According to Hellriegel (2010), the main objective of business ethics is to transform corporate goals from the logic of profit only to the logic of profit. In addition to achieving societal value, this value will maintain the company's reputation and standing with customers and the surrounding community.
In this paper, I will discuss the result of foreign stakeholders' conflicting ethical approaches with the company's established culture. How can companies deal with that?
Work Ethic Differs Across Cultures:
According to (Clarke & Boersma, 2017), the stereotype of what business ethics might look like varies from country to country, for example in China, according to the 996 working hour system law, an employee can work for 12 hours non-stop and for 6 days a week, i.e., 72 hours, this does not contradict either the labor law in China or the culture of the Chinese, on the other hand, in the United States, this is against labor law, corporate ethics, and the general culture of Americans.
The impact of different work ethic between countries
In this context, I will mention three examples of multinational companies that were exposed to the same dilemma and how they dealt with it:
Negative Handling of Foreign Country Ethics (Apple in China):
According to (Clarke & Boersma, 2017), Apple has been criticized in China several times for the fact that its management there deals with the Chinese way of doing business, such as working for long periods and not paying allowances or bonuses for that and so on, in addition to low salaries, this led to the American media and press attacking Apple again and again. Therefore, some companies, such as Apple, lose some of their reputation in their home country due to following the ethics of the foreign country where they operate.
Compromise with Foreign Country Ethics (Levi Strauss & Co. in Bangladesh):
According to (OpenText, n.d.), In the nineties, when the company opened its factories there, it found that its contractors were using children under the age of 14; these children left school and devoted themselves to work in multiple international companies and working conditions that are not appropriate for their young ages, the first solution was to expel these children and preserve the reputation of the company in its home country, but when studying the situation closely, the company found that it is these children who provide for their families and this is a common culture in Bangladesh, the company came up with a compromise, which is to send these children back to school and have them work part-time for a few hours, but by paying their full salary from the company and promising them to keep their jobs when they are older.
Positive Dealing with the Ethics of the Foreign Country (LEGO Globally):
According to Buhmann (2006), the LEGO company implements one strategy in any country in which it operates, so it's no wonder that it ranks first in the Sustainability Index and the Best Corporate Social Responsibility list. Companies like LEGO choose to implement their code of ethics anywhere in the world and reap the rewards in a good reputation and customer welcome.
Conclusion
The list of ethical issues in the international community is intertwined and complex; for example, some foreign countries allow doing business unethically sometimes, bribery in Latin countries, child labor in Africa and Asia, inequality of opportunity, nepotism, and lack of diversity in Arab countries (Geren, 2011), all of these are unethical issues that make it difficult for global companies to conduct their business with the same ethical code that they adopt. However, companies that respect their code of ethics often achieve a better international reputation, leading to a higher market share than others.
References
Buhmann, K. (2006). Corporate social responsibility: What role does law play? Some aspects of law and CSR. Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society, 6(2), 188-202.
Clarke, T., & Boersma, M. (2017). The governance of global value chains: Unresolved human rights, environmental and ethical dilemmas in the apple supply chain. Journal of Business Ethics, 143(1), 111-131.
Green, B. (2011). The work ethic: Is it universal. Journal of International Business and Cultural Studies, 5(1), 1-8.
Hellriegel, D. (2010). Organizational behavior. Cengage learning.
OpenText. (n.d.). The Role of Ethics and National Culture, https://opentext.wsu.edu/organizational-behavior/chapter/2-4-the-role-of-ethics-and-national-culture/