Sears, Roebuck and Co. seemed to have the right idea when they started their business in the late 1800s. Instead of opening just one type of company, Sears, Roebuck and Co. have expanded from retail to insurance, real estate, securities and credit cards (Nelson, 2007, p. 207). Until the early 1990s, the company seemed to be doing very well considering its reported revenues and profits were in the billions of dollars. Subsequently, the company began to experience financial difficulties due to the fact that other discount retailers were entering the business. Therefore, Sears decided to implement an incentive plan to increase its profits within automotive centers nationwide (Nelson, 2007, p. 207). Once the commission-based plan was evaluated, many ethical standards appeared to have been overlooked during the development process. According to Nelson and Treviño, Sears changed its salary policy to a commission-based policy, in which “mechanics were paid a base salary plus a fixed dollar.” amount for compliance with hourly production quotas” (p. 207). Automotive consultants who took orders and consulted with mechanics were also given commissions and product sales quotas to help increase sales (Nelson, 2007, p. 207). Eventually, this type of incentive pushed employees to start charging their customers for parts that weren't necessarily needed for repairs. In this way, employees deceived their customers into paying extra money on certain parts so that they could ultimately get their commissions. According to Hoffman, ethical misconduct can be committed more easily in a company's service sector because most customers have no knowledge of the service regarding the technical and sp...... middle of paper. .....to be treated with the utmost respect, because, in the end, if they are treated badly, only the company will suffer. While ethical misconduct appears to be on the rise today, Patricia Harned, president of the ERC, states that “creating a strong ethical environment should be a top priority for all companies” (Millage, 2005, p. 15). Works CitedHoffman, K., & Siguaw, J. A. (1993). Incorporating ethics into the service marketing course: The case of Sears automotive centers. Marketing Education Review, 3(3), 26-32. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.Millage, A. A. (2005). Ethical misconduct prevalent in the workplace. Internal Auditor, 62(6), 13-15. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.Nelson, K. a. (2007). Sears, Roebuck and Co.: The Auto Center Scandal. In Ka Nelson, Managing business ethics: Talking openly about how to do it right (pp. 207-209). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.