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Managing Ethical and Social Responsibility Challenges in Multinational Companies

Chapter

Learning Objectives (1 of 2)

Know the definitions of international business ethics and social responsibility.

Understand some basic principles of ethical philosophy relevant to business ethics.

Understand how social institutions and national culture affect ethical decision making and management.

Understand the implications of using ethical relativism and ethical universalism in ethics management.

Learning Objectives (2 of 2)

Identify the basic principles and consequences of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Understand how international agreements affect international business ethics.

Understand the differences among economic, legal, and ethical analyses of business problems

Develop skills in international decision making with ethical consequences.

Ethical Challenges Facing MNCs Worldwide

Every Multinational company faces ethical challenges when operating in a foreign country:

Should we dump our waste in the river knowing the damage it will do, even if such conduct is not illegal?

Should we refuse to bribe a government official, and lose the contract to our competitor?

Should we use cheap child labor, even if its not illegal, just because our competitors do?

Exhibit 4.1: List of the World’s Most Ethical Companies

What is Business Ethics?

Business Ethics: A part of the broader concern for ethical behavior, which affects people and their welfare

Ethics deal with the “shoulds” of life – the rules and values that determine actions people should follow when dealing with other human beings.

Although economic logic dominates business decision making, each business decision also has consequences for people, whether intended or not.

But ethical questions seldom have clear or unambiguous answers.

What is International Business Ethics?

International Business Ethics: unique ethical problems faced by managers operating across national boundaries.

International business ethics differs from domestic business ethics in two ways:

International business is more complex, as different cultures do not agree on what one “should” do.

MNCs often have power and assets that are equal to foreign governments, raising more ethical concerns over the use of such power.

What is Corporate Social Responsibility?

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): the idea that businesses have a responsibility to society beyond making profits

CSR is closely related to business ethics.

CSR is concerned with ethical consequences of company policies and procedures.

Practicing CSR, a business must take into account the welfare of other constituents in addition to stockholders.

Primary and Secondary Stakeholders

Primary Stakeholders:

those who are directly linked to a company’s survival; (i.e., customers, suppliers, employees, and shareholders)

Secondary Stakeholders:

those who are less directly linked to the company’s survival, but have impact; these include the media, trade associations, and special-interest groups

Addressing the needs of both groups is critical.

See Shell Oil in Nigeria, Monsanto’s biotechnology products

Exhibit 4.2: Ethical & Social Responsibility Concerns for the MNC

Ethical Philosophy (1 of 2)

Two approaches to ethical decision making:

Traditional Views

Teleological ethical theories

Morality of an act based on consequences

Utilitarianism: greatest good for greatest number

Deontological ethical theories

Actions are good or bad in and of themselves

Contemporary philosophy

Moral Languages

Ethical Philosophy (2 of 2)

Moral Languages describe the basic ways that people think about ethical decisions and explain their ethical choices

Six basic ethical languages:

Virtue and vice

Self-control

Maximizing human welfare

Avoiding harm

Rights and duties

Social contract

National Differences in Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

National culture and social institutions affect how businesses manage ethical behavior and social responsibility.

Cultural norms & values influence conformity to laws, and bribery, among others.

Social institutions such as religion and the legal system are key institutions that affect what ethical issues are important to a society and how they are managed.

Although there are differences between societies, some actions are universally condemned (i.e., harming children).

Exhibit 4.3: A Model of Institutional & Cultural Effects on Business Ethics Issues & Management

Why Cultural Differences?

Institutional Anomie Theory and other research:

Some national culture and social institutions are likely to encourage breaking norms, justifying ethically suspect behaviors.

National cultures that value high achievement, high individualism, high universalism, high materialism are all related to higher deviance from norms.

Social institutions such as high industrialization, capitalist systems, lower family breakdown, and highly accessible educational systems all encourage deviance from norms.

Exhibit 4.4: Cultural Variations in Acceptance of Ethically Suspect Behaviors

Questionable Payments and Bribery

Questionable Payments are:

Bribes or gifts to expedite government actions or to gain advantage in business deals

In many countries, such payments are expected, and people routinely offer gifts or bribes

Like the U.S., most countries have a law forbidding corrupt practices, but enforcement varies widely.

Implications: Questionable Payments, Bribes

Corruption and bribery can have devastating effects on societies.

Companies routinely use poorer-quality products or materials to make up for the bribe, thus resulting in inferior products with poor quality.

Corruption can also result in collusion among firms, resulting in even higher prices.

Corruption Perception Index

To understand the level of corruption in countries, multinational companies can rely on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI).

