The urgency of ethical standards for global economic activity manifests itself
in three areas in particular:
Photos:
Left: Temple complex in Sri Lanka
Middle: Nameplate: “The Royal Court” in Bhutan
Culture
Different cultures generally have different value systems. What is condemned in the West,
e.g. child labour, discrimination against women, may well be the rule, or a least be tolerated,
in other cultural systems. Such differences can be used by international corporations to gain
competitive advantages.
Such cultural differences, should not, however, serve as an alibi for circumventing minimal
ethical standards related to social life, to the environment or to human rights.
Justice
Legislation and jurisprudence have developed in quite different directions
among the countries of the world. What is forbidden and punished in some countries,
e.g. corruption and bribery is often the rule in other countries.
Businesspeople and managers cannot always rely simply on the legal systems of
foreign countries. It is not enough to claim legality for decision-making and business
practices; these must also be ethically responsible.
Responsibility
Multinational companies today often have more real power than many a nation. However, whereas nations,
at least in principle, have to answer to their citizens, business enterprises feel responsible only to
their shareholders, ignoring the larger group of stakeholders, to which belong all those affected by
the economic activity of the company i.e. their employees, their customers, those whom they affect in any way.
Furthermore, globalisation makes state control of economic activity increasingly difficult.
For this reason, in recent years, the demand has grown louder, for business enterprises to face up to
their corporate responsibilities.
