VNH3.TB5.

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O C KINH DOANH TI VIT NAM THC TI V GII PHP

TS. Nguyn Hong nh i hc Ngoi thng - H Ni

1. Gii thiu chung 1.1 Khi nim v o c kinh doanh Nghin cu v o c l mt truyn thng lu i trong x hi loi ngi, bt ngun t nhng nim tin v tn gio, vn ha v t tng trit hc. o c lin quan ti nhng cam kt v lun l, trch nhim v cng bng x hi. o c trong ting Anh l ethics, t ny bt ngun t ting Hy Lp ethiko v ethos, ngha l phong tc hoc tp qun. Nh Aristoteles ni, khi nim trn bao gm tng c v tnh cht v cch p dng. V vy, o c phn nh tnh cch ca c nhn v trong thi i ngy nay th c th ni ln c tnh cht ca mt doanh nghip, v doanh nghip chnh l tp hp ca cc c nhn. o c kinh doanh l mt khi nim khng c m cng khng mi. Vi t cch l mt kha cnh lun l trong hot ng thng mi, o c kinh doanh lu i nh chnh thng mi vy. Trong b lut Hammurabi t khong 1700 TCN, c quy nh v gi c, thu quan, cch thc hot ng thng mi v c hnh pht h khc cho nhng k khng tun th. c th c coi l bng chng cho s n lc u tin ca x hi loi ngi phn nh ranh gii o c cho cc hot ng kinh doanh. Trong tc phm Politics (ra i vo khong nm 300 TCN), Aristoteles ch ra r rng nhng mi lin h thng mi khi bn v qun l gia nh. Gio l ca c o Do Thi v Thin Cha gio, v d nh trong Talmud (nm 200 sau Cng nguyn) v Mi iu rn (Exodus 20:2 - 17; Deuteronomy 5:6 - 21), u a ra nhng quy tc o c c p dng trong hot ng thng mi. Tuy nhin, vi t cch l mt khi nim mang tnh hn lm, o c kinh doanh cng mi ch tn ti c khong bn chc nm tr li y. Nh nghin cu o c kinh doanh ni ting Norman Bowie l ngi u tin a ra khi nim ny trong mt Hi ngh Khoa hc vo nm 19741. K t , o c kinh doanh tr thnh mt ch ph bin trong cc cuc tranh lun ca cc lnh o trong gii kinh doanh, ngi lao ng, cc c ng, ngi tiu dng cng nh cc gio s i hc M, v t lan ra ton th gii. Tuy nhin, khng phi tt c nhng nh nghin cu, cc tc gi v din gi u c chung quan im v o c kinh doanh. Trc ht, gia kinh doanh v o c lun c s mu thun. Mt mt, x hi lun mong mun cc cng ty to ra nhiu vic lm lng cao, nhng

Marcoux, A.M (2006), The concept of business in business ethics, Journal of private enterprise, April 1, 2006.

mt khc, nhng cng ty ny li mong mun gim bt chi ph v nng cao nng sut lao ng. Ngi tiu dng lun mong mun mua hng vi gi thp nht cn cc c s thng mi li mun c li sut cao nht. X hi mong mun gim nhim mi trng, cn cc cng ty li mun gim ti a chi ph pht sinh khi tun th cc quy nh v bo v mi trng trong hot ng sn xut ca h. Chnh t ny sinh xung t khng th trnh khi trong quan nim v o c kinh doanh, do khc bit v li ch ca cng ty vi li ch ca ngi lao ng, ngi tiu dng v ton th x hi. V tt c nhng iu i lp ni trn l tt yu nn cc nh qun l buc phi lm sao cn bng li ch ca cng ty vi li ch ca cc c ng (shareholders) v nhng ngi c quyn li lin quan (stakeholders), bao gm nhn vin, khch hng v ton th cng ng2. Cho n nay, cc nh nghin cu a ra rt nhiu khi nim v o c kinh doanh, trong khi nim sau c th c coi l n gin nht: o c kinh doanh l nhng nguyn tc c chp nhn phn nh ng sai, nhm iu chnh hnh vi ca cc nh kinh doanh3. nh ngha ny kh chung chung, v th cng b qua nhiu nhn t quan trng, v d nh: nhng loi hnh vi no nhng nguyn tc o c c th iu chnh; Hay nhng ai c th c coi l nh kinh doanh v hnh vi ca h cn c iu chnh nh th no? thc c s phc tp ca vn , gio s Phillip V. Lewis t trng i hc Abilene Christian, Hoa K tin hnh iu tra v thu thp c 185 nh ngha c a ra trong cc sch gio khoa v cc bi nghin cu t nm 1961 n 1981 tm ra o c kinh doanh c nh ngha ra sao trong cc ti liu nghin cuv trong thc ca cc nh kinh doanh. Sau khi tm ra nhng im chung ca cc khi nim trn, ng tng hp li v a ra khi nim v o dc kinh doanh nh sau: o c kinh doanh l tt c nhng quy tc, tiu chun, chun mc o c hoc lut l cung cp ch dn v hnh vi ng x chun mc v s trung thc (ca mt t chc) trong nhng trng hp nht nh4. Nh vy, theo khi nim ny, o c kinh doanh bao gm nhng vn sau: Quy tc, tiu chun, chun mc o c hoc cc lut l c a ra thc hin nhm ngn chn cc hnh vi sai nguyn tc o c.V d nh: Nu Lut Lao ng ca mt quc gia quy nh ph n c quyn ngang vi n ng trong cng vic, s c th ngn chn s phn bit gii tnh ca nhng ngi thu lao ng khi tuyn dng. Hnh vi ng vi o c - hnh vi c nhn ph hp vi l cng bng, lut php v cc tiu chun khc; hnh vi c nhn phi ng vi thc tin, hp l v trung thc. Mt

Vickers, Mark R., Business Ethics and the HR Role: Past, Present, and Future, Human Resource Planning, January 1, 2005. 3 Brenner, S. N. (1992), "Ethics Programs and Their Dimensions". Journal of Business Ethics, 11,391-399 4 Phillip V. Lewis (1985), Defining 'Business Ethics': Like Nailing Jello to a Wall, Journal of Business Ethics 4 (1985) 377-383. 0167-4544/85/.15

ngi lm kinh doanh lun phi lu l mi ngi u phi c trch nhim vi nhng hu qu xut pht t hnh vi ca mnh. Ngha l, ngi khng c php lm bt k iu g c th khin hnh nh ca h b lung lay. S trung thc - mi cu ni, mi hnh ng ca h u phi mang tnh thc t hoc th hin s tht. C th a ra v d, nh Li m u ca nhng quy tc trong x hi ca cc nh bo chuyn nghip c ghi: Chng ta tin vo s khai sng x hi nh mt ngi tin phong ca cng l, cng nh tin vo vai tr ca Hin php trong tm ra s tht v mt phn quyn li ca x hi l c bit s tht. iu kh khn nht trong nghin cu o c ni chung v o c kinh doanh ni ring, chnh l xc nh ci g ng v ci g sai. iu c coi l ng n v mt o l vi ngi ny c th khng ng vi ngi khc; nhng iu hm nay cn ng th mai thnh sai. Lewis t tn n l Trng hp c trng - nhng tnh hung m s lng tng trong suy xt o l c nhn cn n phn quyt mang tnh o c. V d: Hip hi Y t Hoa K thng qua nguyn tc hot ng khch quan ca h l phc v nhn loi vi ton th s tn trng phm cch con ngi. Nhng bc s iu tr phi quan tm n khng ch c nhn ngi bnh m cn n ton x hi. Nh vy, bt k hnh vi no khng v mc ch nng cao sc khe v hnh phc ca c nhn v cng ng s c coi l phi o c. Ferrels v John Fraedrich c mt cch nh ngha khc v o c kinh doanh: theo o c kinh doanh bao gm nhng nguyn tc c bn v tiu chun iu chnh hnh vi trong th gii kinh doanh. Tuy nhin, vic nh gi mt hnh vi c th l ng hay sai, ph hp vi o c hay khng s c quyt nh bi nh u t, nhn vin, khch hng, cc nhm c quyn li lin quan, h thng php l cng nh cng ng5. V nh ngha ny c nhiu phn trng vi nh ngha ca Lewis nhng li th hin r rng hn nhng ngi c lin quan n o c kinh doanh, nn s c s dng trong bi vit ny. Theo nh ngha ny, o c kinh doanh c rt nhiu im chung vi s tun th lut php, trch nhim ca doanh nghip vi x hi, nhng vn c lin quan n quyn li v ngha v v mt o l gia cng ty vi c ng: nh trch nhim y thc, so snh khi nim c ng (shareholders) vi khi nim ngi c chung quyn li (stakeholders)iu ny c ngha l o c kinh doanh khng ch bao gm vic tun th php lut m cn quan tm n vic bo v quyn li cho nhng ngi c lin quan n hot ng ca doanh nghip v quyn li ca cng ng. 1.2. Phng php v mc ch nghin cu Bi vit ny nhm nghin cu nhng vn sau y: (1) o c kinh doanh l g v n c im g khc bit vi quan nim chung v o c kinh doanh Vit Nam? (2) Thc trng o c kinh doanh Vit Nam hin nay v (3) Gii php nng cao o c kinh
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Ferrels and John Fraedrich , Business ethics- Ethical decision making and cases, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005.

