...Introduction For this paper I will be discussing Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) using Anglo-American and Primark case studies as examples. First, I will discuss what is meant by ethical business behavior. Second, I will discuss how Anglo-American and Primark apply ethics into their business practices. Third, I will discuss what the costs and benefits are to an organization when they behave ethically. Finally, I will choose one component from Svennson & Woods’ model from “A Model of Business Ethics”, and discuss how it is relevant for Anglo-American. Ethical Business Behavior Ethical business behavior refers to an organizations actions and policies that are synergetic with "doing the right thing" (Sethi, 2003). Similar to the inherent laws of society that man has established that promote specific behaviors and actions that are deemed appropriate to build trust and relationships that last, it is similar in corporations. In order to operate ethically, organizations must also establish a clearly defined set of principles and a culture of ethical compliance that builds trust and confidence with their employees and their customers (Paine, 1994). Ethical business behavior is a combination of values and normative ethics, which drive an organization. Additionally, ethical business behavior is expected by society as a whole. Svennson & Woods write, “Society does have expectations of business and of its business leaders” (Svennson & Woods, 2008). Anglo-American...
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...Ethics KEY TERM and WHY YOU ARE INTERESTED IN IT Ethics is the key term chosen this week to research, secondary to the significant relevance ethics plays in all aspects of life. As a child, it was emphasized what was right and wrong, good and bad, to be the best one can be, and to make sure the decisions that are made are based on a common set of values and principles. As an adult, the adherence to these values has played a fundamental role in my own success as a business leader in my profession. EXPLANATION OF KEY TERM The general definition of ethics is ”the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation” (Satterlee, 2009, p. 48). Every culture in the world will have some form of ethics and the society would have a set of values or moral duties and obligations. In some instances, these values may become law. Many of these moral values are based on a religion; for example, Christianity refers to the Ten Commandments, which forms a set of values. Some ethics are secular in nature. In business, ethics plays a major role on how companies act in relation to their core values. A world viewpoint would look at international business ethics as compared to domestic business ethics. The international business ethics would focus on the culture of that society along with their values and core beliefs. With our growing global economy, it is important to understand the ethical duties and obligations for businesses wishing to conduct business...
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...globally. They sell products in virtually every country around the world and lead the market in manufacturing cleaning products and storage for the home. SC Johnson is a company who is dedicated to the communities in which they operate and also to their innovative, high-quality products. They recognize communication among Nations can become challenging. By recognizing and defining the language barriers among the various cultures, SC Johnson is able to easily overcome the challenge of language barriers and work diligently together globally to stay on top in the industry. SC Johnsons commitment to each country they perform business in, is to be an innovative one stop shop for products that offer environmental benefits. Communication and green choices are essential in SC Johnsons cross-cultural ethics. SC Johnson is a global organization with a multinational presence that has manufactured household brands for over a century. Their worldwide locations include Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and Australia. SC Johnson formerly stated the principals in ‘This we Believe’. Which is the essence of who they are as a global organization and how they expect their employees to work with others (SC Johnson, Inc., 2013). It explains SC Johnsons values to the stakeholders they are responsible to and who’s trust they intend to keep. These stakeholders include employees, consumers and users, general public, neighbors, and world community. SC Johnson is sincere in their beliefs which encourages...
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...Business Ethics across Cultures Raul Torres XMGT 216 Daniel Anderson 1/8/2012 America has not always had the same working conditions and ethical guidelines it has today. We know from history that in the early 1920’s American industries had a very different outtake on what was ethical on tolerable. During those times there were no child labor laws so children were allowed to work in order to be able to provide another source of income for the family. In today’s society we have laws and guidelines that an employer needs to follow in order to be able keep the business from being fined or closed on. Going back to the 1920’s there were no safety guidelines set so if the main provider of the family became injured then the oldest son would have to fill in, in order to keep the family with an income. Employers did not have to follow certain hours in which kids were going to be working such as in today’s society. Aside from children working long hours with no protection women did not work at all outside the house. With no women working outside of their home then we can say that there were no laws on sexual harassment against women. This was something that America was dealing with when they were trying to establish great ethics in our country. Other countries have dealt with much more than sexual harassment and child labor. The first article being reviewed for the Business Ethics across Cultures article review was about issues with Wal-Mart and China. Nearly every...
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...wear and equipment. So, why is Nike’s ethics in question? Has greed and publicity become their motto at any costs? Nike spends multimillion dollars a year hiring well-known athletes to advertise their products yet cannot seem to stay out of the media’s eye of their contracting or subcontracting techniques of their products to be built in third world countries. In 1996, Nike has been charged by critics with engaging in a variety of unethical employment practices in countries that exercise little or no control over the conditions of labor or whose governments are corrupt and can be bought off (De George, 2006, chap. 20). In dealing with business issues, a company needs to be aware (what are the issues), articulate (justify and express decisions), and application (reach a decision, train and explain ethics to employees). Ethical behavior has to start at the top of a company and work its way down. Here we will compare ethical perceptions across cultures about the ethical situation, discuss the ethical issues that became evident due to globalization, and discuss the risks and consequences associated with the Nike ethical dilemma. Compare Ethical Perceptions Across Cultures About the Ethical Situation Trevino and Nelson (2007) defines business best stating the “definition of ethics—the principles, norms, and standards of conduct governing an individual or group—focuses on conduct.” (p. 13). Business ethics vary in different parts of the world. Several countries that Nike has manufacturing...
