International Business

8e

By Charles W.L. Hill

Chapter 4 Ethics in International Business

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright 2011 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

What Is Ethics?
Ethics refers to accepted principles of right or wrong that govern
the conduct of a person the members of a profession the actions of an organization

Business ethics are the accepted principles of right or wrong governing the conduct of business people Ethical strategy is a strategy, or course of action, that does not violate these accepted principles
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Which Ethical Issues Are Most Relevant To International Firms?

The most common ethical issues in business involve
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. employment practices human rights environmental regulations corruption the moral obligation of multinational companies
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How Are Ethics Relevant To Employment Practices?

Suppose work conditions in a host nation are clearly inferior to those in the multinationals home nation Which standards should apply?
home country standards host country standards something in between

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How Are Ethics Relevant To Human Rights?

Basic human rights are taken for granted in developed countries
freedom of association freedom of speech freedom of assembly freedom of movement

What are the responsibilities of firms in countries where basic human rights are not respected?
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How Are Ethics Relevant To Environmental Regulations?

Some parts of the environment are a public good that no one owns, but anyone can despoil The tragedy of the commons occurs when a resource held in common by all, but owned by no one, is overused by individuals, resulting in its degradation What happens when environmental regulations in host nations are far inferior to those in the home nation? Is it permissible for multinationals to pollute in developing countries simply because there are no regulations against it?
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How Are Ethics Relevant To Corruption?

The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act outlawed the practice of paying bribes to foreign government officials in order to gain business The Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions adopted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), obliges member states to make the bribery of foreign public officials a criminal offense But, is it permissible for multinationals to pay government officials facilitating payments if doing so creates local income and jobs?

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How Are Ethics Relevant To Moral Obligations?

Social responsibility refers to the idea that managers should consider the social consequences of economic actions when making business decisions, and that there should be a presumption in favor of decisions that have both good economic and good social consequences
it is the right way for a business to behave

Advocates argue that businesses need to recognize their noblesse oblige - honorable and benevolent behavior that is the responsibility of successful companies
give something back to the societies that have made their success possible

But, are multinationals morally required to use their power to enhance local welfare?
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What Are Ethical Dilemmas?

Ethical dilemmas are situations in which none of the available alternatives seems ethically acceptable The ethical obligations of a multinational corporation toward employment conditions, human rights, corruption, environmental pollution, and the use of power are not always clear cut
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Why Do Managers Behave Unethically?

1. Several factors contribute to unethical behavior including Personal ethics - the generally accepted principles of right and wrong governing the conduct of individuals
expatriates may face pressure to violate their personal ethics because they are away from their ordinary social context and supporting culture managers fail to question whether a decision or action is ethical, and instead rely on economic analysis when making decisions

2.

Decision-making processes - the values and norms that are shared among employees of an organization
organization culture that does not emphasize business culture encourages unethical behavior

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Why Do Managers Behave Unethically?

3. Organizational culture - organizational culture can legitimize unethical behavior or reinforce the need for ethical behavior 4. Unrealistic performance expectations encourage managers to cut corners or act in an unethical manner 5. Leadership - helps establish the culture of an organization, and set the examples that others follow
when leaders act unethically, subordinates may act unethically, too
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Why Do Managers Behave Unethically?

Determinants of Ethical Behavior

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What Are The Philosophical Approaches To Ethics?

There are several different approaches to business ethics Straw men approaches deny the value of business ethics or apply the concept in an unsatisfactory way Others approaches are favored by moral philosophers and are the basis for current models of ethical behavior
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What Are The Straw Men Approaches To Business Ethics?

There are four common straw men approaches 1. Friedman doctrine - the only social responsibility of business is to increase profits, so long as the company stays within the rules of law 2. Cultural relativism - ethics are culturally determined and firms should adopt the ethics of the cultures in which they operate when in Rome, do as the Romans do 3. Righteous moralist - a multinationals home country standards of ethics should be followed in foreign countries 4. Nave immoralist - if a manager of a multinational sees that firms from other nations are not following ethical norms in a host nation, that manager should not either All approaches offer inappropriate guidelines for ethical decision making
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What Are Utilitarian And Kantian Approaches To Ethics?

Utilitarian ethics - the moral worth of actions or practices is determined by their consequences
actions are desirable if they lead to the best possible balance of good consequences over bad consequences but, it is difficult to measure the benefits, costs, and risks of an action the approach fails to consider justice

Kantian ethics - (Immanuel Kant) - people should be treated as ends and never purely as means to the ends of others
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What Are Rights Theories?

Rights theories - human beings have fundamental rights and privileges which transcend national boundaries and cultures
establish a minimum level of morally acceptable behavior the Universal Declaration of Human Rights specifies the basic principles that should always be adhered to irrespective of the culture in which one is doing business

Moral theorists argue that fundamental human rights form the basis for the moral compass that managers should navigate by when making decisions which have an ethical component
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What Are Justice Theories?

Justice theories focus on the attainment of a just distribution of economic goods and services
a just distribution is one that is considered fair and equitable

John Rawls argued that all economic goods and services should be distributed equally except when an unequal distribution would work to everyones advantage
impartiality is guaranteed by the veil of ignorance everyone is imagined to be ignorant of all his or her particular characteristics
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How Can Managers Make Ethical Decisions?

To encourage ethical decision making, firms should 1. Hire and promote people with a well grounded sense of personal ethics
refrain from promoting individuals who have acted unethically prospective employees should find out as much as they can about the ethical climate in an organization prior to taking a position

2. Build an organizational culture that places a high value on ethical behavior

articulate values that place a strong emphasis on ethical behavior emphasize importance of code of ethics - formal statement of the ethical priorities a business adheres to implement a system of incentives and rewards that recognize people who engage in ethical behavior and sanction those who do not

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How Can Managers Make Ethical Decisions?

3. Make sure that leaders within the business articulate the rhetoric of ethical behavior and act in a manner that is consistent with that rhetoric 4. Develop moral courage
enables managers to walk away from a decision that is profitable, but unethical gives an employee the strength to say no to a superior who instructs her to pursue actions that are unethical gives employees the integrity to go public to the media and blow the whistle on persistent unethical behavior in a company
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How Can Managers Make Ethical Decisions?

5. Put decision making processes in place that require people to consider the ethical dimension of business decisions
ask whether
decisions fall within the accepted values of standards that typically apply in the organizational environment decisions can be communicated to all stakeholders affected by it if colleagues would approve of decisions
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How Can Managers Make Ethical Decisions?

Managers can also use a five step process to think through ethical problems: Step1: Identify which stakeholders (the individuals or groups who have an interest, stake, or claim in the actions and overall performance of a company) a decision would affect and in what ways
internal stakeholders are people who work for or who own the business such as employees, the board of directors, and stockholders external stakeholders are the individuals or groups who have some claim on a firm such as customers, suppliers, and unions

Step 2: Determine whether a proposed decision would violate the fundamental rights of any stakeholders
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How Can Managers Make Ethical Decisions?

Step 3: Establish moral intent - place moral concerns ahead of other concerns in cases where either the fundamental rights of stakeholders or key moral principles have been violated Step 4: Engage in ethical behavior Step 5: Audit decisions and review them to make sure that they are consistent with ethical principles
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What Is An Ethics Officer?

Ethics officers ensure
all employees are trained in ethics ethics is considered in the decision-making process the companys code of conduct is followed

In the end, there are clearly things that an international business should do, and there are things that an international business should not do But, not all ethical dilemmas have a clean and obvious solution
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