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INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
JUNE 2011
VOL 3, NO 2
Growing literature in international business ethics indicate that managing across borders
involves dealing with ethical challenges that are complex and multifaceted They range from
varying legal, political, economic and cultural conditions that provide a challenge for business
executives who want to satisfy moral expectations across different countries and aim to integrate
an ethical dimension into their strategic decision-making processes.
Bowie (1996) says almost all of the countries in the world are different in different ways like,
physical setting, economic development and literacy rates and he argues that even if we accept
an universal ethical and moral principle, we should believe they must be related to different
cultures and background. Hence ethical behavior would still differ among cultures even though
they may agree on fundamental universal moral principles.
Following the economic growth does not necessarily lead us to social development. In many
cases as Leonard and McAdam, (2003) opine it may actually leads to bad physical environment,
unsafe workplace, discrimination, urban decay and other social problems.
These environmental concerns have been expressed often than not. For instance, in one hand
Beauchamp and Bowie (2004) report that there are other fundamental ethical issues associated
with international business ethics, which include bribery, extortion, facilitation payments and
human rights. On the other hand, Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell (2002) describe global ethical
issues as encompassing human rights, sexual and racial discrimination, price discrimination,
bribery, harmful products, pollution and telecommunications issues. In this scenario, Hazarika,
(1998) stated that it is no wonder that the attention of top management, governments and society
are being directed towards corporate governance, corporate accountability and corporate social
responsibility (CSR).
In a global business environment, responsible marketers discover that buyers want and respond
to those offers which create value for sides, buyers and marketers. Sometimes people try to find a
market for their products they think they are innocent but their products or their actions may
affect a large part of the society. Consider the sale of cigarettes. Parker (1998) writes that the
way corporations go about their business activities, with respect to business ethics performance,
is increasingly important to their customers as well as all stakeholders of the corporation and the
society in general. Customers in the marketplace are becoming increasing aware of and
increasingly discriminating against corporations that fail to meet the customers’ criteria of
acceptable versus unacceptable ethical business activities and management principles.
Norton Jouster, as cited by Hartman (2005), stated that, “From here that looks like a bucket of
water, but from an ant’s point of view, it’s a vast ocean; from an elephant’s point of view, it’s
just a cool drink; and to a fish, of course, it’s home.” Jouster’s statement is to imply, if we really
are going to make a great change in the way that we handle our customers, we should consider
different views of stakeholders and as we know the company itself is the most interested one in
its success.
However, strict reporting, detailed codes of conduct rules and regulations are certainly necessary
but not sufficient. Geoghegan & Azmi, (2005) argued that a company that has a well-known
brand is like an individual who has a good name that enables him to make very good and strong
relationships when he needs. Verhezen, (2005) says a corporate reputation shows and reflects the
organization’s strategy, culture, and values.
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