...Case Study Analysis-D Critical Thinking Case Study Analysis: GOOGLE 1. Describe the philosophical principle Google's managers adopt when deciding that the benefits of operating in China outweighed the costs. Discuss the philosophical approaches to ethics. Describe the approaches that are favored by most moral philosophers and form the basis for current models of ethical behavior in international business. Google began to operate in China in 2000, it was two years later that the Chinese authorities blocked the site. Although this came as a surprise for the company’s managers, two weeks later the service was restored. It was clear that China was a strategically important market and Google couldn’t just ignore that. We begin our approach to philosophical ethics by describing what is called straw men. These approaches can be characterized as the Friedman doctrine, cultural relativism, the righteous moralist and the naive immoralist. The Friedman doctrine says that the only responsibility of business is to create profits, as long as the company remains within the rules of law. Yet this argument breaks down because the rules of the game are not well established and differ from country to country, and that may lead to inadequacies in a company’s social responsibility. The basic belief in cultural relativism is that a company should adopt the culture within which it is doing business. But serious contradiction arises from this approach, for example let’s assume that in one...
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...economy as a major driving force of globalization multinational companies, in particular, play an active role in the development of the economic development of the host country has been widely recognized by the international community, the role of multinational corporations on the economy to improve the enjoyment of human rights conditions has become the consensus of the people. However, the negative impact of the activities of transnational corporations or work for human rights has often been overlooked. In the 1950s and 1970s, the United Fruit Company and the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, involved in the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Guatemala and Chile scandal was revealed, causing the international community, especially the developing countries concerned about the activities of transnational corporations, and led to the development of countries expand movement multinationals nationalization. In addition, multinational companies are still developing countries, a large scale in grab natural resources, and corrosion of the activities of the government of the nation-state. In order to chase profits in global multinational companies also often in partnership with repressive governments engaged in large-scale violations of human rights activists, or the implementation of large-scale violations of human rights of these despotic regimes to be tolerated, support or help. Some well-known multinational companies are accused of violating labor standards...
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...Business Ethics Essay Assignment: Multinational Corporations Submitted to: Prof. H. Aronovitch University of Ottawa Submitted by: David Hamilton Student # 5322750 PHI 2397 C Thursday November 29, 2011 Personal Ethics Agreement Concerning University Assignments Individual Assignment I submit this assignment and attest that I have applied all the appropriate rules of quotation and referencing in use at the University of Ottawa. I also confirm that I have taken knowledge of and respected the Beware of Plagiarism! brochure found on doc-depot. I attest that this work conforms to the rules on academic integrity of the University of Ottawa. __________HAMILTON, DAVID______ _________5322750___ Name, Capital letters Student number _______________________________ ________11/29/2011_____ Signature Date Ethics in business must start at the top of a company and work its way down to every employee involved in an organization. In today’s world, corporations feel a moral obligation to practice business fairly while treating their employees with respect, so shouldn’t a company keep the same ethical approach if they expand their operations abroad? Over the last century or so, the global economy has changed drastically, with less barriers and a greater flow of goods and services between countries. A multinational corporation is any business that has productive activities in two or more countries. Although there are many...
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...A HISTORY OF BUSINESS ETHICS The history of “business ethics” depends on how one defines it. Although the term is used in several senses and varies somewhat for different countries, its current use originated in the United States and became widespread in the 1970s. The history of business ethics in the United States can be viewed as the intersection of three intertwined strands. Each of these in turn can be divided into at least two related branches. The first strand, which I shall call the ethics-in-business strand, is the long tradition of applying ethical norms to business, just as it has been applied to other areas of social and personal life. This strand can be divided further into the secular and the religious branches. The second strand is the development of an academic field, which has been called business ethics. It also has two main branches, one being the philosophical business-ethics branch, which is normative and critical, and the other the social-scientific branch, which is primarily descriptive and empirical. The third strand is the adoption of ethics or at least the trappings of ethics in businesses. This again subdivides into the integration of ethics into business and business practices on the one hand and the commitment to corporate social responsibility on the other. Business ethics was introduced into Europe and Japan in the 1980s although the term did not translate easily, and the development in each country varied from that in the United States because...
