INTB4

Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions

The convention obliges member states to make the bribery of foreign public officials a criminal offense. (1997)

External stakeholders

The individuals or groups who have some claim on a firm such as customers, suppliers, and unions.

tragedy of the commons

a resource held in common by all, but owned by no one, is overused by individuals resulting in its degradation

ethical strategy

a strategy, or course of action, that does not violate these accepted principles

ethics

accepted principles of right or wrong that govern the conduct of a person, the members of a profession, or the actions of an organization

Rights theories

human beings have fundamental rights and privileges that transcend national boundaries and culture

The Naïve Immoralist

if a manager of a multinational sees that firms from other nations are not following ethical norms in a host nation, that manager should not either

righteous moralist

multinational's home country standards of ethics are the appropriate ones for companies to follow in foreign countries

Kantian ethics

people should be treated as ends and never purely as means to the ends of others.

What are the determinants of ethical behavior?

personal ethics, decision making processes, leadership, unrealistic performance expectations, and organizational culture

Ethical dilemmas

situations in which none of the available alternatives seems ethically acceptable.

Business ethics

the accepted principles of right or wrong governing the conduct of business people

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

the basic principles that should always be adhered to irrespective of the culture in which one is doing business.

Cultural relativism

the belief that ethics are culturally determined and that firms should adopt the ethics of the cultures in which they operate, or in other words, "when in Rome, do as the Romans do."

What is necessary to place high value on ethical behavior?

the business must explicitly articulate values that place a strong emphasis on ethical behavior, perhaps using a code of ethics leaders in the business should give life and meaning to the code of ethics by repeatedly emphasizing its importance, and then acting on it. the business should put in place a system of incentives and rewards that recognize people who engage in ethical behavior and sanction those who do not

social responsibility

the idea that business people should take the social consequences of economic actions into account when making business decisions, and that there should be a presumption in favor of decisions that have both good economic and good social consequences.

stakeholders

the individuals or groups who have an interest, stake, or claim in the actions and overall performance of a company

Utilitarian approaches

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

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

the practice of paying bribes to foreign government officials in order to gain business

organization Culture

the values and norms that are shared among employees of an organization.

Internal stakeholders

those who work for or who own the business such as employees, the board of directors, and stockholders

What are five things an international business can do to make sure that ethical issues are considered in a business decision?

(1) favor hiring and promoting people with a well grounded sense of personal ethics (2) build an organizational culture that places a high value on ethical behavior (3) make sure that leaders within the business not only articulate the rhetoric of ethical behavior, but also act in manner that is consistent with that rhetoric (4) put decision making processes in place that require people to consider the ethical dimension of business decisions (5) develop moral courage.

What are two problems with the Utilitarian approach?

-measuring the benefits, costs, and risks of a course of action. -the philosophy fails to consider justice.

just distribution

A distribution of economic goods and services that is considered fair and equitable.

Code of ethics

A formal statement of the ethical priorities a business adheres to

How businesses foster ethical behavior?

By building an organization culture that places a high value on ethical behavior

What is Rawls' theory?

Impartiality is guaranteed by the veil of ignorance (everyone is imagined to be ignorant of all his or her particular characteristics)