Question

Select a common ethical issues that may arise in the international business setting from a news source, such as electronic local newspapers, New York Times, International Business Times, Economic Times, or CNN News. Provide a summary of the article. Explain the root cause of these issues. Discuss how managers of international firms should address these issues.

Answer 1

In an international business, the most important ethical issues involve employment practices, human rights, environmental norms, corruption, and t

moral obligation of international corporations.

Ethical issues may be related to employment practices in many nations. The conditions in a host country may be much inferior to those in a multinational’s home nation. Many may suggest that pay and work conditions need to be similar across nations, but no one actually cares about the quantum of this divergence.

12-hour workdays, minimal pay, and indifference in protecting workers from toxic chemicals are common in some developing nations. Is it fine for a multinational to fall prey to the same practice when they chose such developing nations as their host countries? The answers to these questions may seem to be easy, but in practice, they really create huge dilemmas.

Basic human rights are still denied in many nations. Freedom of speech, association, assembly, movement, freedom from political repression, etc. are not universally accepted.

South Africa during the days of white rule and apartheid is an example. It lasted till 1994. The system practiced denial of basic political rights to the majority non-white population of South Africa, segregation between whites and nonwhites was prevalent, some occupations were exclusively reserved for whites, etc. Despite the odious nature of this system, Western businesses operated in South Africa. This unequal consideration depending on ethnicity was questioned right from 1980s. It is still a major ethical issue in international business.

Corruption is an issue in every society in history, and it continues to be so even today. Corrupt government officials are everywhere. International businesses often seem to gain and have gained financial and business advantages by bribing those officials, which is clearly unethical.

In the 1970s, Carl Kotchian, an American business executive who served as the president of Lockheed Corporation, paid $12.5 million to Japanese agents and government officials to sell Lockheed’s TriStar jet to All Nippon Airways. After the case was discovered, U.S. officials charged Lockheed with falsification of its records and tax violations.

The revelations created a scandal in Japan as well. The ministers who took the bribe were charged, and one committed suicide. It even led to the jailing of Japan’s prime minister. The Japanese government fell in disgrace, and the Japanese citizens were outraged. Kotchian had, without doubt, engaged in unethical behavior.