CHAPTER 5
Codifying Business Ethics IS
IT LESS DISHONEST TO DO WHAT IS WRONG, BECAUSE
IT IS NOT EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED BY WRITTEN LAW?
– THOMAS JEFFERSON across borders and wield immense power and influence on the societies that court and play host to them. There is one school of thought that claims today’s international corporations have usurped the power of governments and multinational organizations and are now the entities that have the most power to affect change on a global scale. While it is true that the expansion of cross-border business has handed enormous power to these corporations, it is just as true that “big business” is often mistrusted and its motives questioned. The unfortunate fact is that not all companies play by all the rules all of the time. With the development of borderless business and trade, and the explosive growth of global e-commerce on the Internet, multinational corporations are finding themselves doing business in different cultures with often dramatically different sets of laws and customs. Sometimes the challenges are as simple as producing an accurate and nuanced translation of a business document or arranging a conference call at a convenient time for cross-cultural team members located halfway around the globe. Other times the clash of cultures can lead to a major and costly crisis—especially when it comes to the practice of business ethics. Operating so far from home—and away from a friendly comfortable culture— multinational corporations are beginning to appreciate the importance of the rule of law in the far flung countries in which they operate as well as the institutions that support the law. Without the basic rule of law, the global economic system risks outright collapse. The need for assurances that customers, suppliers, business partners and governments will act ethically and consistently has never been greater. Many corporations and governments are just now beginning to realize that good ethical conduct is in their own best interest
LARGE GLOBAL FIRMS OPERATE
Reality Bites: Hard Choices So if the reality is that each country and each region has its own business ethics, history and standards, how can a multinational corporation effectively cope with a myriad of often conflicting customs and ethics? For some companies, working and adapting to a different culture may mean they are required to make ethical compromises to do business in that culture. This may, in turn, lead them to do business in a way that is not only different from how they do business at home—it may actually be contradictory, if not downright illegal.
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