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...ABSTRACT The ethics triangle: national law, culture and political economic system. Key factors of current ethics issues in an international environment. The most visible changes in environment dimensions. Principles of international business ethics. Current ethics challenges in international environment. Common issues of the international business ethics. Comparison of ethical standards in different cultures. Accelerating development of globalization and assimilation between Europe and the USA. Differences between Europe, the United States and Asia in the business ethics perspective. Development processes of global business ethics. Levels of global business ethic level. Principle of normative guidelines for business conduct of multinational corporations. Current functioning of institution engaged in the international business ethics. Key words: The ethics triangle; Current ethics issues; International business ethics; Ethical standards; Global business ethics; Institution engaged in the International Business Ethics. JEL classification: K2, M1 Introduction The present economic situation in the globalized world generates very efficient processes in international companies with large profits for managers but with a relevant risk in economic and noneconomic ambit to eliminate any negative impacts of the crisis from one country to another. In this case, it is necessary to enact and apply ethics principles in international companies into their day-to- day praxis and above all influence...
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...A Developing Country Perspective of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Test Case of Bangladesh Ali Quazi, The University of Newcastle Ziaur Rahman, IITM, Bangladesh Byron Keating, University of Wollongong Abstract The ‘social contract’ between the corporation and the community is of critical importance. The motivations for these contracts are continuously being revisited to understand how CSR programs can nurture and contribute to the growth of firms. While CSR issues are attracting a great deal of attention in the developed world, there is a need for more research into CSR in the developing world. This paper considers the CSR practices of a small sample of multinational corporations (MNCs) and local firms in Bangladesh to better understand this situation. Introduction Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has generated significant debate in academic and corporate circles in recent times. This debate acknowledges the importance of CSR in the first-world, but raises questions regarding the extent to which corporations operating in developing countries have CSR obligations (Jamali and Mirshak, 2007). Conventional wisdom suggests that CSR is more relevant to corporations operating in the developed countries due to elevated community expectations of socially responsible behaviour. In contrast there is also a belief that societal expectations in the developing countries mainly centre on economic growth; therefore relegating CSR to be of lesser importance to the society and...
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...locations and hosted servers were maintained by Chinese employees in addition to strict censorship regulations governed by the Chinese government. Google was faced with managing employees and a business that followed different laws and cultures compared to their American counterparts. Arguments For | Argument Against | Rapidly growing internet population | Strict Government regulation | Source of revenue and talent | Cultures | One of the fastest growing economies | Breaking own “Code of ethics” | | Violating Ethical Standards | 2. From an ethical perspective, what are the arguments for and against entering the market for Internet search in China in 2005? From the ethical perspective Google has an obligation as a Multinational corporation toward human rights, corruption, and freedom of speech. Google’s values are to make the world’s information “universally accessible and useful” and to its informal corporate motto, “Don’t Be Evil”? Going into China the Chinese government as a communist government did not want information made readily available to the public for any content pertaining to certain topics or issues (i.e. the Tibetan opposition, or human rights organization information). The internet freedom that Americans enjoy is “not” the same internet freedom enjoyed by people in China. 3. If Google decides to enter China, how can it do so while mitigating ethically adverse impacts? Please formulate possible options and evaluate their strengths and...
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...ISSUES AND MULTI-NATIONAL ENTERPRISE Veronica Mason Theory Digest Ethical Issues and Multi-National Enterprise University of Maryland University College October 13, 2012 Ethical issues and Multi-National Enterprises Today’s global marketplace presents ethical dilemmas for multinational corporations. Research has shown that ethical decision-making process becomes particularly challenging when the ethical standards in the company’s home country are higher than those in host markets. While ethical issues have become a current theme recently, organizations must continue to focus on improvement. Multi-National Enterprises need to make this a high priority within their organization. Ethics include basic human interactions: respect for differences, trust that our counterparts will work with us in a truthful manner, honesty in communication with others, and expectations that each of us will keep our word and maintain credibility (Olaru, 2009). Very few companies were established globally and little attention had not been given to the issue of ethical guidelines in a global setting. Global business ethics and social responsibility have now become a significant problem for many multinational companies. Attitudes toward ethics are rooted in culture and business practices (Caliskan, 2010). Ethical issues have become an interesting part of MNE’s focus. Literature has found that ethics is associated with levels of morality and general conduct of a person or business...
