Question

2. Do you think a firm operating in many countries is better advised to adopt a single global standard of ethical conduct or to adapt to local conditions? Under what conditions might each approach be preferable?

Answer 1

Any firm which is operating in many countries should adopt to local conditions for ethical conduct. The very basic reason behind that is the difference between the rules and regulations.

Something that is considered ethical in Australia might not be considered ethical in Dubai. So there is no logic in following the same ethical conduct.

Example - >

There are a few countries in which you cannot hamper the environmental conditions at all for your manufacturing purposes. There are others where some lineancy is given and focus is more on economy.

In some countries you cannot make the workers work more than 9 hours per day while in others they can work for 14 hours per day.

Above examples support the theory of different ethical code of conduct.

Single Ethical Conduct -

This type of ethical conduct can be adopted if the organization is working in almost the same geographical area where the cultural social and economic factors are almost the same.

Different code of conduct -

The more diverse countries you start working into, the more need is there for different code of conduct. Otherwise your rules will not be in relation with the prevailing labor laws.