doanh Vit Nam trong tng lai. Cho d gn y c rt nhiu nghin cu v bi vit c trong v ngoi nc v Vit Nam nhng hu ht ngi vit v cc nh chuyn mn ch tp trung vo phn tch cc thnh qu kinh t ca chng ta. Mt s bi bo c nhc n o c kinh doanh, nhng cho n nay, cha c bi no a ra ci nhn tng quan v thc trng o c kinh doanh ti Vit Nam. Cc d liu v ch ny c thu thp t c hai ngun thng tin s cp v th cp. Thng tin th cp l nhng sch bo trong cc lnh vc lin quan nh kinh doanh, o c kinh doanh, Marketing v kinh doanh quc t. Cc bi bo c la chn t Business Premier Source, mt c s d liu v cc bi nghin cu c uy tn trn th gii, t nm 2000 n nay. Thng tin s cp c thu thp t mt cuc iu tra x hi hc tin hnh ti H ni cui nm 2007. Hn 100 nh kinh doanh v sinh vin cc khoa Kinh doanh Quc t v Qun tr kinh doanh ti i hc Ngoi thng c la chn ngu nhin tr li mt bn cu hi ngn gn. Ngoi phn nhng cu hi chung v cu hi phn loi, ni dung chnh ca bn cu hi ny gm 10 cu hi, bao gm nhng vn c lin quan n o c kinh doanh nh: Bn bao gi nghe v o c kinh doanh cha? hay o c kinh doanh, theo bn, ngha l g? cho n kin trong mt s trng hp c th. Sau khi loi b nhng phiu tr li khng hp l, chng ti thu c 100 bn tr li, trong 80 bn l ca gii doanh nghip v 20 bn l ca sinh vin t nm th nht n nm th 3 ti i hc Ngoi thng, H ni. Mt s sinh vin tng lm vic bn thi gian ti cc doanh nghip. Phng php t l trong phng php lun miu t c s dng phn tch cc d liu theo 3 giai on. Trong giai on 1, tt c cc bn tr li c phn tch a ra mt ci nhn tng quan v o c kinh doanh VIt Nam. Trong giai on 2, ch nhng cu tr li ca nhm sinh vin c phn tch v trong giai on 3, kt qu phn tch ca 2 giai on trn c so snh vi nhau a ra kt lun. 2. Thc trng o c kinh doanh Vit Nam o c kinh doanh l mt vn mi Vit Nam. Cc vn nh o c kinh doanh, vn ha kinh doanh, vn ha doanh nghip mi ch ni ln k t khi Vit Nam thc hin chnh sch i mi v tham gia vo qu trnh quc t ha v tan cu ha vo nm 1991. Trc , trong thi kinh t k hoch tp trung, nhng vn ny cha bao gi c nhc ti. Trong thi k bao cp, mi hot ng kinh doanh u do Nh nc ch o, v th nhng hnh vi c o c c coi l nhng hnh vi tun th lnh cp trn. Do khan him hu ht hng ha tiu dng, mua c l rt kh, nn khng ai c th phn nn v cht lng hng ha. V cu vt qu cung, cht lng phc v trong mng li cung cp v cng thp nhng t ngi dm than phin. Vo thi gian , cc ngnh cng nghip ca Vit Nam cha pht trin, c rt t nh sn xut v hu ht u thuc s hu nh nc, nn khng cn quan tm n vn thng hiu hay s hu tr tu. Hu ht lao ng u lm vic cho nh nc, ni m k lut v ch lng thng u thng nht v n gin. Tm c vic lm trong c quan Nh nc l rt kh khn nn khng c chuyn nh cng hay mu thun lao ng. Mi hot ng trong x hi u phi tun th quy nh ca Nh nc nn nhng phm tr trn l khng cn thit.
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Tuy nhin, k t khi Vit Nam tham gia quc t ha, c nhiu phm tr mi c xut hin nh: quyn s hu tr tu, an ton thc phm, nh cng, th trng chng khon v v th khi nim o c kinh doanh tr nn ph bin hn trong x hi. Qua kt qu phn tch cc s liu iu v nhng ti liu thu thp qua sch bo, chng ta c th rt ra c nhng kt lun sau v thc trng o c kinh doanh Vit Nam. 2.1. Nhn thc ca ngi Vit Nam v o c kinh doanh Cho n nay, c rt t sch chuyn mn v o c kinh doanh c xut bn Vit Nam, v hu ht l c dch t sch ca M. Cun sch u tin v ti ny c xut bn Vit Nam c l l cun: WHAT'S ETHICAL IN BUSINESS? by Verne E. Henderson, ca Nh xut bn McGraw - Hill Ryerson. Cun sch ny c dch gi H Kim Chung dch l o c kinh doanh l g? v c Nh Xut bn Vn ha pht hnh thng 11 nm 1996. Tuy nhin, ni dung cun sch kh m h, khng y , nn khng gy c nhiu s ch trong gii nghin cu Vit Nam. Thi gian gn y, do p lc ca tin trnh ton cu ha, c kh nhiu bi bo trn cc bo v tp ch nh: Chng ta (Tp ch lu hnh ni b ca cng ty FPT, website: www.chungta.com) hay bo Din n doanh nghip (t thi bo cho gii doanh nhn Vit Nam do Phng Thng mi v Cng nghip Vit Nam - VCCI pht hnh, website: www.dddn.com.vn) v mt s bo v tp ch khc nh: Saigon Times, Thi bo kinh t Si Gn, bo Lao ng, etc. Nhng cc bi bo ny thng ch dng vic nhn nh v nhng s kin gn y Vit Nam c lin quan n o c kinh doanh hoc cung cp v mt s v vic trn cc sach bo nc ngoi, ch khng tin hnh kho st hay a ra mt khi nim c th no v o c kinh doanh. Hu ht cc trng i hc, Cao ng dy v kinh doanh Vit Nam u cha c mn hc ny, hoc nu c cng ch dng hnh thc mn t chn. Trong ni dung ca cc mn hc c lin quan nh kinh doanh quc t hay qun tr kinh doanh cng cha cp n khi nim ny, hoc nu c th ni dung cng qu s si. V d, trong gio trnh mn Vn ha kinh doanh ti mt trng i hc Kinh t Vit Nam c ginh mt chng cho o c kinh doanh nhng li coi o c kinh doanh l vic tun th php lup trong kinh doanh! Quan nim nh vy l qu hn hp, cha nh gi ht tm quan trng ca khi nim ny. Do p lc ca tin trnh ton cu ha, cc phng tin thng tin i chng Vit Nam cp kh nhiu n vn ny nhng li khng a ra c mt khi nim chun mc no. Chnh v vy, mc d thng c nghe v o c kinh doanh nhng cch hiu ca ngi dn, ca cc doanh nghip v vn ny cn kh m h. Thc trng c th hin kh r qua kt qu ca cuc iu tra. 40/60 s ngi c hi thng xuyn nghe nhc n nhng vn lin quan n o c kinh doanh, 20/60 i khi nghe nhc n vn ny. Lu l cuc iu tra ny c tin hnh H Ni, th v l thnh ph ln th hai ca Vit Nam, nn con s ny cha phi l cao. Nhng khi c hi v quan nim, th no l o c kinh doanh, 55/60 s ngi c hi cho o c kinh doanh l tun th ng php lut, ch c 5/60 ngi c hi cho o c kinh doanh l bo v quyn li cho khch hng v khng ai cho o c kinh doanh phi bao gm c hai khi nim trn! Chnh s hiu bit m h ny v ao c kinh doanh dn n nhng thiu ht trong thc thi ca doanh nghip.
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2.2. Trch nhim ca doanh nghip vi x hi (corporate social responsibility - CSR) tm hiu vn ny, chng ti tp trung vo 2 kha cnh, trch nhim ca doanh nghip vi cht lng hng ha v vn bo v mi trng. Cu hi th nht v vn ny c t ra l: Doanh nghip s lm g nhn c thng tin l c mt s hng ha ca mnh b k xu tro i vi nhng hng km cht lng, m bng hnh thc bn ngoi khng c kh nng phn bit c, c th gy tc hi cho ngi tiu dng?. Cu hi ny da trn mt tnh hung c tht l nm 1981, mt ngi bnh tm thn cho thuc c vo mt s l thuc gim au nhn hiu Tylenol do Johnson & Johnson (J&J) sn xut v by bn cc quy hng bn thuc trong nhng siu th thnh ph Chicago. S kin trn lm by ngi thit mng v cnh st khng bt c th phm. Mc d v vic ng tic ny ch xy ra Chicago v b phn an ninh cho rng ngi th phm ch cho thuc c vo mt s l Tylenol by bn nhng siu th ny, ban lnh o J&J cng quyt tin hnh thu hi kim nh ton b 31 triu l thuc Tylenol phn phi khng ch M m ton th gii, v theo J&J, khng c g bo m l th phm ch b thuc c vo cc l Tylenol lc by bn, m khng b vo trong lc sn xut hoc trc khi c phn phi. Ton b chi ph thc hin quyt nh trn l 100 triu USD. Tuy nhin, s th hin trch nhim x hi cao ca cng ty Johnson & Johnson cng thm chin dch PR ng n gip Tylenol ginh li v tr trn thng trng ch trong vng 6 thng. Nhng trong cuc diu tra ca chng ti, ch c 42 ngi , chim 42%, chn phng n Thu hi ngay ton b l hng , chp nhn thua thit v kinh t, 50 ngi, chim 50% chn phng n l Thng bo ti ni bn, v ngi tiu dng t quyt nh, thm ch c 8 ngi, chim 8%, chn phng n Khng lm g c, v khng phi li ti cng ty ca mnh! Cu hi th hai l: Cho bit quan im ca bn, khi mt cng ty XK sang th trng EU nc tng c t l cht 3 - MPCD nm trong phm vi cho php ca Lut Vit Nam, nhng li vt gp nhiu ln t l cho php ca EU? cng da trn mt s kin c tht l nm 2002, nc tng ca Chinsu, mt cng ty kh c ting Vit Nam, b C quan kim nghim cht lng thc phm ca B pht hin c cha cht 3 - MCPD - mt cht c ha hc c th gy bnh ung th ng vt v con ngi - mc 86 mg/ kg, trong khi , tiu chun ca EU ch cho php mc 0.05 mg/ kg, tc l gp gn 200 ln. Nhng cng ty Chinsu tuyn b khng chu trch nhim v h khng XK nc tng sang B. Sn phm c th c mt cng ty no khc ti xut sang hoc l hng nhi. Hn na, tuy hm lng 3 - MCPD trong nc tng ca h cao hn mc quy nh ca EU nhng li nm trong phm vi cho php ca Vit Nam! S kin ny ln u tin cnh bo cc c quan chc nng v ngi tiu dng Vit Nam v tc hi ca cht 3 - MCPD trong nc tng, mt sn phm vn c coi la an ton v sn xut t u tng, l sn phm t nhin. y chnh l yu t chm ngi cho scandal nm 2007 v vic 90% doanh nghip sn xut nc tng Vit Nam b c quan chc nng tuyn b vi phm VSATTP, do hm lng cht 3 - MCPD vt qu mc cho php, gy iu ng cho ngnh cng nghip ny. K t , ton th cc doanh nghip sn xut nc tng u c yu cu phi dn nhn: Khng c 3 - MCPD ln sn phm ca mnh.
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C l do v vic ny qu ni ting nn quan im ca ngi c hi trong cuc iu tra ny r rng hn. 33% s ngi c hi cho l Vi phm lut php, 25% cho l Vi phm o c kinh doanh v 42% cho l vi phm c hai! Khng ai coi doanh nghip l khng vi phm. Nhng kt qu ny vn cho thy s m h trong phn nh gia lut php v o c kinh doanh, v y ng ra l doanh nghip vi phm c hai, do khi XK hng ha vo nc no phi tun th quy nh ca nc . Cu hi v trch nhim ca doanh nghip vi mi trng cng da trn thc t l c nhiu doanh nghip nc ngoi u t vo Vit nam li dng nhng yu km trong quy nh v bo v mi trng ca Vit Nam s dng nhng cng ngh sn xut gy nhim mi trng, nh hng n sc khe ca ngi lao ng v dn c, nhm tit kim chi ph. Cc v d cho vn ny rt ph bin Vit Nam nh: cc nh my dt khng c thit b lm sch khng kh, gy bnh phi cho cng nhn v c dn xung quanh, nh my da giy s dng x nc thi gy nhim ngun nc, cc cng ty xy dng khng che chn cng trnh gy nhim cho khu vc, khng c thit b bo h cho ngi lao ng dn n t l tai nn lao ng cao.Trong trng hp ny, doanh nghip tuy khng vi phm lut php nhng r rng c tnh vi phm o c kinh doanh, v h hon ton thc c tc hi ca hnh vi ny. Nhng quan im ca ngi c hi y li kh bao dung v n ha! Tr li cho cu hi: Cho bit quan im ca bn v vic mt cng ty nc ngoi n lp nh my Vit Nam li dng s lng lo trong nhng quy nh v mi trng ca Vit Nam?, ch c 75% cho l Khng th chp nhn c, h vi phm o c kinh doanh, cn 25% li cho l Bnh thng thi, kinh doanh cn bit tn dng c hi. Kt qu ny cho thy thc t l vn mi trng cn t c quan tm Vit Nam v ngi Vit Nam cn qu l thuc vo lut php khi nh gi v o c kinh doanh ca doanh nghip. 2.3. Vn s hu tr tu (Intellectual property) Vit Nam y l vn nng, khng ch Vit Nam m cn hu ht cc nc ang pht trin khc. Tnh trng vi phm SHTT trn lan Vit Nam c nhiu nguyn nhn. Trc ht, cho n u th k XX Vit Nam l nc nng nghip lc hu, nhng thnh tu v cc sn phm cn bo h nh kiu dng cng nghip, pht minh, hu nh cha c, nn khng c cc quy nh v bo h SHTT. Hn na, l nc c nn vn ha trng tp th, ngi Vit Nam khng c truyn thng bo h s hu c nhn. Trong thi phong kin v c thi k trc hi nhp Vit Nam, cc nh nghin cu, vn ngh s, u sng bng lng ch lut php khng quy nh ch bn quyn tc gi, th lao cho tc gi rt t i v quan nim l phi phc v tp th. Vn ny ch c tht s t ra sau nm 1991, khi Vit Nam tham gia vo tin trnh hi nhp v nht l sau nm 1997, khi Vit Nam k Hip nh TRIPS. Nhng vi thi gian qu ngn ngi, ch hn 10 nm so vi lch s bo h hng trm nm ca cc nc u - M, thc v bo h quyn SHTT ca ngi dn Vit Nam cn rt s si. Mt l do na cho vic vi phm SHTT trn lan Vit Nam l nguyn nhn kinh t. Khi thu nhp ca ngi dn cn qu thp, trong khi gi c cc sn phm c bn quyn li qu cao v rt ph bin th kh c th hy vng SHTT s c tn trng. Mt v d v vn ny l v vic xut bn cun sch v cu b ph thy Harry Potter ca J.K. Rowling, mt tc
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phm vn hc thiu nhi rt c a chung Vit Nam. Thng 8 nm 2007, cng vi thiu nhi trn ton th gii, tr em Vit Nam rt hi hp ch mong tp 7 v cng l tp cui cng trong B sch ny: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, nhng lc ch c bn ting Anh. Cng vi phong tro hc ting Anh, vic c sch bng nguyn bn ngy cng ph bin hn. Hn na, nu mun c bn dch cc em s phi ch chng 6 thng na. Nhng cc bc cha m Vit Nam li b t trc mt tnh th nan gii nu h mun bo v bn quyn. Gi ba ca quyn sch ny l 38 USD, trong khi thu nhp bnh qun u ngi ca Vit Nam nm 2007 ch mc trn 600 USD v gi sch lu ch c khong 7 USD6. Mt cch vi phm SHTT kh ph bin Vit Nam l vic cng ty c tnh t tn cho nhn hiu hng ha ca mnh tng t mt nhn hiu ni ting c trc trn trnh lut php v gy nhm ln cho ngi tiu dng. V d cho tnh trng ny qu nhiu, nh Hongda v Honda, La Vierge v La Vie, Kt qu iu tra v vn ny khng nh cho nhn nh trn v SHTT Vit Nam. tr li cho cu hi: Cho bit quan im ca bn v vic mt cng ty c tnh t tn nhn hiu hng ha ca mnh gn ging vi mt nhn hiu hng ha ni ting ?", ch c 16 ngi cho l Vi phm lut php, 37 ngi cho l: Vi phm o c kinh doanh, v 47 ngi cho l: Khng vi phm g c v khng hon ton ging. ng ch l trong s 47 ngi khng cho l vi phm, c 8 ngi sinh vin, l nhm ngi t nhiu c c hc v vn ny, chng t SHTT cn l vn nan gii Vit Nam trong thi gian ti. 2.4. Quan h gia ch doanh nghip v ngi lao ng Thi gian qua, nh cng ang l mt vn nng Vit Nam. Theo thng k, t nm 1995 n nay ti Vit Nam xy ra hn 1.000 cuc nh cng ln nh. Ch tnh ring trong qu 1/2007 xy ra 103 cuc nh cng ti 14/64 tnh, thnh ph vi hn 62.700 lt cng nhn lao ng tham gia. Nhiu nht l ti ng Nai vi 35 cuc, tip n l Bnh Dng 22 cuc, Tp.HCM 26 cuc... trong 98/103 cuc nh cng l do l do kinh t7. Cc nguyn nhn chnh dn n nh cng bao gm: - Ngi lao ng khng hi lng vi iu kin lm vic, mi trng nhim, cng c lao ng khng c thm tra, an ton lao ng km, khng c kim tra sc khe nh k cho nhn cng v tnh trng tai nn ngh nghip kh ph bin. - thu ht u t nc ngoi, Lut u t Vit Nam a ra mc lng ti thiu rt thp (ch c 35USD/thng trong Lut TNN 1997) nn mc d khng lm tri lut php nhng mc lng cc doanh nghip tr cho lao ng vn rt thp so vi mt bng gi c. V th, ngi lao ng khng hi lng v khng trung thnh vi doanh nghip. - Xut thn t nng dn, hu ht ngi lao ng thiu kin thc v Lut Lao ng v thiu k nng lm vic trong mi trng cng nghip nn nanwg sut lao ng thp v c nhng phn ng tri php lut khi c xung t.
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Accountants face up to the moral maze, Ian Fraser, The Financial Times 2nd of January, 2008 Dung Hieu, ng x khi x y ra nh cng, http://www.vneconomy.vn, 13/11/2007

