When Ethics Travel Flashcards
the Gordian knot of international business ethics
formed around the question of how a company should behave when the standards followed in the host country are lower than those follow in the home country.
Foreign Country Type
this type does not apply its own home-country concepts to host countries abroad and conforms to local customs.
Empire Type
applies domestic concepts and theories without making any serious modifications. these companies export their values in a wholesale fashion regardless of the consequences.
Interconnection Type
these companies are analogous to states engaging in commercial relations in the EU or NAFTA. the companies regard the international sphere differently from the domestic sphere. the companies don’t see themselves as projecting or defending a national identity.
Global Type
abstracts from all regional differences. they view the domestic sphere as irrelevant and only global citizenry makes sense.
Boddewyn and Brewer
have defended the view that managers should consider the host-country government on a par with any other competitive factor. the government is seen as another factor of production or a set of agents that international firms can use in the management of their chain of value-adding activities.
DeGeorge
has postulated ten guidelines for multinational corporations. the second is “produce more good than harm for the host country”.
ISCT Global Values Map
consists of concentric circles that represent core norms held by particular corporations, industries, or economic cultures. values of a corporation, expressed through its actions and policies, may be plotted as points within the circles.
hypernorms
the values they represent are by definition acceptable to all cultures and organisations, eg. fundamental rights.
consistent norms
these values are more culturally specific than those at the centre but are consistent both with hypernorms and other legitimate norms. most ethical codes and vision-value statements fall within this circle.
moral free space
norms inconsistent with at least some other legitimate norms existing in other economic cultures. they are compatible but have mild tensions with hypernorms. often expresses unique, but strongly held cultural beliefs.
illegitimate norms
incompatible with hypernorms. when values or practices reach a point where they trangress permissible limits. it falls outside of the circle into the “incompatible” zone.
authentic norm
a condition by the ISCT is that a norm needs to be both acted upon and believed to be ethically correct by a substantial majority of the community.
efficiency hypernorm
requires that economic agents efficiently utilise resources in which their society has a stake.
“photocopy approach”
doing the same thing abroad as you do at home.
