Week # 8 Business Ethics and Globalization

Chantelle M Washington

Week # 8 Business Ethics Across Cultures

November 9, 2013

As the global economy grows and expands, opportunities for nations who have been faced with economic challenges have been an avenue for American businesses looking for less expensive labor. As the United States continues to infiltrate these countries, the need to expand our knowledge of the ethical challenges, practices and development opportunity for our host nations has become paramount. Throughout my research for this paper I have found that I approached the idea of ethics in business strictly for the perspective of an American employee, with all the protections that go with the fact that I am an American employee. I also approached my research with the question of, what happens when an American company enters the business environment of a foreign nation. Does the American company change their standard business practices, does the American company expect the employees to bend to the America way of doing business, or do the two parties determine a code of ethics that will respect the other’s ethics and standards.

Stephen Rothlin of the Center for International Business Ethics in Beijing has been in the forefront of this shift of business ethics changes for American companies conducting business in foreign countries. Mr. Rothlin’s accomplishments include the modernization of the Markkula Center of Applied Ethic Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership. Mr. Rothlin granted an interview on this subject to the Santa Clara University. In the article acknowledgement of the fact that business ethics are evolving in China; “The Chinese approach to corporate social responsibility has been evolving since the 1990s, when Levi Strauss introduced a code of conduct for its suppliers after worker mistreatment led to bad publicity and protests in the United States. For a time, some Chinese business leaders worried that corporate social responsibility expectations were really...