iu ng ngc nhin l tnh trng ny xy ra khng ch cc doanh nghip t nhn trong nc, c coi l t vn v khng am hiu lut php, m cn rt ph bin nhiu doanh nghip c vn u t nc ngoi, c bit l i Loan v Hn Quc. Theo Vin Cng nhn v Cng on thuc Lin on Lao ng Vit Nam, trong 10 nm qua c 878 cuc nh cng xy ra ti cc doanh nghip FDI, chim 70,7% tng s cuc nh cng Vit Nam. Mt v d in hnh cho vn ny l sng ngy 25 thng 7 nm 2007, khu ch xut Linh Trung I (qun Th c, thnh ph H Ch Minh), mt cuc biu tnh ca 1300 cng nhn din ra ti cng ty Danu Vina (cng ty 100% vn Hn Quc) v chnh sch lng bng bt hp l ca cng ty ny. T thng 7 nm 2007, cng ty tng lng thm 50.000 ng (khong 3 USD) cho cng nhn lm t 1 n 5 nm v 70000 ng (gn 4 USD) cho cng nhn lm t 5 n 7 nm. Tuy nhin, vic tng lng ch p dng cho nhng cng nhn k hp ng t thng 7 tr v trc ca cc nm, cn nhng ngi k hp ng t thng 8 tr i th khng gii quyt. Ngoi ra, cng ty tr tin chuyn cn mc 25.000 ng/thng l qu thp, ba n gia ca tr gi 4.000 ng khng bo m cht lng; cng ty khng c nh xe, khng c ch giy dp dn n xe h, mt dp; phng v sinh thiu nc... nh hng n sc khe v s an ton ca ngi lao ng. Kt qu ca mt cuc iu tra ca Vin Cng nhn v Cng on nm 2007, c tin hnh cc a phng tp trung nhiu cng ty vn u t nc ngoi nh H Ni, thnh ph H Ch Minh v cc tnh ng Nai, Bnh Dng, B Ra - Vng Tu, Vnh Phc, Bc Ninh v Hi Dng, cho thy cng nhn ti 45% cc cng ty FDI than phin v lng thp, ti 16% cng ty, cng nhn phi lm thm gi qu nhiu (c doanh nghip lm thm n 500 - 600 gi/nm). Hu ht cc cng nhn cc cng ty c vn u t nc ngoi nhn mc lng ch khong t 800.000 VND (50USD) n 1.000.000 VND (62 USD) mt thng. Nh vy, ch c 30% cng nhn cng ty FDI c th trang tri c chi ph cuc sng. nng cao thu nhp hng thng cho chi tiu hng ngy, 42,5% cng nhn phi lm thm gi, c bit l nhng ngi lm trong ngnh may mc v thuc da8. trong nhiu x nghip may mc, t l n cng nhn lm vic thm gi ln ti 55%, nhiu ngi lm 16h mt ngy n khi ngt xu, nhng cng ch c ngh hm , hm sau phi i lm tip nu khng mun b ui vic!9. y l mt hnh vi khng th tha th c! Trong vng ba nm k t 2007 tr v trc, hn 20% cng nhn cc cng ty FDI khng c tng lng, mc d theo lut php, c ba nm cng nhn phi c tng lng mt ln. K c khi c tng, mc tng cng t hn quy nh. Rt nhiu x nghip cng khng thc hin nhng iu ghi trong hp ng vi cng nhn v cc hp ng lao ng tp th, nh mc tng lng, gi lm vic v cc tr cp x hi, bao gm ngh php nh k, au m, tnh trng mang thai v n b cho tai nn lao ng. Cho n nay, ch 50% cng ty

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Laodong Newspaper No 76, www.laodong.com.vn 04/04/2007 http://www.vnn.vn/xahoi/laodong/2005/11/512631/

FDI k hp ng lao ng tp th m bo li ch cho ngi lao ng, iu dn n bt ng gia ngi lao ng v ch. gii quyt tnh trng ny, Vin t chc mt cuc thanh tra gt gao v a ra nhng hnh pht cng rn cho nhng cng ty vi phm lut lao ng, bao gm c thiu cung cp bo him y t v bo him thn th. Vin cng ngh Nh nc sa i Lut Lao ng v cc lut c lin quan xy dng khung php l cho nh cng, bo v c quyn li ca c ngi lao ng ln ch x nghip10. y l mt vn cn c sm gii quyt bo v quyn li cho ngi lao ng v nng cao tnh hp dn cho mi trng u t Vit Nam, nhm thu tht cc nh u t nc ngoi. C l do vn quan h ch - th c cp nhiu trn cc phng tin thng tin i chng, nn trong cuc iu tra ca chng ti, kt qu tr li kh kh quan. Lut php Vit Nam quy nh ch doanh nghip khng c quyn t chi nhn lao ng n vi l do ang nui con nh, lao ng n c con nh di 3 tui c quyn i lm mun 1h v khng b buc phi lm thm gi. Nhng trn thc t, quy nh ny ch c tun th ti cc c quan nh nc v t c ti cc doanh nghip t nhn hay FDI. Khi c yu cu pht biu quan im v vic Mt doanh nghip t chi tip nhn lao ng n ang nui con nh hoc buc lm thm gi khi lao ng n ang nui con di 3 tui, 25% s ngi c hi cho l vi phm lut php, 66,67% cho l vi phm o c kinh doanh v ch c 5 ngi (chim 8.33%) cho l khng vi phm, v mi ngi lao ng c ngha v lm vic nh nhau. Nh vy, chng ta c th cho l mc d cn nhng hn ch v nhn thc nhng i a s ngi tham gia iu tra c thc tng i r rng v vn ny! 2.5. Ngha v v trch nhim v mt o c ca doanh nghip vi cc nh u t (The moral rights and duties between a company and its shareholders) y l vn cn rt mi m Vit Nam do th trng chng khon Vit Nam cn rt non tr (cha y 10 tui) nn nhng quy nh v tnh trung thc trong bo co ti chnh, cng khai thng tin vi cc nh u t ca doanh nghip, vn cn cha cht ch. V vy, thi gian qua xut hin hin tng cc doanh nghip a ra nhng thng tin cha chnh xc trc li, gy lao ao cho nhiu nh u t. V vic nghim trng u tin l vic Joint stock Bien Hoa Confectionery Company (Bibica) gian di trong vic khai bo kt qu kinh doanh nm 2002 v 6 thng u nm 2003. Bibica l mt trong 21 cng ty ng k ln sn u tin Vit Nam v l cng ty nim yt u tin trong ngnh bnh ko. V vy, cc nh u t trng i rt nhiu vo li nhun ca cng ty sau khi nim yt. nng cao nng lc cnh tranh trn th trng, thi gian ny cng ty ng lot trin khai cc d n u t mi nhm m rng sn xut - kinh doanh, u t pht trin cc sn phm mi (bnh trung thu, Layer Cake, chocolate), xy dng Nh my Bnh ko Bin Ha 2 nn s n ngn hng gia tng. Thm vo , gi nguyn liu u vo tng nhanh, tnh hnh nhn s trong b phn Ti chinh - K ton c
10

