International Business Ethics - Essay Example

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ETHICS By Why Is Business Ethics Regarded As Necessary? Ethics is an emerging issuethat has revolutionised the business sector. It is indeed crucial for business organisations to uphold ethical practices since the modern world of business focusses entirely on an organisation’s commitment to ethical practices. With business ethics in place, the stakeholders of the firm will want to be more associated with the company, for instance, as it will attract more clients to purchase its products and services. Moreover, ethical firms encourage and attract a good talent of employees that builds a long term working relation with and this minimizes employee turnover and boosts retention. That notwithstanding, the emphasis of business ethics attracts many potential employees as well as investors to the organisation because such stakeholders always want to be associated with organisations that observes ethical business practices (Mitchell, 2009). 2. Who is Jeremy Bentham and why is he a significant figure in philosophical ethics? Jeremy Bentham was a renowned philosopher, social reformer and jurist who came from England. He lived from1748 to 1832. Through his entire life, he was determined in transforming the English legal system by coming up with more comprehensive legal apparatus that took into consideration all aspects of the fundamental rights of the people. Bentham is a significant figure in philosophical ethics given the enormous contribution that he made, which shaped what is regarded as the modern utilitarianism. Most of his scholarly works were founded from the ideologies of Hume, and it is from that perspective that he came up with the principle of utility that is popular in modern times as utilitarianism. According to Bentham, everything that happens in the world occurs with two motives either to cause pain or happiness. The acts that cause pain are undesirable, and thus people tend to avoid them since they cause discomfort to those involved. On the other hand, acts that cause happiness are regarded as pleasant, and they result in good for the greatest number of people. Thus, from this analogy the modern principle of utilitarianism that states “any act that is done should result in goodness for the greatest number of people” came into existence (Cory, 2005). 3. Why according to Joel Bakan do corporations have the personality of a psychopath? Bakan argues that organisations are designed in a manner that they are bestowed with the privileges of an artificial person but through their power, influence, and great financial ability they these same rights that have been granted to them. The personality of a psychopath can be elaborated from four major points of view. To begin with corporations are irresponsible, they can do whatever it takes as long as they are in pursuit of their corporate objectives, that is, to create wealth for their shareholders. In this sense, they can perform operations and engage in activities that hurts or puts other people at risk but, that is, least of their concern since all they want to achieve is their corporate goals. Relatively, corporations are manipulative and believe they are superior to their rivals (Beer, 2010) Despite some form of hierarchical organisation being present in the market, a firm will often brag that it offers superior or the best solutions in order to manipulate its potential consumers into purchasing its goods and services. Such scenarios lead to a situation in which the consumers are duped into buying products and services through misleading information coming from marketing platforms. Conversely, a corporation is superficial in the sense that they portray a positive image to the general public that is often not the real case. For instance, a company that is unethical in its practices, will run commercial ads in the media that purports to depict the right image in a bid to attract customers and investors but in the real sense the rapport that is being created in the media is not the reality (Cory, 2001). 4. For the economist Jeffrey Sachs, why does Sub-Saharan Africa Still experience such high levels of extreme poverty? Sub-Saharan Africa suffers a high poverty index due to a mix of factors both within and without the continent. To begin with internal factors have acted as bottlenecks that have hindered development in this region despite the massive economic potential that is in place. For instance, a significant number of Sub-Saharan countries have oil deposits but these resources have not benefitted the ordinary people much since a huge junk of their proceeds are shared among the leaders; little channelled to development programs while others are repatriated by multinationals to their countries. In a country like Nigeria, there is a couple of individuals with massive wealth while there are millions of citizens living in poverty surviving on less than a dollar a day. Corruption is thus the cause of poverty in Africa since the national cake is not equally divided among the citizens; those that are in power tend to use more resources for their personal interests rather than for the benefit of the society. Civil unrest and weak governance structures are yet other factors that have left the region languishing in poverty. There are no elaborate provisions that safeguard the nations’ resources, and thus the existing have loopholes through which public resources are utilised for individual gains, thus excluding a large percentage of the population from benefiting. Illegal outflow from the continent is another factor that has escalated the issue of poverty. Western nations have instituted unfair business policies that do not favour sub-Saharan countries in the global platform. Furthermore, the massive cost of adapting to climate change has claimed the continent billions of dollars that are payable to global nations; hence, resulting in a substantial amount of the continent’s resources being drained away (Peterson, 2005). 