Ethics and Social Responsibility

❖ The specific objectives of this chapter are to

1. EXAMINE ethics in international management
and some of the major ethical issues and problems
confronting MNCs in selected countries.
2. DISCUSS some of the pressures on and action
being taken by selected industrialized countries and
companies to be more socially and environmentally
responsive to world problems.
3. EXPLAIN some of the initiatives to bring greater
accountability to corporate conduct and limit the
impacts of corruption around the world.

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Ethics and Social Responsibility in
International Management
❖Ethics
➢ Study of morality and standards of conduct.
❖Dilemmas arising from conflicts between
ethical standards between countries most
evident in employment practices, human rights
and, and corruption

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Ethics and Social Responsibility in
International Management
❖Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
➢ Involves the voluntary actions of a firm to benefit
society beyond requirements of law and direct
interests of firm
➢Closely related to ethics
➢ CSR concerns include working conditions in
factories and service centers as well as
environmental impacts of corporate activities

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Ethics Theories and Philosophy

❖ Kantian philosophical traditions

➢ Individuals have responsibilities based on a core set of moral
principles that go beyond those of narrow self-interest.
❖ Aristotelian virtue ethics
➢ Focus on core, individual behaviors and actions and how they
express and form individual character.
❖ Utilitarianism
➢ Favors the greatest good for the greatest number of people
under a given set of constraints.
❖ Eastern philosophy
➢ Views the individual as part of rather than separate from
nature.

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 Human Rights

❖Human rights issues challenge MNCs

➢ Currently no universally adopted standards for what
is acceptable behavior
➢ A great deal of subjectivity and culturally biased
viewpoints exist
➢ Some basic rights: life, freedom from slavery or
torture, freedom of opinion and expression, general
ambiance of nondiscriminatory practices
➢ Women’s rights and gender equity can be
considered a subset of human rights

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 Ethics and Social Responsibility
Around the World: JAPAN
❖Equal opportunity issues
➢ Refusal to hire women or promote them into
management positions
➢ Hostile work environment
➢ Traditional role of male and female employees
➢ Sexual harassment may not be considered a moral
issue

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 Ethics and Social Responsibility
Around the World: EUROPE
❖Equal employment opportunity
➢ Glass ceiling pervasive throughout the world
➢ France, Germany, Great Britain have seen increase
in number of women in management, but tend to
represent only lower levels

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Labor, Employment and Business
Practices
❖Employment and business practices
➢ Difficult to establish a universal foundation of
employment practices
➢ Difficult dilemmas in deciding working conditions,
expected consecutive work hours, and labor
regulations
➢ Offshoring due to differences in labor costs

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 Ethics and Social Responsibility
Around the World: CHINA
❖Workers not well paid
➢ Often forced to work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week
➢ 2010: Foxconn factory worker suicides
➢ 2012: Over 43% of Foxconn workers had seen or
been part of a workplace accident.
❖Human rights violations
➢ Use of child labor

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 Environmental Protection
and Development
❖Countries approach the issue of conservation
of natural resources differently
➢ Poor countries are more focused on improving the
welfare of their citizens rather than improving the
environment
➢ Environmental Kuznets Curve
❖Many companies violate laws and jeopardize
the environment
➢ 2010 BP Gulf explosion

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The Environmental Kuznets Curve

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 Reconciling Ethical Differences
across Cultures
❖Integrative Social Contracts Theory
➢ Helps companies avoid relativism versus
absolutism
➢ Gives managers a framework to use when they
face a gap between the moral and ethical values in
the home country and in the host country
❖Corporate Social Responsibility
❖Sustainability
➢ Development that meets humanity’s needs without
harming future generations

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 Corporate Social Responsibility
and Sustainability
❖Nongovernmental organization (NGO)
➢ Private, not-for-profit organization that seeks to serve
society’s interests by focusing on social, political, and
economic issues such as poverty, social justice, education,
health and the environment.
❖ NGOs have grown in number, power, influence
➢ NGOs have urged MNCs to be more responsive to range of
social needs in developing countries
❖ NGO activism has caused major changes in corporate
behavior
➢ NGOs have been active in promoting fair trade products

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 Corporate Social Responsibility
and Sustainability
❖NGOs in U.S. and globally
➢ Save the Children
➢ Oxfam
➢ CARE
➢ World Wildlife Fund
➢ Conservation International

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 Corporate Response to Social
and Organizational Obligations
❖Agreements and codes of conduct committing
MNCs to maintain certain standards
➢ U.N. Global Compact
❖Codes help offset real or perceived concern
that companies move jobs to avoid higher labor
or environmental standards in their home
markets
➢ Commit to raising of standard in developing world by
exporting higher standard to firms in these countries
❖Fair trade
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Principles of the Global Compact

❖Human Rights
❖Labor
❖Environment
❖Anti-Corruption

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Principles of the Global Compact

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 Corporate Governance

❖Corporate governance
➢ The system by which business corporations are
directed and controlled.
❖Distribution of rights and responsibilities
❖Stakeholder management
❖Spells out rules and procedures
❖Makes decisions
❖Becoming more important after numerous
scandals
➢ Arthur Anderson, Enron, UnitedHealthcare

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 Corporate Governance

❖Many continental European countries are

“insider” systems
➢ Ownership more concentrated
➢ Shares owned by holding companies, families or
banks
❖Rules and regulations differ among countries
and regions
➢ U.K. and U.S. systems are “outsider” systems
❖Dispersed ownership of equity
❖Large number of outside investors

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 Corruption

❖Corruption
➢ Government corruption is a pervasive element in
international business environment
❖Scandals in Russia, China, Pakistan, Lesotho, South
Africa, Costa Rica, Egypt and elsewhere
❖Some evidence that discontinuing bribes does
not reduce sales of the firm’s products or
services in that country

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 Global Initiatives to Increase
Accountability and Limit Corruption
❖Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
➢ makes it illegal for U.S. companies and their
managers to attempt to influence foreign officials
through personal payments or political contributions
❖“Entertainment” expenses
❖“Consulting” fees
❖Organization of American States Inter-
American Convention Against Corruption,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

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 Corruption and
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
❖Recent formal agreement by many
industrialized nations to outlaw the practice of
bribing foreign government officials
➢ Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development
➢ 29 members plus several other countries have
signed on (34 now)
➢ Fails to outlaw most payments to political party
leaders
➢ Does indicate growing support for anti-bribery
initiatives

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 International Assistance

❖Governments and corporations are

collaborating to provide assistance to
communities and locales through global
partnerships
❖Best “investments”
➢ Controlling and preventing AIDS
➢ Fighting malnutrition
➢ Reducing subsidies and trade restrictions
➢ Controlling malaria

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Copenhagen Consensus
Development Priorities

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The U.N. Millennium
Development Goals

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