Bo Lao

ng s

76, www.laodong.com.vn 04/04/2007

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nhiu bin ng lm gia tng thm cc kh khn cho cng ty. Trc tnh hnh , cng ty cn thu ht thm cc nh u t gia tng vn nn a ra mt bo co ti chnh khng chnh xc. Khi v vic v l, cc c ng c bit nm 2002, Cng ty l 10,086 t ng (tng ng 7.500.000 USD), gn gp i con s l 5,4 t ng m cng ty tng cng b11. Hu qu l gi c phiu Bibica st th thm, gy thit hi ln cho cc c ng. Cng thi im , Bibica phi i mt vi hnh pht v vi phm lut qun l chng khon ca y ban chng khon nh nc (SCCI) v ri vo tnh trng gn nh ph sn. Nhng do li nhun trn th trng chng khon qu ln, nn nhng v vic tng t vn tip din. Thin Vit l mt cng ty chng khan mi thnh lp u nm 2007, nhng c cc nh u t ht sc quan tm v Nguyn Trung H, Ch tch ca Thin Vit l Ph TG ca mt cng ty hng u Vit Nam v trong giy t ng k kinh doanh, Phm Kinh Lun, mt chuyn gia ni ting trong lnh vc ti chnh, c nu tn vi t cch l Tng Gim c ca Thin Vit. V vy mc d cha nim yt nhng c phiu ca Thin Vit c cc nh u t sn lng. c bit, t khi Ban Gim c Thin Vit a ra thng tin l h k hp ng lin doanh vi Goldman Sachs, mt tp an ti chnh hng u ca M, thm ch Thin Vit cn a ra bn tha thun hp tc vi ch k ca Ch tch Goldman Sachs v Thin Vit vi cc phng tin thng tin i chng, th nn gi c phiu ca Thin Vit tng rt nhanh, gp nhiu ln so vi gi nim yt. Tuy nhin, ch vi ngy sau cc phng tin thng tin i chng cung cp thng tin rng Goldman Sachs t chi hp tc vi Thin Vit: Edward Naylor, Gim c b phn truyn thng ca Goldman Sachs chu , trong email gi c quan thng tn Vit Nam, nhn mnh rng Goldman Sachs khng lin kt vi cng ty chng khan Thin Vit. Gn y chng ti c mt cuc gp mt khng chnh thc mang tnh cht thm d nh chng ti thc hin vi cc cng ty chng khon khc, bc th vit. Cho n nay, i din ca Thin Vit v Goldman Sachs mi ch gp mt trong cc bui gp thm d nh Goldman Sachs vi cc cng ty chng khon khc Vit Nam.

Khi c hi v bn tha thun hp tc vi ch k ca c hai bn m Thin Vit a ra cho cc phng tin thng tin i chng, ng Naylor ni rng Goldman Sachs i khi k nhng tha thun tng t vi nhng cng ty chng khon t nhn khi tp on ang tm kim cc c hi kinh doanh Vit Nam, Goldman Sachs c th thm nhp c vo th trng Vit Nam. Tha thun khng th c coi l bng chng v mt s lin kt ca 2 cng ty12
Thm vo , ng Phm Kinh Lun cng cho bit ng cha h k H lm vic cho Thin Vit. V vy, Thin Vit b pht nng bi Trung tm giao dch chng khan thnh ph H Ch Minh (HSTC) v y ban chng khon nh nc v a ra thng tin khng r
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2002 Vietnam Investment Review Ltd http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/2007/03/670242/

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rng v khng ngay thng. Ngi thit hi nhiu nht y chnh l cc nh u t, nhng ngi b thu ht bi nhng thng tin sai lch m Ban Gim c cng ty Thin Vit a ra. Nhng nhng v vic nh vy vn c nguy c xy ra bt c lc no v lut php cng nh thc ca cc nh kinh doanh Vit Nam v vn ny cn cha y . Trong kinh doanh vic gp kh khn hay ri ro l kh thng xuyn. Khi gp tnh hung ny, nhng cng ty uy tn trn th gii thng chn cch thng bo rng ri cho cc c ng ku gi s hp tc ca h nhm gip cng ty vt qua kh khn. Mc d tim n nhiu ri ro nhng cch ny gip cng ty gi c lng tin ca cc nh u t, v thot khi nguy c b b ri khi thng tin bi l. Nhng trong cuc iu tra ca chng ti, tr li cu hi Khi mt dy chuyn sn xut trong cng ty b hng, dn n sn lng sn xut b suy gim, nhng nu thng tin ny b l ra ngoi, c phiu ca cng ty s b mt gi nghim trng, th cng ty nn lm g?, ch c 42% s ngi c hi chn cch thng bo rng ri cho cc nh u t, 50% chn cch Km gi thng tin mt thi gian tm cch sa cha dy chuyn sn xut v 8% chn cch Khng thng bo gi c cho n khi bt buc! Mc d kt qu ny l kh kh quan,v n 92% s ngi c hi khng c nh che giu thng tin, t ra l trong mt thi gian nhng y cng l mt thiu st trong nhn thc ca doanh nghip Vit Nam. 3. Mt s gii php nhm hon thin o c kinh doanh Vit Nam 3.1. nh gi v thc trng o c kinh doanh Vit Nam Do iu kin thi gian v thng tin nn chc chn bi vit ny cha th trnh by c ht cc kha cnh v o c kinh doanh Vit Nam. Tuy nhin, qua nhng v d thc t v kt qu iu tra nu trn, bc u chng ta cng c th a ra mt s nhn xt sau v thc trng o c kinh doanh Vit Nam: Hiu bit ca nh kinh doanh cng nh ngi dn Vit Nam ni chung v o c kinh doanh cn rt hn ch, hu ht u gn khi nim o c kinh doanh vi tun th php lut trong kinh doanh. Cch hiu ny thu hp ng k phm vi p dng o c kinh doanh, hn na ti mt quc gia m h thng pht lut cha y v cht ch nh Vit Nam th cch hiu ny cng lm thc v o c kinh doanh kh pht huy tc dng. thc ca ngi dn v nhng phm tr nh: Trch nhim ca doanh nghip vi x hi, Quan h gia ch doanh nghip v ngi lao ng, Ngha v v trch nhim v mt o c ca doanh nghip vi cc nh u t cn kh m h, l thuc vo lut php ch cha thc c trch nhim ca nh kinh doanh vi khch hng v x hi. Mt t l cao nhng ngi c hi t ra b ng, ch chu thc thi trch nhim khi b bt buc ch cha ch ng hnh ng v li ch x hi. im yu km nht trong nhn thc ca ngi Vit Nam th hin qua cuc iu tra ny chnh l thc v mi trng v v vn s hu tr tu. iu ny cng trng hp vi nhng kt qu iu tra ca LHQ v nhng ngun thng tin khc. V lu di y l vn cn c lu gii quyt m bo s pht trin bn vng cho Vit Nam
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Tuy nhin, cuc iu tra cng cho thy mt s tn hiu ng mng v tng lai ca o c kinh doanh Vit Nam. Trc ht, 100% s ngi c hi tng c nghe v o c kinh doanh. Mc d khi nim o c c truyn t cn m h nhng ch ring vic ngi dn c quan tm nhu hn ti vn ny cng l mt tn hiu ng mng. Mt kha cnh ng mng na l kt qu tr li ca khi sinh vin, d phn ln l sinh vin nm th nht, tc l cha c o to nhiu v kin thc chuyn mn, nhng chnh xc hn nhiu so vi khi doanh nghip. Hu ht sinh vin thng xuyn nghe ni v o c kinh doanh (17/20 ngi c hi), cao hn hn so vi t l chung (85% so vi 67%). T l sinh vin cho o c kinh doanh l bo v quyn li cho ngi tiu dng cng cao hn nhiu so vi t l chung (35% so vi 8%). Trong tnh hung 3, tr li cu hi v phn ng ca doanh nghip vi vic hng ca cng ty b k xu nh tro, khng sinh vin no ng vi phng n Khng thng bo g c v khng phi l li ca doanh nghip, so vi 8% t l chung. Trong tnh hung 6, khi tr li cu hi v vic mt cng ty nc ngoi n lp nh my Vit Nam trn trnh s lng lo trong nhng quy nh v mi trng ca Vit Nam, khng sinh vin no ng vi phng n Doanh nghip c php tn dng c hi so vi 25% t l chung. Nhng trong tnh hung s 7 v s kin mt dy chuyn sn xut trong cng ty b hng, dn n sn lng sn xut b st gim nghim trng, nhng nu thng tin ny b l ra ngoi, c phiu ca cng ty s b st gim nghim trng, mc d c ti 65% sinh vin cho l doanh nghip cn Thng bo rng ri cho cc c ng ku gi s hp tc ca h nhm gip cng ty vt qua kh khn so vi 42% t l chung, nhng li c ti 3 sinh vin (chim 15% so vi so vi t l chung l 8%) cho l nn Khng thng bo gi c cho n khi bt buc. Kt qu ny c th bt ngun t vic th trng chng khon cn qu mi m Vit Nam, cc em li l sinh vin nhng nm u nn nhng hiu bit v trch nhim ca doanh nghip vi th trng ny cha nhiu. Tng t nh vy, trong cu s 8 v quan im trc vic Mt doanh nghip t chi tip nhn lao ng n ang nui con nh hoc buc lm thm gi khi lao ng n ang nui con di 3 tui, cng c ti 40% sinh vin cho l vi phm lut php so vi 24% t l chung, nhng vn cn 15% so vi 8% t l chung cho l Khng vi phm v mi ngi lao ng phi c ngha v lm vic nh nhau! y c l l kt qu ca vic thiu hiu bit v lut lao ng v thi quen p dng my mc nhng nguyn tc v bnh ng gii, vn c tuyn truyn rt ph bin Vit Nam. Mc d kt qu iu tra v hai kha cnh ny cha cao, nhng nhn chung, nhn thc ca khi sinh vin v o c kinh doanh r rng cao hn v th hin mt tinh thn trch nhim tt hn so vi kt qu iu tra chung. Vi s mu iu tra cn t i nhng nhng kt qu kho st ban u ca khi sinh vin, nhng nh kinh doanh tng lai, cng c th coi l tn hiu kh quan v nng cao nhn thc ca gii doanh nhn Vit Nam trong thi gian ti. 3.2. Mt s xut nhm pht trin v hon thin o c kinh doanh Vit Nam Qua nhng v d thc t v s liu thu thp c v trng o c kinh doanh Vit nam, chng ta c th thy mc d c mt s tn hiu kh quan, nhng hiu bit v o c kinh doanh ca c gii tr thc v gii doanh nghip Vit Nam u c nhng thiu st
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nghim trng. Nhng thiu st ny khng nhng gy tc hi cho ngi tiu dng, cho cc nh kinh doanh, cho x hi m cn nh hng nghim trng n hnh nh ca doanh nghip, lm doanh nghip kinh doanh thua l v lu di s nh hng n hnh nh quc gia trn th trng quc t. gii quyt vn ny, tc gi xin mn dn a ra mt s xut sau: Trc ht, cn nghin cu b sung, hon thin khung lut php Vit nam nhm to c s php l vng chc cho o c kinh doanh y l bin php tin quyt, v lut php chnh l khung d thy nht cho o c kinh doanh. Cn hon thin cc B Lut c lin quan nh Lut u t, Lut Lao ng, Lut Doanh nghip, Lut Bo v Ngi tiu dng, Lut Mi trng Mt nguyn nhn quan trng cho tnh trng yu km ca o c kinh doanh Vit Nam hin nay xut pht t s thiu hon thin trong php lut Vit nam. Nu lut php quy nh cht ch hn, hp l hn s trnh c tnh trng doanh nghip n vo s s h ca lut php m trn trnh ngha v o c ca mnh. Mt v d in hnh cho vn ny l Lut bo v ngi tiu dng. Va qua, ti Hi tho Thc trng thc thi php lut bo v ngi tiu dng v nh hng xy dng Lut Bo v quyn ngi tiu dng do Cc Qun l cnh tranh (B Cng thng) va t chc ti H Ni, ng Hank Baker (i din D n Star Vit Nam) khng nh, ngi tiu dng Vit Nam cha c m bo quyn li khi s dng cc hng ha, dch v. a s vn trng ch vo lng tt ca ngi bn hng khi mua cc sn phm trn th trng.Theo ng Baker : Khi gp mt sn phm khng ng , chng ta vn hy vng mnh s may mn ly li c tin. Trong khi , trn th trng li c qu nhiu ngi bn hng khng c tm vi hng ha mnh bn ra. Hu qu cui cng l ngi tiu dng phi chu thit thi. Mt trong nhng nguyn nhn ca tnh trng trn l php lut v bo v quyn li ca ngi tiu dng ti Vit Nam cha c thc thi mt cch hiu qu. Theo b V Th Bch Nga, Trng Ban Bo v ngi tiu dng (Cc Qun l cnh tranh), hin ch c hai vn bn quy phm php lut lin quan n vn ny l Php lnh Bo v quyn li ngi tiu dng (nm 1999) v Ngh nh 55/2008/N - CP ngy 24/4/2008 quy nh chi tit thi hnh php lnh ny. Tuy nhin, b Nga cho bit, cc quy nh ca php lnh li cha pht huy c hiu lc trn thc t. Quyn v trch nhim ca ngi tiu dng ang c quy nh rt chung chung. Cc quy nh mi ch c gi tn m cha i su phn tch bn cht c th ca cc quyn v trch nhim . V d, iu 8 ca Php lnh c ghi : ngi tiu dng c bo m an ton v tnh mng, sc khe v mi trng khi s dng hng ha, dch v... nhng li khng quy nh quyn ny c th hin nh th no trn thc t? Ngi tiu dng phi lm g c m bo an ton? Ngoi ra, cn tn ti nhng bt cp trong quy nh v quyn v trch nhim ca t chc, c nhn kinh doanh hng ha, dch v. Lut Bo v Ngi tiu dng cng khng quy nh cc ch ti x l hnh vi vi phm ca t chc c nhn kinh doanh hng ha, dch v nh cn, ong sai, thng tin v dch v hng ha thiu trung thc... iu 16 ca Php lnh quy nh, t chc, c nhn sn xut, kinh doanh hng ha, dch v phi gii quyt kp thi mi khiu ni ca ngi tiu dng v hng ha, dch v ca mnh khi chng khng ng tiu chun, cht lng, s lng, gi c cng b hoc hp ng giao kt. Tuy nhin, trnh t, th tc ra sao, hu qu php l m c nhn t chc phi gnh chu khi khng thc hin yu cu ny nh th no li khng c ni
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ti, b Nga phn tch. C mt ti cuc Hi tho, i din Cc Qun l cnh tranh cng cho rng, nhng quy nh v quyn v trch nhim ca ngi tiu dng trong cc vn bn quy phm php lut hin hnh vn cn mang tnh cht ngh quyt, cha thc s m bo c ch cho vic thc thi cc quyn ny. Theo i din Cc Qun l cnh tranh, nhng hn ch trong cc vn bn quy phm php lut khin cho ngi tiu dng Vit Nam cha c bo v tt nht v quyn li. Tuy nhin, ng Hank Baker t quan ngi rng, nu d lut vn c thit k theo cch c l tp trung x pht hnh vi vi phm, th hiu qu bo v ngi tiu dng khng cao. Theo ng Hank Baker, yu cu t ra lc ny i vi thc t Vit Nam l cn c lut v hi tng cng vai tr ca cc hi trong cng tc bo v ngi tiu dng. Nu khng nhanh chng sa i nhng thiu st ny th quyn li ca ngi tiu dng vn cha c m bo, hay nh ng Hank Baker tha nhn: Ti khng thch l ngi tiu dng Vit Nam!13. Cn nng cao nhn thc v o c kinh doanh Vit Nam Cn lu l khng ch cc nh kinh doanh, cc nh nghin cu mi cn nm c kin thc v o c kinh doanh m c x hi cn thc iu ny. Vi vy, trc ht cc phng tin thng tin i chng nn tin hnh ph cp cc kin thc v o c kinh doanh nhm nh hng hnh vi ca ngi dn, ngi dn c th nm c nhm t bo v quyn li cho mnh v gim st hot ng ca doanh nghip. Tip theo, cc c quan Nh nc chu trch nhim qun l, hng dn doanh nghip nh B Cng thng, Phng Thng mi v Cng nghip Vit nam, S K hoch - u t cc tnh, Thnh ph cn quan tm ph bin nhng kin thc chung nht v o c kinh doanh. Vic ny c th tin hnh bng nhiu cch nh t chc cc lp hc cho doanh nghip v o c kinh doanh, chn la dch v xut bn mt s sch c uy tn ca nc ngoi v ti ny Nn lu l sch cho doanh nghip cn ngn gn, nhiu tnh hung thc t, kiu Cm nang v o c kinh doanh chng hn Cc Trng Cao ng, i hc khi Kinh t cng cn a ni dung v o c kinh doanh vo chng trnh o to ca mnh, c th di dng mt mn ring hay gi vo cc mn hc khc nh qun tr nhn s, nghip v kinh doanh V bn quyn ca cc sch kinh doanh thng t v dch thut khng d dng, nn c th tranh th s tr gip ca cc t chc nc ngoi m bo hiu qu cho vic lm ny. Mt v d cho cch lm ny l s kin thng 3 nm 2008, Trung tm Thng tin thuc i s qun Hoa K ti tr cho Nh Xut bn Tr dch v xut bn cun Business Ethics: A Manual For Managing A Responsible Business Enterprise In Emerging Market Economies ca cc tc gi Igor Y. Abramov, Kenneth W. Johnson and Donald L. Evans, Nh xut bn Diane Pub Co mi pht hnh thng 5 nm 2004, mt cun sch c nh gi l c uy tn trong gii nghin cu. y l mt cch lm hay, trn th gii hin nay c kh nhiu t chc c uy tn v o c kinh doanh nh Hip hi Quc t v Kinh doanh, Kinh t v o c (The International Society of Business Economics and Ethics - ISBEE), c thnh lp t nm 1989, c tr s chnh M, v l c quan chu trch nhim t chc cc i hi v o c kinh doanh 4 nm 1 ln. Nu tranh th c s tr gip ca h lu hnh v ph bin
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http://dantri.com.vn/kinhdoanh/Nguoi-tieu-dung-Viet-am-chiu-qua-nhieu-thiet-thoi/2008/6/236945.vip

