INTERNATIONAL

BUSINESS
Instructor: Linh Nguyen
GENERAL LEARNING OUTCOMES

International business issues

Cultures difference

Country/industry attractiveness

Entry mode

International Strategy
AGENDA

CULTURE IN BUSINESS STRATEGY

CULTURE IN COMMUNICATION
REFERENCE BOOKS
AGENDA

CULTURE IN BUSINESS STRATEGY

CULTURE IN COMMUNICATION
CULTURE GAP
CULTURE

Sharing Indonesia
business culture
Sharing Vietnam
business culture
 CHAPTER 5:
ETHICS IN INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 Be familiar with the ethical issues faced by international

businesses.
 Recognize an ethical dilemma.
 Discuss the causes of unethical behavior by managers.
 Be familiar with the different philosophical approaches to
ethics.
 Know what managers can do to incorporate ethical
considerations into their decision making.
CONCEPTS

 Ethics - accepted principles of right or wrong that govern the

conduct of a person, the members of a profession, or the
actions of an organization
 Business ethics are the accepted principles of right or wrong
governing the conduct of business people
 Ethical strategy is a strategy, or course of action, that does
not violate these accepted principles
1. ETHICAL ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

 Employment practices
 Human rights
 Environmental regulations
 Corruption
 The moral obligation of multinational companies
EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES

Question: When work conditions in a host nations are clearly

inferior to those in a multinational’s home nation, what
standards should be applied?

 The standards of the home nation?

 The standards of the host nation?
 Something in between?
HUMAN RIGHTS

Question: What is the responsibility of a foreign

multinational when operating in a country where basic
human rights are not respected?
 PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE
 Did Apple do anything wrong?
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

Question: Should a multinational feel free to pollute

in a developing nation if doing so does not violate
laws?

Answer:
 The tragedy of the commons
CORRUPTION

Question: Is it ethical to make payments to government

officials to secure business?

Answer:
 In the United States, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act outlawed the
practice of paying bribes to foreign government officials in order to gain
business
 The Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in
International Business Transactions adopted by the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) obliges member states
to make the bribery of foreign public officials a criminal offense
 PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE
 Did Wal-Mart Mexico do the right thing?
MORAL OBLIGATIONS

Question: Do multinationals have a responsibility to give

back to the societies that enable them to grow and prosper?

Answer:
 Social responsibility is getting more and more attention from
companies
PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE

 Social responsibility

 Social responsibility
2. ETHICAL DILEMMAS

 Managers often face situations where the appropriate course

of action is not clear
 Ethical dilemmas - situations in which none of the available
alternatives seems ethically acceptable
 they exist because real world decisions are complex, difficult to
frame, and involve various consequences that are difficult to quantify
3. THE ROOTS OF UNETHICAL
BEHAVIOR

Question: Why do managers behave in an unethical manner?

Answer:
 Managerial behavior is influenced by
 Personal ethics
 Decision making processes
 Organizational culture
 Unrealistic performance expectations
 Leadership
3. THE ROOTS OF UNETHICAL
BEHAVIOR

Figure 4.1: Determinants of Ethical Behavior

Determinants of Ethical Behavior

IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS
Question: How can managers ensure that ethical issues are considered in
business decisions?
Answer:
Managers should
 favor hiring and promoting people with a well grounded sense of personal
ethics
 build an organizational culture that places a high value on ethical behavior
 make sure that leaders within the business not only articulate the rhetoric of
ethical behavior, but also act in manner that is consistent with that rhetoric
 put decision making processes in place that require people to consider the
ethical dimension of business decisions
 develop moral courage