CPI, developed by Transparency International, gives an idea of the perceived levels of corruption within countries.

Exhibit 4.5: The CPI for Selected Countries

U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) (1 of 3)

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is the U.S. Law forbidding corrupt practices.

The FCPA forbids US companies from illegal payments or gifts to officials of foreign governments for the sake of getting or retaining business.

A firm may avoid liability if it has no “reason to know” that its agent has paid a bribe.

U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) (2 of 3)

Tricky component is the “reason-to-know” component:

Firms are liable for bribes if bribes are made by agents of the company.

Firms often use local agents, as they have “local know how” in conducting business.

Firms are liable if its common knowledge that agents bribe officials to commit illegal acts.

If no knowledge or reason to expect illegal agent behavior, then firm is not held liable.

U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) (3 of 3)

The FCPA does not prohibit some forms of payments that may occur in international business:

Payments made under duress to avoid injury or violence

Small payments to encourage officials to do legitimate and routine jobs

Payments which are lawful in a country

“Grease” payments which do not seek illegal ends, but are used to speed up normal business

Exhibit 4.6: Excerpts, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (1 of 2)

Exhibit 4.6: Excerpts, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (2 of 2)

Exhibit 4.7: FCPA: Number of Convictions

Exhibit 4.8: FCPA: Civil & Criminal Fines

Toward Transnational Ethics

Globalization dramatically increases contact among people from different ethical and cultural systems.

This contact creates pressure for ethical convergence, and the development of transnational agreements among nations to govern business practices.

Despite differences in cultures, there are growing pressures to follow the same rules in managing ethical behavior and social responsibility.

Four Basic Reasons for Ethical Convergence

The growth of international trade and trading blocks

Interaction between trading partners which increases pressures to imitate business practices

Employees of varied cultural background who require common standards for conduct

An increasing number of business watchdogs

Prescriptive Ethics

Prescriptive Ethics: Suggested guidelines for the ethical behavior of MNCs

Three moral languages should guide MNCs:

Avoiding harm

Rights and duties

Social contract

These three are the easiest to specify in written codes

Are also most appropriate in heterogeneous cultures

Sources of International Ethics Guidelines (1 of 2)

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The United Nations Code of Conduct on Transnational Corporations

The European Convention on Human Rights

The International Chamber of Commerce Guidelines for International Investment

Sources of International Ethics Guidelines (2 of 2)

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises

The Helsinki Final Act

The International Labor Office Tripartite Declarations of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy

These may be sources for the Code of Conduct for the Multinational Company.

Code of Conduct for the Multinational

Two basic rationales:

Basic deontological principles dealing with human rights (such as the right to work, right to be safe)

History of experiences in international business interactions (MNCs often ignore the environment)

However, despite agreements, MNCs may not always follow ethical principles.

Even if such Codes are not enforceable, they provide a safe guide to ethical conduct for management.

Exhibit 4.9: A Code of Conduct for the Multinational Company

The Ethical Dilemma in Multinational Management: How Will You Decide?

Ethical relativism vs. Ethical universalism

Ethical relativism: Each society’s view of ethics must be considered legitimate and ethical. (When in Rome…)

Ethical universalism: Basic moral principles transcend cultural and national boundaries

Difficulty in following either standard

Ethical relativism can become convenient relativism.

Convenient Relativism; Extreme Moral Universalism

Convenient Relativism occurs when companies use the logic of ethical relativism to behave any way they please, using differences in cultures as an excuse.

Similarly, extreme moral universalism can lead to problems of cultural imperialism in which managers assume they know the correct and ethical ways of behaving, viewing other values as inferior.

Individual Ethical Decision Making for the Multinational Manager

Forms of analyses:

Economic analysis: focuses on what is the best decision for a company’s profits

Legal analysis: focuses on only meeting legal requirements of host and parent countries

Ethical analysis: goes beyond focusing on profit goals and legal regulations to consider what is the “right” thing to do.

For the MNC Manager: Individual Ethical Decision Making

Ethical analysis has 3 components:

One’s organization

The national culture where the firm operates

Personal ethical beliefs

Purely ethical issues must be weighed against economic and legal analyses.

MNCs are guests in other nations, and their actions will impact their host country and its inhabitants.

Exhibit 4.10: Decision Points for Ethical Decision Making in Multinational Management

Summary

Chapter 4 provides background on business ethics.

Multinational managers face ethical dilemmas similar to their domestic counterparts.

Challenges are magnified by the complexity of working across different countries and cultures.

National contexts influence ethics in organizations.

Despite some convergence, ethical differences exist.

The individual MNC manager must decide.