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nhng ti liu c cht lng v vn ny s tit kim c kinh ph v ph bin c nhng kin thc tin tin nht. Cn c nhng bin php khuyn khch doanh nghip nng cao o c kinh doanh ca mnh Chng ta cn thc rng, khng c ranh gii c nh no o c m o c l mt phm tr m con ngi lun cn vn ln t n n. Rt kh kim sot o c v n vt xa hn vic tun th php lut rt nhiu. Vi o c kinh doanh, vn cn phc tp hn v vic tun th o c trong ngn hn thng khng em li li nhun cho doanh nghip, trong khi li nhun mi l mc ch chnh ca doanh nghip. V vy, cc c quan hu quan cn c nhng bin php khuyn khch doanh nghip c thnh tch trong o c kinh doanh nh trong cc gii Sao Vng t Vit, Bng Hng Vng c th a vic c thnh tch trong o c kinh doanh l mt tiu chun xt. Cc c quan thng tin i chng c th ng bi tn vinh nhng doanh nghip t tiu chun ny Ngc li, cc c quan qun l cng cn c bin php pht nhng doanh nghip vi phm o c kinh doanh vi mc pht tng xng. Khng th tip tc tnh trng doanh nghip buc ngi lao ng lm thm gi 16 - 20h/ngy hng tun lin n mc lao ng ngt xu m ch b pht vi triu VND; Cc doanh nghip vi phm quy nh bo v mi trng nh x ha cht ra sng lm c cht hng lot, ngi dn khng c nc sinh hot, etc. m li c cho php tip tc hot ng trong khi tm bin php x l. Cng nh vn ha, o c ni chung v o c kinh doanh ni ring l nhng phm tr phc tp, cn nhiu thi gian v cng sc hon thin v pht trin. L mt quc gia ang pht trin, mi tham gia vo tin trnh ton cu ha, nhng phm tr nh vn ha kinh doanh, o c kinh doanh cn kh mi m Vit nam. c bit trong thi gian ti, chnh ph Vit Nam ang c ch trng nng cao trnh nhn thc cho ngi dn v doanh nghip v cc vn c lin quan n hi nhp KTQT v ton cu ha. B Gio dc v o to cng ang khuyn co cc trng i hc v Cao ng cn i mi chng trnh o to cho ph hp vi trnh chung trn th gii. C c nhng yu t thun li ny v truyn thng o c lu i ca ngi Vit Nam, hy vng l trong thi gian ti, nhn thc ca ngi VN v DDKD s nhanh chng c nng cao, gp phn duy tr s pht trin bn vng v nng cao cht lng i sng cho ngi dn Vit Nam .