5. In what ways can global organised crime contribute to the development and economic prosperity? International organised crime is a very delicate issue that requires stringent measures for it to be put under control. It has numerous adverse effects that spill back to the communities and societies in which the crimes are perpetrated. An issues such as drug trafficking leads to drug addiction among members of the communities that gets the supplies which on the other hand will lead to a society whereby its youth will be deprived of crime and other forms of social evils. However, organised crime can contribute to the development and economic prosperity of nations in two main ways. To begin with the monies that are laundered or got through dubious methods such as piracy of proceeds from drug trade can be invested in the economy in a more meaningful way (Peterson, 2005). Case in point, in the height of piracy off the Indian Ocean, the shore along the Somalia border the ransom money that the pirates were receiving was invested in commercial properties and the service sector in Kenya. The investments through from uncouth channels created wealth and jobs for the distinct society where the capital was invested. In places like Columbia, the drug kingpins of that nation often offer money for charity and have even established free services to the poor who cannot afford to cater for their social amenities. The proceeds that come from drug trafficking are indeed enormous and thus the drug lords have established an initiative of giving back to the poor communities through the provision of free health services, drinking water, food and also they offer aid to people that are in dire need of assistance for instance due to disasters such as fire, earthquakes or even diseases. It is imperative to note that though the capital used to invest in those noble operations is from questionable channels at least the economic prosperity of those distinct societies will have been alleviated (Machan and Chesher, 2002). 9. What are some of the critical environmental problems facing the world today? Has International business made a serious attempt to solve these environmental problems? Environmental conservation is among the agendas that are being discussed in almost every global convention or business summits that held across the universe. It has become such a pertinent issue that it is being prioritised in every aspect of human life. All these are happening due to the danger that environmental pollution is posing to life on earth. Stakeholders from all disciplines are pooling efforts to ensure the matter is addressed with utmost care to avoid any form of catastrophe befalling the world. There are a number of environmental issues that are under watch some of them are discussed below. Global warming is one of the significant environmental challenge that the modern world is facing. Because of the serious effects or consequences that accompany this problem, it is necessary that initiatives and measures are institute to mitigate its effects (Homann, Koslowski, & Luetge, 2007). Global warming is a danger to life on earth as it literally transforms the world into an inhabitable place, thus causing mass fatalities from its effects. Clean and renewable energy is another environmental aspect that is under intense debate all over the world. Nations and business entities are always indulging, in research, to come up with alternative energy sources that are environmentally friendly and that can sustain the needs and energy demands of the world. Alternatives such as wind power, geothermal energy as well as nuclear energy have been explored, but each of them has its share of negative effects. The twenty-first century has been characterised by massive industrialisation, especially in the developing countries, thus increasing the demand for energy. Given the current sustainability measures that are being sought and implemented, it would not be imperative for these nations to rely on oil since it’s the primary cause of ozone gasses depletion, which results in global warming. Thus, governments and businesses are encouraged to weigh their options on the kind of energy they are utilising together with their associated effects to the environment (Peterson, 2005). Technological dynamism has made the issue of electronic and nuclear waste a contentious issue globally. Every day a new concept is discovered and so is the mode of operation. Thus, the developed nations are getting rid of their obsolete machines to the developing world, which they in turn have to catch-up with the technological trends in the market. The above situation has led to a scenario in which there is a huge pile up of electronic waste that poses a risk to the environment given the kind of heavy metals the machines are manufactured from. Wastes from nuclear energy reactors are very dangerous if they are not disposed of properly. Degradation of natural resources such as water and wildlife is another environmental problem that the modern world is facing that is threatening both lives and doing business (Brenkert, and Beauchamp, 2010). International business has made a number of efforts aimed at curbing the environmental problems that the world is currently facing. The United Nations Environmental Program has stipulated measures that need to be followed to ensure all bilateral trade agreements between nations are in accordance to the set rules, which promotes environmental conservation. In this conventions, governments are tasked to regulate the manner in which business organisations within their jurisdiction conduct their operations. Issues such as emission of carbon compounds to the environment are strictly monitored by government agencies to ensure no business contravenes them. That notwithstanding, before business are allowed to conduct their operations across the borders they have to be certified to ensure they are fit for the particular activity and that they abide or meet certain regulatory provisions that safeguards the environment (Homann, Koslowski, & Luetge, 2007). The current world is under the threat of environmental risks if the right mitigation efforts are not undertaken. Thus, the international business community has taken the issue with environmental conservation so severe that sustainability is more crucial than profit maximization. It is prudent to note that if companies do not operate with sustainable objectives the resources that are being exploited with be depleted leaving the world like a useless jungle (Peterson, 2005). To safeguard the limited resources that are in place for our use and the use of the coming generations’ sustainable measures have to be implemented to ensure equitable use of the available resources. Internationally it