One of Best Buy’s senior executives recently asked a colleague in the company’s Merchandising department for their honest opinion regarding various brands of home appliances he was considering for personal purchase. As an unrequested, surprise “favor” to the senior executive and a “good deed” for a great vendor partner, someone on the Merchandising team arranged for the senior executive to receive free appliances in exchange for him blogging about his experience with the products.

This turned out to be an excellent learning opportunity for all.  The above scenario was well into the planning stages until a flag was raised by a departmental Administrative Assistant. Somehow, the situation did not “feel” right to this employee and the issue was brought to the Ethics Office for their opinion. Upon reviewing the situation, the Ethics Office recommended that the Merchandising team and vendor not proceed with the plan. The Ethics Office also reached out to the senior executive who was completely unaware of the activity being taken as a “favor” to him.

What were the concerns?

• Regardless of the good intentions of all involved, such a scenario could potentially create the perception that Best Buy’s leaders are “for sale” to the highest bidder. As noted in Best Buy’s Code of Business Ethics, employees are to avoid any activity that places – or gives the appearance of placing – personal interests ahead of the company’s interests.
• The FTC requires that bloggers involved in product marketing clearly state whether the merchandise in question was obtained for free and/or if any compensation was received.  Without such a disclosure, public comments on the blog could have violated the required transparency.

This was a situation in which none of the players had any bad intent, and several did not have full context, yet it could have been badly misinterpreted both internally and externally.  As Chief Ethics Officer I am proud of our folks – from the admin who asked the question, to the senior exec who wanted to be sure that he was playing by all the rules.

This is a great reminder for all of us:  ethical behavior does not mean that we never make mistakes – it is about quickly and transparently correcting a course of action when needed, and sharing the learning.

This blog is available in full at Kathleen Edmond, Best Buy's Chief Ethics Officer.