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Business ethics in Vietnam Reality and solution

Dr. Nguyn Hong nh Foreign Trade University in Hanoi

1. Introduction 1.1. What is Business ethics? The study of ethics is an ancient tradition, rooted in religious, cultural, and philosophical beliefs. Ethics is concerned with moral obligation, responsibility, and social justice. The word ethics comes from the Greek words "ethikos" and "ethos," meaning custom or usage. As employed by Aristoteles, the term included the idea of character and disposition. Thus, ethics reflects the character of the individual and more contemporarily perhaps, the character of the business firm, which is a collection of individuals. Business ethics is either ancient or very new. Being considered as moral reflection on commerce, business ethics is probably as old as trade itself. In the Code of Hammurabi (1700s B.C.) was a prescription for prices and tariffs and laying down both rules of commerce and harsh penalties for noncompliance. It could be the evidence of civilization's earlier attempts to identify the moral contours of commercial activity. Aristotle's Politics (300s B.C.) addresses explicitly commercial relations in its discussion of household management. Judeo Christian morality, as expressed in, e.g., the Talmud (200 A.D.) and the Ten Commandments 4 (Exodus 20:2-17; euteronomy 5:6-21), includes moral rules applicable to commercial conduct. However, as a discrete, self-conscious academic discipline, business ethics is barely four decades old. Prominent business ethicist Norman Bowie dates its first academic conference to 1974i. Since that time, business ethics has become a topic of popular discussion by American business executives, employees, shareholders, consumers, and college professors. After this, the study of business ethics has expanded widely to almost all countries in the world. Unfortunately, not all the instructors, writers, and speakers agree with one another about what business ethics is. Firstly, there is an inherent conflict between business and ethics. Although society wants companies to create many well-paying jobs, those same organizations want to limit compensation costs and raise productivity levels. Customers want to purchase goods and services at low prices, but businesses want to maximize profits. Society wants to reduce pollution levels, but businesses want to minimize the cost that environmental regulations add to their operations. Then, from that arising a natural, unavoidable tension in the term "business ethics" - a tension that stems from conflicts between the interests of companies and their employees, customers, and the greater society. Because these conflicts are fundamental to the nature of business, managers must continuously and consciously balance the needs of the organization and its stockholders

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with the needs of other stakeholders, including workers, customers, and the larger communityii. The simplest definition is business ethics are considered as Accepted principles of right or wrong, governing the conduct of businesspeopleiii. the definition is rather general, lacking some essential issues, such as: which kind of conduct the 5 principles can govern? Or who are the businesspeople, and how should their conduct be governed? Being aware of the complexity of the issue, Professor Phillip V. Lewis from Abilene Christian University, USA has collected and surveyed 185 definitions of business ethics, appeared in textbooks and articles from 1961 to 1981 to find out, how is 'business ethics' defined in the literature and by business people. After fixing the areas of agreement among those definitions, he synthesized a definition of business ethics as following: Business ethics is rules, standards, codes, or principles which provide guidelines for morally right behavior and truthfulness (of an organization) in specific situationsiv. According to the definition, business ethics can comprise those issues: 1. Rules, standards, codes or principles as moral guidelines that, if followed, will prevent unethical behavior. For instance: if the labour law prescribes that women have an equal right in working as men, it could prevent employers from gender discrimination in seeking employees. 2. Morally right behavior individual actions that conform to justice, law, or another standard; individual actions in accord with fact, reason, or truth. A business person just constantly deals with the central issue of what consequences will result from his or her actions. That is, she or he must not engage in any practice that would tend to corrupt the integrity his or her position. 3. Truthfulness statements and/or actions that conform to facts or that have the appearance of reality. For example, the Preamble of the Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists in USA states: "We believe in public enlightment as the forerunner of justice, and in our Constitutional role to seek the truth as part of the public's right to know the truth." The most difficult part in studying ethics in general and business ethics in particular is to define, what is right or wrong, because what may be ethically right to one person, may be wrong to another; what today could be considered as right, tomorrow could be wrong. Its named by Lewis as Specific situation occasions Of personal moral dilemma calling for ethical decisions. For example, the American Medical Association has adopted as its principle objective rendering "service to humanity with full respect for the dignity of man". The responsibility of the physician extends "not only to the individual but also to society". Thus, any participation in a situation

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that does not have "the purpose of improving both the health and the well-being of the individual and the community" would be the result of an unethical decision. Ferrels and John Fraedrich have another idea for the definition of business ethics, herein stated: Business ethics comprises the principle and standards that guide behavior in the world of business. Whether a specific action is right or wrong, ethical or unethical, is often determined by investors, employees, customers, interest groups, the legal system and the communityv Because the definition is overlapped with Lewiss definition in most of parts but it represents more clearly, who is involved in business ethics, it will be applied on that paper. In that way, business ethics in that mean have many common shares with law compliance, corporate social responsibility and issues regarding the moral rights and duties between a company and its shareholders: fiduciary responsibility, stakeholder concept v. shareholder concept, etc. It means that business ethics include not only obeying the rules but also protecting also protecting the benefits of people concerned with the activities of enterprises and benefits of the community. 1.2. Research methodology and questions: The specific research questions addressed in this article are (1) what is business ethics definition in compare with business ethics understanding in Vietnam? (2) How is business ethics application in Vietnam nowadays; and (3) How is the perspective of business ethics application in Vietnam in coming period? Previous research on these questions has been lacking. Even though recently there are many research and articles about Vietnam, but most business writers and professionals concentrated in analyzing its economic successes. Some articles mentioned business ethics but none of them provided a broad view of business ethics application in Vietnam. Data for this study were gathered from both primary and secondary sources. Selected textbooks and articles in the management area were reviewed. Textbooks were selected from four areas of management: business, business ethics, marketing and international business. Articles were selected from Business Premier Source, database, mainly from 2000 up to now. A brief questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of businessmen and students, studying in Foreign Trade University in Hanoi, Vietnam. There were about more than 10 questions in the questionnaire, asking from: Have you ever heard of business ethics?, What is your business ethics in your opinion? to respondents opinion about some special situations. After excluding some unsuitable answer sheet, finally weve got 100 answers, including 80 businessmen and 20 students, who were studying from 1st to 3rd year in Foreign Trade University in Hanoi. Some of them also had experience in working as part-time employee. The ratio method in description methodology was taken to analyze data in three stages. In the 1st one the answers/content of all respondents has been analyzed to provide an
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overview of business ethics in Vietnam. In the 2nd stage, only answers from students have been analyzed and in the 3rd one the findings earned in the two stages have been compared with each other to make a conclusion. 2. An overview of business ethics in Vietnam Business ethics is a relatively new issue in Vietnam. As the other issues like business culture, corporate culture, etc., issue of business ethics began emerging after the market economy reforms were made in 1991, when Vietnam started to join in the internationalization and globalization process. Previously, in the centralized planned economy, the issues were never mentioned in Vietnam. In a command economy, all business activities were conducted by government orders. Through such orders, ethical conduct was considered as completely obeying the higher authorities instructions. There was a shortage of almost all kinds of goods, those being successful in buying goods were really lucky, thus nobody could afford to complain about the goods quality. Because supply exceeded demand, service quality in the distribution network was quite poor; customers had little chance to complain about it. At that time, industry in Vietnam was underdeveloped, there were limited numbers of manufacturers, and furthermore nearly all of them were state owned, thus, there was no need to consider such issues as trademarks or intellectual property rights. Most employees were working for the state, where the discipline and bonus system were unified and simple. There were not any strikes or labor conflicts to deal with. But since Vietnam has joined in internationalization from 1991, there were new issues coming up such as: intellectual property rights, food safety regulations, strikes, stock market, etc.,and thus the issue of business ethics became more popular to society. In this paper, author would like to present some preliminary findings of business ethics in Vietnam. These findings are based on information, collected from Vietnam as well as foreign literatures, and a mini survey, which has been done in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam from November 2007 to January 2008. 2.1. Vietnamese awareness of business ethics issue As above mention, business ethics is still relatively new issue in Vietnam, not only for businessmen but also for intellectual people. Till now, there were very rarely books about business ethics, most of them were translated from American books. Maybe the 1st academic book of this topic in Vietnam was WHAT'S ETHICAL IN BUSINESS? by Verne E. Henderson, published by McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd in January 5, 1992; the book was translated into Vietnamese by Ho Kim Chung, published in Vietnam in November 1996 by Nha Xuat ban Van hoa, but its content and translation werent adequate and didnt bring about many attentions even between intellectual people in Vietnam. Recently, there were more articles on this topic, especially in Chungta magazine (an internal magazine of FPT group, a leading group of IT in Vietnam, www.chungta.com) or Diendandoanhnghiep newspaper (a newspaper for businessmen, issued by Vietnam Commercial and Industrial Chamber VCCI, www.dddn.com.vn) and some other magazine
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or newspapers, such as Saigon Times, Laodong, etc. But the articles mostly discussed about some recent events in Vietnam, relevant to business ethics or provided some cases, taken from foreign newspapers, magazines, without any deeper research of business ethics or business ethics definition. In most Vietnamese high schools and universities, business ethics isnt taught as a subject in their curriculum or only as an elective subject. Business ethics is not even mentioned in the texts of other related subjects, such as international business or business management. However, sometimes it is mentioned, but done so very sparingly. The most common thinking about business ethics is that its compliance with the rules! In most Vietnamese high schools and universities, business ethics isnt taught as a subject in their curriculum or only as an elective subject. Business ethics is not even mentioned in the texts of other related subjects, such as international business or business management. However, sometimes it is mentioned, but done so very sparingly, as business ethics is to comply with the rules! This misconception and very short idea on what business ethics are leads to a narrow and underdeveloped idea of what business ethics should be concerned with. Recently, under pressure of globalization, Vietnamese mass media mentions business ethics quite frequently, but it doesnt provide any official definition. As a result, even though people often hear about business ethics, their understanding of the issue is still very vague. The fact is shown quite clearly in the survey findings. 66/100 (66%) of those surveyed answered that they had heard regularly about business ethics, while 34/100 (34%) sometimes had heard about business ethics. We should note that the survey was conducted in Hanoi, the capital and the second largest city in Vietnam, where the percentages cant be considered very high. But to answer the question: What is business ethics in your opinion?, 91/100 (91%) considered business ethics is complying with the rules, only 9/100 (9%) said business ethics is protecting customers right; none of them considered business ethics should be both: complying with the rules and protecting customers rights. The vague understanding of business ethics is the main reason leading to the shortage of business ethics enforcement in practice. 2.2. Corporate social responsibility To study the issue, we are focusing in two dimensions: Corporate responsibility of production quality and corporate responsibility in environment protection. The 1st question was set up as: What would you do, if your company gets the information that in one lot of companys production, some one has switched fault production, harmful for consumers, with true one but no one can recognize the fault production by outward aspect? The question is based on a true story in Chicago in 1981. Someone put poison in some bottles of Tylenol pain reliever produced by Johnson & Johnson (J & J) that were being sold in supermarkets in the Chicago area, causing the death of 7 people. Policeman never found the person responsible. Although this scandal happened only in Chicago and security authorities thought that the person only put poison in some Tylenol at those supermarkets, the managing board at J & J insisted on withdrawing all 31 million bottles of
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Tylenol bottles distributed not only in the US but also all over the world for verification. This decision cost USD $100 million but the high social responsibility along with an effective PR campaign helped J&J earn back its market share in 6 months. But in our survey, only 42 people, equal to 42%, chose the variant: To withdraw immediately the production, despite a finance loss, 50 people, equal to 50% selected the variant: Put a notice up in every selling place and let the customers make the decision to buy or not; and 8 people, (8%), decided on the variant: "Do nothing, because it is not the companys fault! The 2nd question is: What is your opinion, when a Vietnamese company exports soy bean sauce with a 3-MPCD rate that complies with Vietnamese regulations but exceeds EU permissible levels many times over? It is also based on a fact that in 2002, a Belgium newspaper warned its citizens against using Vietnamese-made Chinsu soy sauce, because of an analysis made by the Belgian Food Quality Agency indicated the soy sauce contained 3MCPD a chemical contaminant known to cause cancer in animals and kidney damage at an unacceptably high level of 86 mg/kg, exceeding the EU permitted level of 0.05 mg/kg nearly 200 times over the limit. But Chinsu denied its responsibility because they said Chinsu didnt export soy sauce to Belgium. The soy sauce could have been re-exported to Belgium by another company or it could have been an imitation. Moreover, a 3- MCPD rate in Chinsu soy sauce exceeded the EU regulations but remained within Vietnamese regulations! This incident has alerted the appropriate Vietnamese authorities and consumers to the harmful effects of 3-MCPD in soy sauce. The production used to be considered very safe because of its natural origin. It is also a fact leading to a scandal in 2007, when 90% of the Vietnamese soy sauce producing enterprises was found guilty by the appropriate authorities for violating food safety regulations by exceeding the permitted 3-MCPD levels. This incident has almost ruined the industry in Vietnam. Since this time all soy sauce companies are required to put a statement on every product: No 3-MCPD in their product to ensure customers of the safety of the product. Perhaps due to this well known fact, the opinion of surveyed people for the question is more straightforward. 33/100 people considered it as Law breaking, 25 people said: Business ethics violation and 42 people considered it: Violation in both! No one considered it a nonviolation. But the findings also indicate a vague delimitation between regulation and business ethics, because in fact the company violated both, business law and ethics, due to fact that when a company exports goods to any country, they should obey the rules of that country. The question of the responsibility of entrepreneurs on the environment can be found in the facts on numerous foreign companies investing in Vietnam taking advantage of the vague and loose regulations on environmental protection, using technologies that pollute the environment, affecting the health of workers and the community to reduce costs. There are innumerable examples of this problem: textile mills without proper cleaning devices affecting workers and people in the surrounding communities, subsequently, suffering from lung diseases; footwear factories releasing waste water, polluting water sources; to name a few. Companies do not have enough protection equipment for their workers, leading to a high rate of work related accidents. In these cases, although companies do not break the law,
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they violate business ethics intentionally as they are conscious of the consequences completely. However, the opinions of respondents are quite tolerant and moderate. Answering the question if a foreign company comes to Vietnam to establish a factory to take advantage on the vague and loose environmental laws of Vietnam, only 75 people, equivalent to 75%, considered it an unacceptable thing, a business ethics violation; 25 people thought: "Its acceptable because in doing business people can seize an opportunity. This result is caused by the fact that Vietnamese are not concerned with the environment that much, depending entirely on the law when assessing business ethics in companies. 2.3. The intellectual property issue in Vietnam: It is such a hot problem, not only in Vietnam but also in most of developing countries. Violation of intellectual property in Vietnam has a variety of reasons: Firstly, until the beginning of the twentieth century, Vietnam was a backward agricultural country, there were no achievements in products required to be protected like industrial designs, inventions, and therefore, there were no regulations on intellectual property rights. Moreover, as Vietnam is a country with a culture that values the community highly, Vietnamese did not have a tradition of protecting private property. In the feudal period and even the pre-integrated period, researchers and artists earned their livings by receiving a salary; the law did not refer to the intellectual property rights system, fees for an author were very low as they were thought to serve the community. This issue was only taken seriously from 1991, when Vietnam signed the TRIPS agreement. However, as the time for implementing this has been very short, only a little more than 10 years in comparison to the hundreds years of intellectual property protection rights history in the European or American continents, the consciousness of the Vietnamese people about intellectual property rights is limited. One reason for this situation is economic. For example: Stories about young wizard Harry Potter of J.K. Rowling are very popular in Vietnam. In August 2007, as children over the world, Vietnamese children were eager to wait for the 7th volume - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. But their parents could be in a big dilemma, if they wanted to respect intellectual properties. The cover price of an official copy of the J.K.Rowling book was $38 in Vietnam, against an annual average salary of $600, and illegal copies have been offered everywhere with about $7!vi. One way of violating intellectual property, which is quite popular in Vietnam is that a company brands its product intentionally rather like one famous product brand to dodge law, making mistakes for consumers, for instance: a domestic company named their motors as Hongda to imitate Honda, the very famous brand name from Japan. The result in this question has confirmed this statement. Answering for the question: "Give your opinion if a company brands its product

