88 Reading: Global Business Ethics
Global Business Ethics
The field of ethics is a branch of philosophy that explores the nature of virtue and morality, addressing questions about “right” and “wrong” in secular (as opposed to religious) terms; essentially, ethics tries to set standards for how human beings ought to act. The study of ethics comes from a variety of sources—religion, philosophy, the laws of nature, political and social theory, and science—and its ideas have an impact on many fields besides business—medicine, government, and science, to name a few.
The text below is organized in the way that people tend to think about ethics: first they consider where ethical principles come from; then they consider how people ought to apply those principles to specific tasks or issues. Though global business ethics is the focus of the discussion, you won’t find a tangible list of dos and don’ts here. Instead, the material is meant to help you understand some of the critical issues that global managers must deal with on an operational and strategic basis.
Where Do Our Values Come From?
Just as people look to history to understand political, technical, and social changes, so, too, do they look to history to understand changes in thinking and philosophy. Believe it or not, there is a history of thought and belief. What may or may not have been acceptable just a hundred years ago may be very different today—from how people present themselves and how they act and interact to customs, values, and beliefs.
Ethics can be defined as a system of moral standards or values. Cultural beliefs and programming influence our values. A sense of ethics is determined by a number of social, cultural, and religious factors; this sense influences us beginning early in childhood. People are taught how to behave by their families, exposure to education and thinking, and the society in which they live. Ethical behavior also refers to behavior that is generally accepted within a specific culture. Some behaviors are universally accepted—for example, people shouldn’t physically hurt other people. Other actions are less clear, such as discrimination based on age, race, gender, or ethnicity.
Culture impacts how local values influence global business ethics. There are differences in how much importance cultures place on specific ethical behaviors. For example, bribery remains widespread in many countries, and while people may not approve of it, they accept it as a necessity of daily life. Each professional is influenced by the values, social programming, and experiences encountered from childhood on. These collective factors affect how a person perceives an issue and the related correct or incorrect behaviors. Even within a specific culture, individuals have different ideas of what constitutes ethical or unethical behavior. Judgments may differ greatly depending on an individual’s social or economic standing, education, and experiences with other cultures and beliefs. Just as in t