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...Business Ethics Across Cultures Article Review Ken R. Johnson XMGT 216 May 27, 2012 Instructor: Deborah McCafferty Business Ethics Across Cultures Article Review Globalization has been an ongoing event for many centuries; ever since the first traders and merchants sought out other countries to bring back uniquely different food and goods, countries have been sharing their culture and perspectives with those they visit or those that come to their borders. Today, with the widespread use of Internet, digital information, and focus on international business, the positive effect of globalization is much more apparent as well as the challenges it presents to countries with different ethical cultures. While most would assume that people in another land speaking a different language, following a different religion, and eating different food would more than likely perceive and behave differently from than our own; the truth is that even though these differences may be perceived, very little is done to actually understand them appropriately unless it is deemed necessary. However, what is quickly becoming equally apparent, for international businesses and corporations to deal successfully with a foreign contractor, business, or even government; the proper measures must be taken to understand the differences in ethical perception and to work to accommodate those differences. Failure to do so leave many of these companies and businesses...
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...Business ethics are a pivotal aspect in strategic business finance, or finance in general. Poor ethical practices and immoral acts have been conducted across many years by many individuals and businesses in the business world in regards to finance. This paper will focus on two of the more well-known ethical issues that occurred in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Enron Corporation and WorldCom. This paper will focus on the factors that led to the demise of the corporations, as well as the violations that occurred within the accounting practices, and the specific ethical violations in strategic financial planning. To summarize, the largest contributing factor to the demise of Enron Corporation and WorldCom was simply corporate governance failure (Stanford GSB Staff, 2016). The smaller factors that led to the governance failure were such things as increases in executive compensation and stock options, jumps to incentives to manage earnings, and major shifts in the structure of auditing firms. These changes directly led to the loss of money and public confidence. These reason can be classified as nothing other than management greed. This can be validated by the statistical increases in worker compensation which rose forty-two percent in the 1990s as well as corporate profits rose eighty-eight percent, the standard and poor index increased two hundred and forty-eight percent, as well as CEO compensation rose four hundred and sixty-three percent during this timeframe (Stanford GSB...
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...Business Ethics across Cultures Jeff Christison XMGT 216 / Organizational Ethics and social Responsibility (AXIA) Carolyn A. Fuentes December 5th, 2010 The first country I chose to research was Germany. I chose them because the world already knows about their personal morals and ethics in history, and how they could be swayed by one individual. They systematically set their morals aside and allowed one man to dictate the country’s ethical stand. They were subsequently able to recover and even improve what had been so easily given away. When it comes to current ethics in German businesses, they are becoming more and more influenced by American business and international trade. While Germany had, in the past, been recognized as a model for personal and business ethics, it was a little more than fifteen years ago that their clean image began to show signs of wear. It is hard to know for sure, though, if it is a case of new issues with ethics, or if globalization is simply shedding a new light on an age old problem. It seems feasible, to me, that businesses have been dealing with their own issues without allowing the public to have knowledge of what is going on. Even with their clean image they have been allowed to practice behaviors that other countries see as illegal. “For example, insider stock trading became illegal only this year, as the Government and investment community tried to respond to pressure from international investors” (Nash, 1995, para. 15). ...
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...Business Ethics Across Cultures Article Review | XMGT/ 216 | | | | RENEE | 9/4/2011 | | What business ethics are in today’s world? What ethical issues within today’s business environment affect our community and organizations? These topics will be addressed in the following paragraphs. Before one can begin to address ethical business issues that affect our community and organizations, one must first define what business ethics are. Business ethics is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of individuals and business organizations as a whole. Applied ethics is a field of ethics that deals with ethical questions in many fields such as medical, technical, legal and business ethics. Business ethics can be both a normative and a descriptive discipline. As a corporate practice and a career specialization, the field is primarily normative. In academia descriptive approaches are also taken. The range and quantity of business ethical issues reflects the degree to which business is perceived to be at odds with non-economic social values. Historically, interest in business ethics accelerated dramatically during the 1980s and 1990s, both within major corporations and within academia. For example, today most major corporate websites lay emphasis on commitment to promoting non-economic...