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like a famous one", only 16 people considered it as breaking the law, 37 considered it as violating business ethics and 47 thought it was acceptable because they were not exactly similar absolutely. What's more, of the 47 people that considered it as breaking the law, there were 3 out of 20 students, who were educated about this issue. As a result, it can be seen that intellectual property rights will be an unresolved problem in Vietnam for a long time. 2.4. The relationship between employer and employee: Recently, strikes became a serious problem in Vietnam. Statistics from 1995 up to now have shown that there were more than 1,000 strikes, from big to small. Only in the first quarter of 2007, there were 103 strikes in 14/64 provinces, cities with a population of 62,700 or more taking turns having strikes. ng Nai is the province that had the most with 35 strikes, followed by Bnh Dng with strikes, Ho Chi Minh City with 26 strikes. 98 out of the 103 strikes were for economic reasons vii. The main reasons for the strikes can be listed per below: - Unsatisfactory conditions in work environment, environmental pollution, unsafe and old equipment, and lack of worker safety conditions, no periodical health checks for workers and occupational hazards and diseases are the main causes. - Despite obeying rules of the law, the salary system is still low compared to the average level of the labors life. Therefore, workers feel dissatisfied with the work place and disloyal to enterprises. - Inadequate knowledge of workers about the Labor Law It was surprising that this situation happened not only in domestic private companies, which were regarded to have small capital and little knowledge about the law, but also in foreign invested companies, especially those from Taiwan and Korea. According to the Institute of Workers and Trade Union, over the last years, 878 strikes have been staged in FDI enterprises, accounting for 70.7% of the total strikes in Vietnam. A typical case is a strike that happened on the morning of July 25th 2007, at Linh Trung I export processing zone (Thu Duc district, Ho Chi Minh City), by 1,300 workers of Danu Vina company (a Korean wholly owned company) due to the companys unreasonable policy. From July 2007, the company gave a salary increase of VND 50,000, (about USD 3) for 1 to 5 year workers and VND 70,000, (less than USD 4) for 5 to 7 year workers. However, this policy was granted only for workers having contracts before July of the previous year. In addition, a monthly bonus for hard working workers of only VND 25,000 (equal to USD 1.5) was given; much too low as the average meal cost VND 4,000 (equal to 25 US cent) and was of very bad quality. Thievery, cause by unsecured locks, and bad sanitation conditions in the company made workers feel more concerned, upset and angry.

