LEC 3 Flashcards
(19 cards)
Ethics
Study of morality and standards of conduct.
Victim of subjectivity as it yields to the will of cultural relativism
Cultural relativism - Belief that
Ethical standard of a country is based on the culture that created it
Moral concepts lack universal application
Dilemmas arising from conflicts between ethical standards of a country and business ethics are most evident in:
Employment and business practices. Recognition of human rights gender gap Corruption Environment
–> Bangladesh, key role for labours unions as unsafe buildings, forced labour, poor wages, punishing schedules
Kantian Philosophical Traditions
Entities have responsibilities based on a core set of moral principles that go beyond those of narrow self-interest.
Reject consequences as morally irrelevant when evaluating the choice of an agent.
Ask one to consider choices as implying a general rule, or maxim.
corruption: not allowed, just for business
outcome not important, but your good will counts
Must be evaluated for its consistency as a universal law.
–> child labour in India
Aristotelian Virtue Ethics
Focus on core, individual behaviors and actions and how they express and form individual character.
Consider social and institutional arrangements and practices in terms of their contribution to the formation of good character in individuals.
For Aristotle, moral success and failure largely come down to a matter of right desire, or appetite.
Rely heavily on existing practices to provide an account of what is good and what character traits contribute to pursuing and realizing the good in concrete ways.
Think about the values in the country before you judge about the country being ethical. Child labour can be ethical if it saves them from starving.
Utilitarianism
Utilitarian approaches to ethics hold that the moral worth of actions or practices is determined by their consequences.
An action is judged to be desirable if it leads to the best possible balance of good consequences over bad consequences.
One problem with utilitarianism is in measuring the benefits, costs, and risks of an action.
The second problem related to utilitarianism is that it does not consider justice, so the minority will always be at a disadvantage.
Eastern Philosophy
Broadly includes various philosophies of Asia.
Holds that:
People are an intrinsic and inseparable part of the universe
Discuss from universe from an objective viewpoint (Western philosophy tends to view individual is something distinct from the universe)
More broader, integrative and long-term view
–> one year extra in school increases earning potential at 10 %
What does these ethic theories mean to international business ?
Foundation for your business decision : evaluate what is right or wrong
What you do based on what you believe
Sometimes it needs to be a combination of different perspectives
CSR vs Ethics
CSR:
- ->Actions taken by a firm to benefit society beyond the requirements of the law and the direct interests of the firm
- ->Based more on voluntary actions
Ethics:
- ->Study of or the learning process involved in understanding morality
- ->Area of ethics has a lawful component and implies right and wrong in a legal sense
What you can learn from HundM?
H&M recycling
- Alignment between business goals and social warfare
- Be transparent about what we do
- Focusing with different stakeholders: suppliers, government, customers etc.
Ethical Problems
HUMAN RIGHTS, Labor Policy Issues, Gender inequality , Environment
Human Rights
Life, freedom from slavery or torture, freedom of opinion and expression, and a general ambiance of nondiscriminatory practices.
Women’s rights and gender equity can be considered a subset of human rights
Labor Policy Issues
Political, economic, and cultural differences interfere with the establishment of a universal foundation for employment practices
Difficulty in deciding working conditions, expected consecutive work hours, and labor regulations
Frequent offshoring due to differences in labor costs
Ensuring that all contractors along the global supply chain are compliant with company standards
- ->Foxconn, Apple’s main iPhone supplier, turned to cheap student labor to catch up with order
- ->children were recruited by a labour broker and not directly by the company’s management
Why we have a gender gap
Bias and discrimination: conscious or unconscious, impacts hiring, pay and promotion decisions
- Gender segregation: Australia’s workforce is highly segregated by occupation and industry, with men dominating managerial ranks and trades and technical roles and women dominating administrative, health and caring roles
- Unpaid care work and time out of the workforce: for every hour of unpaid care work that men perform, women perform an hour and 46 minutes.
What gender gaps mean to international business?
The awareness of gender diversity variates around different countries : fairness
- Not just the job of HR, every corner of the company
- Gender performance disclosure (Offenlegung der geschlechtsspezifischen Leistung)
Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC)
Reasons behind the inverted U-shape of the EKC.
- -> Income per capita - low –> pollution low
- -> income rises –> pllution rises
- -> income rises even more–> pollution increases
- Composition of production and/or consumption.
- Preference for environmental quality.
- Institutions that are needed to internalize externalities.
- Increasing returns to scale associated with pollution abatement.
Business practice misconduct : corruption
Facebook ; Cambridge Analytica
Technology vs. Privacy
Sustaining Sustainable Companies
Shift in focus from traditional market-responsive strategies to broader approaches.
Help incorporate business and social or environmental goals.
Triple bottom line approach (the three Ps: People Planet and Profit).
Simultaneously considers social, environmental, and economic sustainability.
Could help harness business and managerial skills to impact human and environmental conditions.
Non-Government Organizations
Private, not-for-profit organizations
Seek to serve society’s interests by focusing on social, political, and economic issues
Activism has helped generate substantial changes in corporate management, strategy, and governance
Regarded as counterweights to business and global capitalism
Collaborate with MNEs on social and environmental projects
Contribute to the well-being of the community and to the reputation of the MNC
–> child labour is a global problem
