Assignment 4 – The Ethical Dilemma
M. Markham
BBA400 Advanced Global Management
Professor Charles Main, MBA, MAIB
March 22, 2014

Assignment 4 – The Ethical Dilemma

Identify the problem. The problem or concern is two-fold, whether or not it is ethical to hire models to work the company booth as well as whether or not it is ethical if said model is to wear revealing clothing. This is an ethical concern as it can be seen as employee discrimination as the “looks” of the women is what qualifies them for the position. It is also a question of exploiting women as they are to be models dressed specifically to draw attention to the company booth.

Examine the facts. The first relevant fact is that the company is an American company operating abroad. This means that they are still governed by U.S labor laws but also must abide by the Russian laws that apply as well. Another question would be whether or not the proposed “model” would be a Russian women employed from the local resources, or an American citizen. This is an important fact as the federal discrimination statutes have limited extraterritorial application. “Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin, previously stated that “Aliens working for U.S. companies abroad are not covered by the Act...But, U.S. citizens working abroad are protected,” however, “this was amended in 1991 to include a ‘foreign laws defense,’” which states that “an employer may escape Title VII liability for discrimination against a U.S. citizen employed abroad by a U.S. company” ("Application of U.S. Employment Laws to Workers Employed Abroad | Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore", 2006).
While it seems that U.S. law allows for this occurrence, Article 3 of Russian labor code states that “No one can…get any advantages irrespective of sex, race, color of skin, nationality, language, origins, property, social or position status, age, domicile, religious beliefs, political convictions, affiliation or non-affiliation with public associations as well as other factors not relevant to professional qualities of the employee” and “persons considering themselves to be discriminated against in the sphere of labor shall be entitled to petition the federal labor inspectorate bodies and/or courts applying for restoration of their violated rights, compensation of the material loss and redress of the moral damage” ("Russian Federation. Labor Code Of The Russian Federation Of 31 December 2001", 2001).
Though American laws seem to be a non-issue in this situation, the Russian laws appear to cover this making a legal situation a possibility regardless of whether Russia is a male dominated society. This possibility of a legal situation is yet another fact to consider as it could be detrimental to the company’s reputation both in Russia and in America.
Create Alternatives. The goal in this is to draw attention to the company booth while maintaining ethical behavior. As in this situation we are not given the information regarding company policy, however we can assume that policy is to abide the laws while maintaining integrity. To do so an alternative would be to let the company stand out based on its superior product. As we are unsure of whether the product is superior, we can entertain the thought of the model. If this is the direct decided upon, the model would need to be an American citizen as to avoid Russian labor codes. The dress code of the model however need not be revealing as that would surely violate company policy. Based on the fact that Russia is male-dominated, an attractive women dressed appropriately should be a sufficient draw and would not violate company policy or any foreign or domestic labor laws.
Implement course of action. The first part would be to do the hiring of the model. As the company would want to avoid any issues, it would be prudent to use one of the many companies that specialize in trade show models. Using a company such as Vantage Advertising, LLC which is a company located in Rochester New York, the company can avoid any issues regarding the “job description” of the woman, as all of the women employed by the company are fully aware of what they are being hired to do. While many of the women are willing to be scantily clad, by having them dressed less so will avoid offending any other employees while also avoiding claims of exploitation.
Evaluate the results. Hiring a trade show model will attract the attention to the booth as was the original goal and having them dressed in a more appropriate way will avoid any unwanted claims of exploitation. As no laws will be broken and as the company has gone about the process in a professional manner, no company policies have been broken either.

References
Application of U.S. Employment Laws to Workers Employed Abroad | Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore. (2006, November 21). Retrieved March 22, 2014, from http://www.gentrylocke.com/242
Cavusgil, S. T., Knight, G. A., & Riesenberger, J. R. (2014). Ethics, Sustainability, and Corporate Social Responsibility in International Business. In International business: The new realities (3rd ed., pp. 111-132). Boston, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Russian Federation. LABOR CODE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION OF 31 DECEMBER 2001. (2001, December 31). Retrieved March 22, 2014, from http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/WEBTEXT/60535/65252/E01RUS01.htm