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To solve the problem, in 2007 the Workers and Trade Union Institute under the Viet Nam Confederation of Labor conducted a survey in localities that are home to many FDI enterprises, including Hanoi, HIM City, and the provinces of Dongnai, Binding, Ba RiaVung Tau, Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh and Hai Duong. The findings have shown that: in many foreign direct investment (FDI) companies, workers still face low wages, long extra working hours and a hard life. Up to 45 per cent of FDI companies, workers have complained about low wages; in nearly 16 per cent of the companies, workers were dissatisfied about their extra working hours. Long working hours and low wages, sometimes even lower than in private and state owned companies, are the main part of the problem. Most FDI workers receive a low salary from VND 800,000 (USD 50) to VND 1,000,000 (USD 62) a month. Thus, only 30 per cent of the workers in FDI companies can have enough money to offset their daily living costs. To increase the monthly income for essential daily expenses, 42.5 per cent of the FDI workers have to work overtime, especially those working in garment and leather enterprises. In several garment enterprises, the rate of women laborers working extra hours has reached 55%, many of them have to work 16 hours/day, till falling down unconsciousviii. To solve the problem, the Institute has proposed intensifying inspections and imposing stiff penalties on companies violations of the labor code, including failure to provide social and health insurance. The Institute also has called for amendments to laws on settlements of labor disputes and strikes to ensure that the strikes are legal and protect the interests of both employees and their employersix. This problem must be solved soon to protect the benefits of workers, enhance the investing environment in Vietnam and attract more foreign investors. As the relationship between employers and employees has been mentioned in the mass media in Vietnam, the answers on this topic in our survey are quite positive. Vietnamese law prohibits employers from refusing to employ female workers that have children. Also, female workers that have children less than 3 years of age have the right to go to work 1 hour later than other employees and are not required to work overtime. However, in fact, this law is only obeyed in state owned companies while it is ignored in private and FDI companies. When being asked for the opinion when "A company refused to recruit a female employee because she had children and/or had a child under the age of 3 but forced her to work overtime", 25% of the respondents considered it as breaking the law, 67% of the respondents considered it as violating business ethics, but 8% considered it all right because all workers have to work equally and that no one should be given preferential treatment. Thus, it can be understood here that despite some limitations in knowledge, most respondents have the correct view on this problem. 2.5. The moral rights and duties between a company and its shareholders This is a new matter in Vietnam as the Vietnamese stock market is still in infancy (less than 10 years old) so that the regulations on the accuracy of financial reports and disclosed information of enterprises arent strictly controlled. Thus, recently many enterprises have disclosed inaccurate information to gain profit and cause harm to investors.
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The first serious case was the false financial report on the joint stock report of Bien Hoa Confectionary Company (Bibica) in 2002 and the first 6 months of 2003. As Bibica was one of the first 21 listed companies and the first listed company in the confectionary industry on the stock market, based on those false figures, Bibicas stock price rose very quickly. But in fact, in an effort to improve its competitiveness on the market, Bibica simultaneously launched a range of investment projects to expand production, launching new products (moon cake, layer cake, and built a second confectionary plant, etc.). As a result, the companys debt to the bank increased. In addition, the rise of input materials price, new staff in finance - accounting department drove the company into more difficulties. In an effort to lure more investors to acquire new capital, the company issued an inaccurate financial report. When the fraud was discovered, shareholders found out that Bibica has suffered a VND 10.086 billion loss in 2002 (equivalent to USD 7,500,000), nearly double the number of VND 5.4 billion that the company executives had disclosed publiclyx. Indispensably, the share price of Bibica fell drastically, leading shareholders to suffer dramatic losses. In addition, Bibica faced penalties for breaching securities administration laws by the State Securities Commission (SCC) and nearly went bankrupt. However, as profits in the stock market were so appealing, similar cases still occurred. Thien Viet was a securities company established in early 2007 but it drew a lot of attention from investors as Mr. Nguyen Trung Ha, chairman of Thien Viet was a Deputy Director General of a top company in Vietnam and in its business registration license, Mr. Pham Kinh Luan, a prestigious expert in the finance field, was appointed Director General of Thien Viet. Consequently, though, Thien Viets stocks even remained unlisted but were still sought after by investors. Interestingly, too, Thien Viets board of directors disclosed that the company had signed a cooperation agreement with Goldman Sachs, a leading finance corporation in the USA (Thien Viet even showed the cooperation agreement with the signatures of Goldman Sachs and Thien Viets Presidents to reporters), the price of Thien Viets stocks soared upwards, increasing much more that the listed price. However, a few days later, in the Thanhnien newspaper (a famous newspaper in Vietnam) an article appeared, saying that Goldman Sachs denies any formal association with Thien Viet: Edward Naylor, Corporate Communications Director of Goldman Sachs in Asia, in his e-mails to Vietnamese press agencies, stated that Goldman Sachs just established an informal exploratory dialogue with Thien Viet as we have done with other local securities companies and has no formal association with this company. When asked about the cooperation agreement with the signatures of Goldman Sachs and Thien Viets Presidents that Thien Viet has shown to reporters, Mr. Naylor said that: Goldman Sachs sometimes sign similar agreements with private securities companies when the group discusses opportunities with them and these agreements could not be seen as the proof on wide ranging partnership.xi In addition, Mr. Pham Kinh Luan said that he had not signed any working contract for Thien Viet. As a consequence, Thien Viet paid stiff penalties to the HCM City Securities
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Trading Centre (HSTC) and the State Securities Commission for being dubious and deceitful. Those who suffered the most here were investors, who were enticed by the misleading information released by Thien Viets board of directors. However, these and other wrongdoings are likely to happen again as the law and the awareness of Vietnamese businessmen about the stock market isnt complete. Difficulties or risks are unavoidable in doing business. Under such conditions, prestigious companies have to call for collaboration from shareholders in an effort to overcome their arduous time. Although this could be risky, companies could gain confidence in their investors and lessen the risk of being abandoned, if false information was revealed. But in our survey, to respond to the question: When the production line of the company is damaged, causing productivity to decline, and after being revealed publicly, this information causes the companys stock price to fall, what should the company do?, only 42% chose to inform all investors, 50% chose Keep the information undisclosed until the production line is repaired and 8% chose: Not giving any report or information except when forced to do so. Despite this result seeming optimistic because 92% of the respondents didnt intend to conceal information at least for a certain time, it should be considered as a shortcoming in the awareness of Vietnamese enterprises. Some measures for improving business ethics in Vietnam Evaluation about business ethics reality in Vietnam Due to time and information limitation, all the aspects of business ethics in Vietnam could not be fully shown in this paper. However, through the above mentioned cases and survey findings, we can make some rough comments of business ethics in Vietnam as following: The knowledge of Vietnamese people in general and the businessmen in particular about business ethics is very limited; most of them have equated business ethics as a compliance with the business rules. This misunderstanding has significantly narrowed the application of business ethics. Moreover, in the countries where law systems are not complete and strict like Vietnam, such misunderstanding could prevent business ethics awareness acting in practice. Vietnameses sense of such fields as: Corporate social responsibility (CSR), Relationship between employers and employees, Moral rights and duties between a company and its shareholders is relatively vague. It rather depended on business rules instead of responsibility to customers and society. A large part of interviewees still being passive, perform their responsibility only when they are forced to do instead of acting for social interests. The biggest weakness of Vietnamese sense of business ethics has been shown in this survey is the awareness about environment and intellectual property. The findings are also
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in line with the other findings of the United Nation and other organizations survey. In long term, this could be a serious problem in order to ensure the Vietnams sustainable development. However, the survey also reveals some positive signals about the perspective of business ethics in Vietnam. Firstly, 100% of the respondents have heard about business ethics. Although their definition of business ethics is still vague, their concern of the matter is an encouraging fact. Another positive sign is the response of students group - most of them were first year students then have not been taught much in business - but their responses were more accurate than businessmen group. Most of students frequently heard about business ethics (17/20), which is completely higher than the general rate (85% in comparison with 67%). The proportion of students in favor of the opinion that business ethics is to protect the rights of consumers is much higher the general rate (35% in comparison with 8%). To answer the question about the reaction of enterprises to the fraudulent exchange by bad guys, none of the students agree with the choice Do nothing, because it is not the companys fault! in comparison with the general rate 8%. Responding to the 6th question about the case that a foreign enterprise establishes its firm in Vietnam to avoiding the loose in the regulations on environment in Vietnam, no students (in comparison with the general rate 25 %) approve of the choice Its acceptable because in doing business people can seize an opportunity ". However, answering the 7th question: When the production line of the company is damaged, causing productivity to decline, and after being revealed publicly, this information causes the companys stock price to fall, what should the company do?", 65% of the students in comparison with the general rate 45% agree that the firm needs to inform its shareholders to appeal for their corporation to help the company overcome the difficulty". But there are still 3 students (accounting for 15% compared with 8% in general) favors of the opinion that do not inform until it is obligatory". This result can take root in Vietnams infant stock market, besides the respondents are first-year students with limited knowledge about enterprises responsibility in this market. Similarly, in the 8th question asking about the opinion on a firm refuses to hire female labors who have small children or offer extra-work for female workers who have children under 3 years old", 40% of the students compared with 24% in general regard this as legal violation; however, 15% compared with 8% in general have the opposite opinion because every labor has the obligation to work equally. This results from the lack of knowledge about Labor law and the habit of applying dogmatically the principles about sexual equality, which is popular in Vietnam. Despite the low result of the survey about these two matters, we can see the students awareness about business ethics is obviously higher and more responsible than the general result. Even the sample is still small, the result of the student group, who will be businessmen, can be considered as a positive signal about the awareness of Vietnamese businessmen in the future.
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3.2. Proposals for developing and completing business ethics in Vietnam Although the findings about business ethics in Vietnam reveal some positive signals, the awareness of Vietnamese intellectuals and businessmen about business ethics still has some seriously shortcomings. These shortcomings not only harm consumers, businessmen and society but also cause a bad impact on enterprises image, bring about loss to enterprises and in the long term they would harm the national image in the world. To solve these problems, the authors would like to raise some proposals as following: Firstly, it is necessary to supplement and complete the Vietnams legal frame in order to create a firm legal foundation for business ethics : This is the prerequisite measure because law is the most obvious frame for business ethics. In Vietnam now it is necessary to complete the related Codes such as: Investment Law, Labour Law, Enterprise law, Consumer protection Law on, Environment Law... An important reason for the weakness of business ethics in Vietnam originates from the incompleteness in Vietnams laws. Complete and more rational regulations would prevent enterprises from taking advantage on law slot to evade their ethic obligations. A typical example of the matter is Consumer Protection Law. Recently, in the seminar about The reality of the legal performance of consumers protection and the orientation to construct Consumer Protection Law" held by the Department of Competition Control (The Ministry of Industry and Commerce), Hank Baker the representative of Vietnam Star project) confirmed that Vietnamese consumers have not been ensured their rights when using goods and services. Most of them could only rely on the sellers willingness while purchasing products in the market. Mr. Baker said: If unfortunately we purchased a bad product, we can only hope for taking back money. But there are so many bad sellers in the market. The final consequence is that only consumers suffer the loss". One of the reasons is that regulations protecting the rights of consumers in Vietnam have not been implemented effectively. According to Ms.Vu Thi Bach Nga, Head of consumers Protection Section (Department of Competition Control), currently there are only two official legal normative documents concerning this issue : The Ordinance Consumers Protection Rights (1999) and Decree 55/2008/ND- CP on 24/4/2008 regulating to implement this ordinance. However, Ms. Nga revealed that the regulations of this ordinance have not proved its effectiveness in reality. The rights and obligations of consumers are being stipulated very generally. These regulations are only named" but have not yet deeply analyzed the features of those rights and obligations. For example, Article 8 of the Ordinance regulates that: Consumers are guaranteed about life, health and environment when using products, service.... but does not show, how this right could be performed in reality. What customers should do to secure themselves? Furthermore, there are still many inadequacies in the regulation about rights and obligations of organizations, individuals in providing goods and services. Consumer Protection Law also does not prescribe sanctions to tackle the violation of organizations and individuals doing business such as wrong balance, unfaithful information about products and services... Ms. Nga analyzed that : Article 16 of the
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Ordinance stipulate organizations, individuals producing and doing business have to timely solve consumers claim about their own products, services when they do not follow the informed standard, quality, quantity and price or the contract. However, the sequence, procedure and legal consequences that organizations and individuals have to bear when they are against the requirements are not mentioned". In the seminar, the representative of the Department of Competition Control also reckoned that the regulations about rights and obligations of consumers in current legal documents are still theoretical, lack of a mechanism for their implementing. He also emphasized that these limitations have prevented Vietnamese consumers from being best protected. Mr. Hank Baker also revealed his anxiety that if the Law Amendment is still designed to focus on administrative punishment as the old way, consumers would not be effectively protected. He also stated that in Vietnams situation, it is necessary to build up an Association Law to enhance the role of Association in consumers protection. If these limitations are not adjusted, the rights and interests of consumers would not be guaranteed, as Hank Baker admitted: I do not like being Vietnamese consumers"xii 3.2.2. Enhancing awareness of business ethics in Vietnam: It should be conscious that not only businessmen and researchers but also the whole society need to be aware of business ethics, which requires a great deal involvement of various propaganda channels. Firstly, media coverage should be involved to spread knowledge of business ethics to public so that people would be able to protect themselves as well as to control enterprises activities. Secondly, such state bodies as: Ministry of Industry and Trade, VCCI (Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Department of Planning and Investing in Provinces should participate in a process to popularize the knowledge. This can be carried out in various ways such as organizing classes for entepreuners on business ethics; selecting to translate and publish some prestigious textbooks of this topic. It should be noticed that books for businessmen should be concise and with many practical cases, as Handbook of business ethics". Thirdly, Universities and Colleges should supplement the subject in their curriculum as an independent subject or supporting content in other subjects like Human Resource Management or International Business... Because the copyright of business textbooks used to be very expensive, we could rely on the assistance of some foreign organizations to overcome it. An example is in March 2008, The Information Center under the Embassy of the United States has funded for the Youth Publishing House to translate and publish the book "Business Ethics: A Manual For Managing A Responsible Business In enterprise Emerging Market Economies "of Igor Y. Abramov, Kenneth W. And Donald L. Johnson Evans, published by Diane Pub. Co. on May 2004, a highly evaluated book within academic circle. It could be a good way to adapt in the future. Now there are many organizations with prestigious reputation for business ethics, such as The International Society of Business Economics and Ethics ISBEE, which was established in 1989, having headquarters in the United States, and used to organize the International Congress on Business Ethics every four year. If we could cooperate with them to
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disseminate update and good quality materials about the issue, we could save a cost and provide newest knowledge to Vietnamese people. 3.2.3. Encouraging enterprises to raise their business ethics: We should be aware that like other social categories, there is no firm boundary for morality, but people always should try to reach it. It is very difficult to control morality because it exceeds rules compliance very far. Things are getting harder with business ethics, because in short-term business ethics compliance rarely present profits for enterprise, while this is the final purpose for all enterprises. Thus, authorities should be initiative in encouraging enterprises to engage themselves in practicing business ethics. For example, such national prizes for enterprises as Vietnam Golden Star or Golden Rose awards should take the business ethics as one of criteria to be evaluated. To boost the effect, media could publish articles to praise the enterprises. On the contrary, a heavy punishment should be issued to enterprises who failed in conducting business ethics in their workplaces. Such cases of enterprises, which forced their workers to work 16-20 hours per days incessantly for weeks till they were falling into a faint, but should pay a penalty of only some million VND, must not be repeated. Or enterprises, which violate environment protection law by let out waste water into rivers causing series of dead fish, poisoning water for daily needs of people in their surroundings, must be closed without delay. Like culture, ethics in general and business ethics in particular are complicated issues, which require more time and efforts to develop. As in other developing countries, which have just joined in globalization process, these issues such as business culture, business ethics are still fledgling in Vietnam. It is known that in a coming time, Vietnam government has a policy to upgrade people and entrepreneurs' recognition of international economic integration and globalization issues. Besides, Ministry of Education and Training recommended Universities and Colleges to amend their curricular to match with global standards. With the favorable factors and long-standing tradition of ethics in Viet Nam, we could expect that the consciousness of Vietnamese people of business ethics would be improved soon in order to maintain a sustainable development in economy and improve living standards in the country.

i Marcoux, A.M (2006), The concept of business in business ethics, Journal of private enterprise, April 1, 2006. ii Vickers, Mark R., Business Ethics and the HR Role: Past, Present, and Future, Human Resource Planning, January 1, 2005. iii Brenner, S. N. (1992), "Ethics Programs and Their Dimensions". Journal of Business Ethics, 11,391-399 iv Phillip V. Lewis (1985), Defining 'Business Ethics': Like Nailing Jello to a Wall, Journal of Business Ethics 4 (1985) 377-383. 0167-4544/85/.15 v Ferrels and John Fraedrich , Business ethics- Ethical decision making and cases, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005.

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vi Accountants face up to the moral maze, Ian Fraser, The Financial Times 2nd of January, 2008 vii Dung Hieu, ng x khi xy ra nh cng, http://www.vneconomy.vn, 13/11/2007 viii http://www.vnn.vn/xahoi/laodong/2005/11/512631/ ix Laodong Newspaper No 76, www.laodong.com.vn 04/04/2007 x 2002 Vietnam Investment Review Ltd xi http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/2007/03/670242/ xii http://dantri.com.vn/kinhdoanh/Nguoi-tieu-dung-Viet-am-chiu-qua-nhieu-thiet-thoi/2008/6/236945.vip

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