is a requirement for business firms to provide sustainability reports annually to demonstrate their efforts in conserving the environment. Some companies are operating in crucial industries whose impact on the environment is very grave thus without proper regulation they tend to cause much damage to the environment than the revenues that come out of their operations (Wicks, 2010). For instance, in the transport industries the players are required to indicate in their yearly sustainability report their carbon path and what efforts have been put in place to cut on carbon emissions to the environment as a result of the fuels that are used in the vehicles or any other medium of transportation. Such moves impose some sort of pressure on organizations to act in a rational manner since stakeholders are increasingly focussing on corporate social responsibility and sustainability efforts of firms to determine whether or not to be associated with them. Turnover or assets base of business firms is no longer the primary element that attracts stakeholders to any companies business has taken a holistic perspective whereby organization are judged from all-around criteria of aspects of their performance (Peterson, 2005). Global business governing bodies in conjunction with environmental conservation organizations have come up with programs that recognize the efforts of firms in their pursuit to enhance sustainability through the conservation of the available resources. It is prudent that even the general public has been very conscious about environmental issues since the threat of global warming is affecting entirely everybody with the climate changes in various parts of the world the reality is dawning at everyone that environmental conservation is no longer an option. Non-governmental organization and other rights group have been on the forefront to bring business firms to task for any irregular kind of activities that may jeopardize environmental conservation (Peterson, 2005). They analyse the industrial operation of companies and come up with reports that outline those that have made positive efforts to make the world a sustainable habitat at the same time describing those that continue to impose adverse effects on the environment. A number of organizations have been sued for irregular operations that are threatening the environment and ended up being slapped with enormous fines. However, some unscrupulous business people are not environmental conscious; thus their profit maximization objective supersedes sustainability efforts in their surroundings (Wicks, 2010). Individual countries have formulated their own laws, as well as the international community, has come up with regulations that govern the manner in which business should be conducted in a sustainable manner. Some regions especially those in the developing world are paying a substantial amount of their revenue to environmental sustainability programs as a result of international conventions that stipulates the same. Most of the developing nations rely on petroleum as the primary source of energy that drives their economy, however, the environmental impact of this kind of power is enormous and thus to mitigate its effects the nations are bound to pay for the damage they are causing to the environment (Bredeson, 2012). Business and the environment tend to be correlated as each affects the other to some degree. The environment will provide natural resources for business people to exploit them to create utility out of them in order to satisfy the needs of their clients. On the other hand, if the business operation are not carried out responsibly they will deplete the natural resources or rather contaminate the environment leading to a situation where ecological changes render the natural resources useless or make them diminish entirely. For instance, a company that depends on wood as its main raw material for its manufacturing process will be cutting forests for wood but also planting new trees for sustainability purposes. The moment it fails to replenish the forest reserves through reforestation there will reach a point where all the forest resources will be depleted, and this will have affected the climate to cause a desert situation meaning no more tree will grow in that ecosystem. The scenario elaborates how the two entities relate with each other, the moment the business world neglects the environment with time it will fall short of its raw materials and force them to close operations (Wicks, 2010). International business takes place in various facets, for instance, there is regional trade between nations in a particular geographical region, and there is a trans-regional trade that is done between far-flung nations. Each part happens to have its set of regulations that govern how business operations are conducted within the area. Global warming and other environmental problems have necessitated for stringent rules being implemented to safeguard the environment, as well as the future of international trade. In countries like the USA, and UK, environmental regulations that stipulate a minimum amount of carbon compounds that can be emitted to the environment have been enacted. Failure to comply with such regulations often leads to the concerned business being shut down. For this reason, ships or aeroplanes that are travelling to these regions for business purposes have to adhere to the set regulations; hence, they are banned from operation, in addition to, being subjected to heavy fines (Homann, Koslowski, & Luetge, 2007). Trading of environmental sensitive commodities has been banned in major markets across the world. There are international conventions that have been instituted that bans the trading of particular goods such as products from wildlife or rather endangered species. Such regulations provides that businesses found dealing in such products faces the full force of regional and international law, in addition to, being deregistered. All these efforts are meant to create a level business environment that promotes environmental conservation and sustainability to ensure international business is safeguarded for the coming generations (Wicks, 2010). References Beer, L. A., 2010. A strategic and tactical approach to global business ethics. 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Business ethics: a managerial approach. Boston, Prentice Hall. Read More