Managing Business Ethics: Straight Talk about How to Do It Right, 6th Edition

CHAPTER 11

MANAGING FOR ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT

INTRODUCTION

With the increasing globalization of business, more managers are finding themselves in an international environment full of ethical challenges. If managing for ethics and social responsibility is a challenge in one's own culture, the difficulties only multiply when the culture and language are foreign, the manager is under increased stress, and the number of stakeholders grows enormously. The major stakeholders include multiple governments with their differing laws, regulations, and policies; business partners that may be incorporated in the United States or elsewhere; employees and customers from different cultures; and civil society, a large umbrella term that includes the media, academic institutions, not-for-profit organizations, and religious, political, and other groups with an interest in global business ethics. The simple fact that managers have to deal with so many different stakeholders makes decision making extremely complex. And the issues global managers face may be completely new to them. These include corruption and money laundering, human rights under totalitarian regimes, workplace conditions, environmental issues, respect for local customs and cultures, and more.

Particularly in developing nations, businesspeople face conditions, cultures, customs, and norms that may conflict with their own ethical standards and challenge them to consider which values they'll uphold ...