The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business - Report Example

The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business Introduction The Syrian regime uses machinery against its own people. The citizens of Syria are demonstrating against the tyranny of the existing regime along with the demands for their basic human rights, jobs and health and education reforms. But, the Government of Syria is unwilling to accept the legitimate demands of its citizens and uses force against them in which up to 5,000 innocent citizens and foreign journalist has been killed so far. In the following parts of this paper, first findings on the Syria unrest are provided; subsequent to that, ramifications and opinion segment is included. And, before conclusion, recommendations have been included. Syria and Findings The Syrian government excessively uses state machinery to curb the recent wave of uprising in the country. This unrest has begun for last ten months and has been continuing since then. In which, Syrians have come forward to register their discontent against the existing regime and they demand their inalienable political and social rights. In order to get their rights, the ordinary citizens of Syria have started marches and demonstrations against the existing regime. However, instead of receiving their basic rights, they are being suppressed by the state; as a result, a number of ordinary and unarmed Syrians have lost their lives. According to one of BBC reports quoting the UN figures that at least 5,000 civilians have been put to death by the existing regime (BBC, 2012). Due to the severity of chaos in Syria, the Arab League, which is a voluntary organization of Arabic speaking nations (Tucker, 2008, p.126) , have sent their Monitoring Mission to comprehend and determine the scale of the unrest and get the first hand information about the use of force by the Syrian regime against its own people. And, the unrest gets worse when a French journalist, Gilles Jacquier of France 2 television, was killed during the unrest time (Aljazeera, 2012). In the same report of Aljazeera, it is mentioned that the current Syrian regime has committed gross human rights violations not against the armed wing of any army but against its own unarmed people, demanding their basic human rights. Ramifications and Opinion Ramifications differ depending on the decision of doing or not doing business within Syria. The ramifications of not doing business inside Syria would mean that the organization would lose the current lucrative financial figures and financial performance that is being enjoyed by the organization despite the presence of violence in the country. In addition to that, the organization would lose more inflows and revenues which have also been forecasted to be achieved in the coming years. On the other hand, the ramifications of doing business inside Syria may include that the organization would generate the revenue along with maintaining the solid financial performance in the country. However, some other ramifications may appear; such as that the cost of doing business may be increased. For example, during the protest, many protestors clash with the Police and other law enforcing personnel; and, at that time, the possibility of disruption in the business operations cannot be ruled out. In addition to that, the risk of doing business would also be increased as the number of investors would hardly agree to invest in such countries; instead, they prefer to withdraw their existing investments because they fear that their existing investment may not bring the budgeted returns due to the impacts of the unrest in the country. In my opinion, the business must not be halted but should continue as a status quo. Historically, hardly anyone would disagree with the fact that risk is an inbuilt component of business activity; anyone wishing to do business willingly or unwillingly, one has to face the risks associated with the businesses. In addition to that, in the current business environment where globally, the businesses are shutting down due to the impacts of the global financial crisis of 2008 and subsequent slow recovery in the following years, the risks have already grown up. And, under such circumstances, shutting down the business operations due to the political unrest inside the country may not be feasible option; the company must remain in business and should continue as a status quo. Even if, the company considers adopting to halt the business operations till the establishment of normalcy in the country, no one would be there to ensure or provide an exact timetable when the normalcy would be restored in the country. Besides, history has proven that political issues continue for the decades. Recommendations A number of recommendations may be offered towards the continuation of the business in the country: First, it looks pretty clear that the demonstrations take place in Damascus and a few other parts of the country, and, the frequency of demonstrations is not regular but with the gap of some days, the company must ensure limited business activity in those areas and during demonstrations days; and, the business activity must remain usual in the peaceful parts of the country. Second, the company must ensure an active safety and security plan in which, the coordination among the employees must be ensured during the time of demonstrations although the physical facilities along with the company products are insured, yet the rescue plan would enable the organization to minimize the infrastructural and human losses. Although this rescue planning may increase cost of doing business, yet the company looks in a strong financial position and can pay for such costs as well. Third, the company must identify the other potential business areas inside Syria, which have not been touched so far. This would increase the chances of more revenues and could compensate the cost that could be paid in the rescue plan. Conclusion The unrest in Syria has increased in the recent times. And, this has caused number of businesses to shut down or halt their business operations. However, risk management looks more appropriate to the risk avoidance as the company is having insured physical installations and products; and, at the same time, the existing and potential revenues also encourage to doing business in the country. Although it would be challenging, yet it is better option than halting or withdrawing the business operations from the country. References Aljazeera, (2012, January 12). French reporter killed in Syria violence. Aljazeera. Retrieved from: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/01/20121111976555870.html BBC, (2011, December 30). Clashes in Syria as Arab monitors embolden protestors. BBC News Middle East. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16360999 Tucker, S., (ed). (2008). The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A political, social and military history. California: ABC-CLIO Inc. Read More