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...ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN BUSINESS 3.1 Ethics Ethics has been defined as concerned with the development of moral standards by which actions, situations and behaviour can be judged. (Boyd et al) Oelgeschlager. et al gave the simplest definition of ethics as standards conduct. Ethics is the discipline that examines one’s moral standards or the moral standards of a society. It asks how these standards apply to our lives and whether these standards are reasonable or unreasonable, that is, whether they are supported by good reasons or poor ones. Therefore, a person starts to do ethics when he or she takes the moral standards absorbed from the family, church and friends and asks: “What do these standards imply for the situations in which I find myself? Do these standards really make sense? What are the reasons for or against these standards? Why should I continue to believe in them? What can be said in their favour and what can be said against them? Are they really reasonable for me to hold? Are their implications in this or that particular situation reasonable?” Ethics is the study of moral standards, the process of examining the moral standards of a person or society to determine whether these standards are reasonable or unreasonable in order to apply them to concrete situations and issues. The ultimate aim of ethics is to develop a body of moral standards that we feel are reasonable to hold standards that we have thought about carefully and have decided are justified standards for us...
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...appropriate behavior. This behavior is measured both in terms of social responsibility of the organization as such, as well as ethical behavior of individual managers. In addition to these expectations there is an onus on organizations and managers alike to manage the relationship with the host country. Having noted this, I shall now move on to the main issues this essay has set out to address in the following manner: 1.2 Global Interdependence Global interdependence is a compelling dimension of the global business environment, creating demands on international managers to take a positive stance on issues of: social responsibility and ethical behaviour; economic development in host countries; and ecological protection around the world. Multinational corporations continue to be the centre of debate regarding the benefits versus harm wrought by their operations around the world. Because of their size and economic power, the MNC will be held to a higher standard of...
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...1. In your opinion, should multinational firms be socially responsible in every country they operate in? Provide some examples of socially irresponsible activities by firms Yes they should be socially responsible in every country they operate in. Chevron has launched a huge multimedia advertising blitz about its supposed commitment to smart energy use and renewable energy sources – all while destroying pristine forests in places like Ecuador and Bangladesh, and causing myriad health problems right here in the U.S. thanks to the toxic waste at its refineries. Nestle More than 40% of the world’s chocolate comes from Côte d’Ivoire (the Ivory Coast) in Africa, where tens of thousands of children are estimated to be working in dangerous conditions on cocoa farms. Nestle uses cocoa harvested by slave labor, and only when Senator Thomas Harkin (D-Iowa) led an investigation and introduced legislation that would require chocolate sold in the US to be labeled “slave-free” did the company act. Nestle promised that by July 2005 they would find a way to certify chocolate as not having been produced by any underage, indentured, trafficked or coerced labor, but since then, they have achieved very little. 2. Discuss the common guidelines for code of morality and ethics in different countries. Moral universalism suggests the need for a moral standard that is accepted by all cultures. With the ethnocentric approach, a company applies the morality used in the home country—regardless...
