Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Business
• Marketing and safety practices
• - Nestle: Baby Killers; Union Carbide: Bhopal
– Bribes—Relatively large
amounts of money given far – Money given, often to high-
the purpose of influencing ranking officials. Purpose is
officials to make decisions often to get these persons to
or take actions that they purchase goods or services
otherwise might not take. from the bribing firm.
Arguments For and Against
‘Bribery’
For Against
• A necessary tool • Wrong/illegal
• Accepted practice • Compromise personal
• Form of beliefs
commission, tax, or • Promotes government
compensation corruption
• Benefits recipient only
• Creates dependence on
corruption
• Deceives stockholders
Improving Global Business
Ethics
Integrative Social Contract Theory
(ISCT)
• Hypernorms-- transcultural values including
fundamental human rights
• Consistent norms-- norms that are culturally
specific, but consistent with hypernorms
• Moral free space norms-- strongly held cultural
beliefs in countries that are in tension with
hypernorms
• Illegitimate norms– those norms that are
incompatible with hypernorms
Improving Global Business
Ethics
Fundamental International Rights
1. The right to physical 6. The right to physical
movement security
2. The right to ownership 7. The right to freedom of
of property speech and association
3. The right to freedom 8. The right to minimal
from torture education
4. The right to a fair trial 9. The right to political
5. The right to participation
nondiscrimination 10.The right to subsistence
Using ISCT: The Case of Bribery
• Is bribery part of moral free space or is it
an illegitimate norm?
• 1) violates agent / principal contract
• 2) against law in all countries
• 3) violates political participation hypernorm
• 4) violates economic efficiency hypernorm
• Conclusion: Bribery is an illegitimate norm
Trends Against Bribery
ETHICAL CULTURAL
IMPERIALISM RELATIVISM
Broad
Home Country Middle Ground Host Country