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...Business Ethics across Cultures Juanita Bates Axia College University of Phoenix Business Ethics across Cultures 1 Ethics is a guideline of knowing what is right or wrong. Ethical perspectives are a moral view of things. Business ethics are a form of professional or applied ethics. These ethics examines ethical principles and ethical or moral problems that may arise in the business world. All aspects of businesses are affected including individuals and organizations. With the growth in industrial population, the rise of consumerism and popular reaction to large numbers of scandals and corruption, there has been a change in perception and attitude. The United States passed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 1977 forbidding the United States companies from giving bribes to high level government officials of other countries. Many business people did not like the act; they felt it was unfair because foreign countries continued to use bribes while the United States companies could not. German companies were allowed to use their bribes as tax deductible expensive until 1998. They felt the foreign countries would have an advantage of the United States companies. The United States government used what pressure it could to encourage other countries to adapt the same type of law. After 20 years, many other countries agreed. By the 1980’s , many companies started using ethical structures by developing code of ethics, providing ethics training for employees, monitoring...
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...Global Business Ethics-Nike’s Sweatshops Ann T. Dale MGT/216 Global Business Ethics-Nike’s Sweatshops Nike is a worldwide sports name in wear and equipment. So, why is Nike’s ethics in question? Has greed and publicity become their motto at any costs? Nike spends multimillion dollars a year hiring well-known athletes to advertise their products yet cannot seem to stay out of the media’s eye of their contracting or subcontracting techniques of their products to be built in third world countries. In 1996, Nike has been charged by critics with engaging in a variety of unethical employment practices in countries that exercise little or no control over the conditions of labor or whose governments are corrupt and can be bought off (De George, 2006, chap. 20). In dealing with business issues, a company needs to be aware (what are the issues), articulate (justify and express decisions), and application (reach a decision, train and explain ethics to employees). Ethical behavior has to start at the top of a company and work its way down. Here we will compare ethical perceptions across cultures about the ethical situation, discuss the ethical issues that became evident due to globalization, and discuss the risks and consequences associated with the Nike ethical dilemma. Compare Ethical Perceptions Across Cultures About the Ethical Situation Trevino and Nelson (2007) defines business best stating the “definition of ethics—the principles, norms, and standards of conduct governing...
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...employee commitment, and performance. Journal of Business Ethics, 97, 341-363.Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/docview/821301766 The authors of this business journal explore the recent activities of today’s retail giants and how their ethical behavior affects their brand, objectives, performance and stakeholders. The authors investigate the origins of certain variables that affect the ethical values of an organization. In addition, a review is performed on how both ethics along with these variables contribute to the success of the organization with respect to quality and quantity of output. A link is established between power, ethics and commitment to productivity. Brickley, J.A., Smith , C.W. & Zimmerman, J.L. (2002). Business ethics and organizational architecture. Journal of Banking and Finance, 26 (9), 1821-1835. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-4266(02)00193-0 This journal implies that there is potential for a balance between economics and business ethics in several instances. One instance is found in the presumptions of how organizational members make decisions and from what ethical foundation they are considered? In addition, the importance of the union between business ethics and organizational structure is visited considering their value to the motivation of the internal stakeholders. The journal explores another instance where there may be a balance between business ethics and economics by evaluating an organization’s...
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...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, and the breaking down of artificial barriers to the flows of goods, services, capital, knowledge, and (to a lesser extent) people across borders,” or one that focuses on the construction of a vast global economy through the, ‘interaction and integration among the people, companies and governments of different nations in a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by...
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...organization such a Halliburton the managerial staff must be separate from the rest of employees as a manager’s responsibilities are different. Managers within Halliburton use the four functions of management to direct employees and reach organizational goals. Every organization is influenced by legal issues, ethics, and corporate social responsibilities. Halliburton has dealt with all three of these examples. Halliburton sets organizational goals at each level of operation. To reach these goals Halliburton employs four contrasting planning methods including; strategic, tactical, operational, and contingency planning. Halliburton is a diverse company that operates across many regions throughout the world. With such vast operations Halliburton must have a successful planning process. As Halliburton continued to expand the organization deemed it necessary to form two main divisions. The two divisions consist of drilling and evaluation and completion and production. In 2009 the two divisions accounted for $14 billion in revenue. To strengthen our presence in the Eastern Hemisphere, Halliburton established a second headquarters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The oil and gas business is moving its focus from the increasingly difficult reserves of the Western Hemisphere to the bounty of the Eastern Hemisphere. As the customers Halliburton...
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...Ethical Issues with Digital Media Introduction Ethics in digital media involves the moral problem that is associated with the adoption of new communication technologies in daily activities. New advancement of technology has resulted in different techniques that have altered the manner in which business and other activities are undertaken in the world. Examples of digital media are online journalism, blogging sites, and social media. The major concern in the ethics of digital media is the effect of information that is transmitted through these channels. Ordinarily, the role of digital media is to act as a medium of communication. However, in the case that the accuracy of the information is not controlled, it can lead to various impacts to the society. The digital media played a very significant role in the financial crisis through the spread of information. As such, this paper analyses digital media ethics in relation to the global financial crisis and its effects to the society. The World Financial Crisis The global economic crisis has caused many problems nearly to all the sectors of the economy in the world. Many countries have suffered deep in their growth domestic product while recession has a common experience all over the world. The severity of the crisis has persisted to the recent times, but this can be attributed to the debts incurred by some developed economies like Greece even after strong support from other countries. As a result, the world’s financial system...
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