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...Executive Summary The new version of globalization sees the trans- and multinational companies being the major players guided by the policies and treaties of the oversight international organizations and supported by technology. Given that the focus continues to be cross border trade, integration and investment, in the absence of any communal decision making process with defined criteria, it has been clear that globalization continues to be challenged with respect to ethical decision making for sustainable development. This paper summarizes the role and function of the major globalization oversight organizations and touches on the extent of the power that they wield. It briefly discusses the advantages and disadvantages of globalization and attempts to identify the goals of globalization and given these goals and the identification of the stakeholders and subsequently to evaluate whether or not it is a driver or barrier to ethical decision making and sustainable development. ‘Ethics is more than the right thing to do: it's the smart thing to do.’ Global Institute of Ethics 1.0 Introduction It appears to be no easy feat to get a precise definition for Globalization. The definition can range from that of Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz who defined it as “the closer integration of the countries and peoples of the world which has been brought about by the enormous reduction of costs of transportation and communication...
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...Braeside High School BTEC Extended Diploma in Business (Marketing) Unit 37 Understanding Business Ethics Assessor Mr. Rowland Njagi Date issued: 10/09/2013 Date of Submission: 23/09/2013 Assignment brief 1: Ethical issues Ethical issues that a business should consider in its operations. A case study of Safaricom Ltd. Business ethics are the accepted principles of right or wrong governing the conduct of business people. An ethical strategy is a strategy or course of action that does not violate these accepted principles. Ethics committee of Safaricom Company Ltd An Ethics committee has been constituted comprising of nominated Executive committee members and chaired by the Chief Executive Officer. The primary mandate of the committee is to be the oversight body that drives the ethics and integrity agenda in the company particularly monitoring ethics related programmes and activities to ensure ethics and integrity become part of day to day business. The ethics committee is also the guardian and custodian of the code of conduct which enumerates and enforces acceptable business conduct. Some of the key initiatives spearheaded by the Committee in the last financial year include; • Safaricom signing up to the recently drafted Kenyan Businesses Code of Ethics. The Kenyan Business Community under the directorship of the UN Global Initiative has developed a code of ethics to guide Kenyan businesses on matters relating to ethics. Safaricom took an active role in drafting...
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...1. In your opinion, should multinational firms be socially responsible in every country they operate in? Provide some examples of socially irresponsible activities by firms Yes they should be socially responsible in every country they operate in. Chevron has launched a huge multimedia advertising blitz about its supposed commitment to smart energy use and renewable energy sources – all while destroying pristine forests in places like Ecuador and Bangladesh, and causing myriad health problems right here in the U.S. thanks to the toxic waste at its refineries. Nestle More than 40% of the world’s chocolate comes from Côte d’Ivoire (the Ivory Coast) in Africa, where tens of thousands of children are estimated to be working in dangerous conditions on cocoa farms. Nestle uses cocoa harvested by slave labor, and only when Senator Thomas Harkin (D-Iowa) led an investigation and introduced legislation that would require chocolate sold in the US to be labeled “slave-free” did the company act. Nestle promised that by July 2005 they would find a way to certify chocolate as not having been produced by any underage, indentured, trafficked or coerced labor, but since then, they have achieved very little. 2. Discuss the common guidelines for code of morality and ethics in different countries. Moral universalism suggests the need for a moral standard that is accepted by all cultures. With the ethnocentric approach, a company applies the morality used in the home country—regardless...
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...Should Government have the largest influence on Corporate Social Responsibility ? Introduction Carroll’s four responsibilities of business are economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary (Carroll, 1991). Economic responsibility is a business organization to produce goods or service to society, and creditors or shareholders can get return. Legal responsibility is defined in law by government that management is expected to follow. Ethical responsibility is organization management to obey the beliefs in a society. The last discretionary responsibility is the management of their own accord to take obligations, they do it by themselves, and not others force them to do (Carroll, 1991). Definition of Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is defined as a business’s decisions or actions are made which take outcomes beyond the organization's economic profit into account in the decision making process (Carroll, 1991). Social responsibilities include ethical responsibilities and discretionary responsibilities. The difference between them was that less people expect a firm to perform discretionary responsibilities, while a lot of people expect a firm to perform ethical responsibilities. Discretionary responsibilities are like day-care centers, to training the hard-core unemployed and philanthropic contributions. A firm can take actions to perform its ethical responsibilities and discretionary responsibilities that society will value it but...
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