperienced guides resulting in the death or injury of some participants.