Kelebit 1

Amanda Libbie Kelebit

2009060149
Lecturer Mr. S. Rajini Kumar
Business and Professional Ethics
25 February 2010
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A global set of ethics is not impossible in business:

Each culture and region of the world can have it own ethics
as well as values and culture differences.

The statement above would clearly state that it is a complex situation when it comes to ethics
interpretation methodology. Some would be in the same shoes; some would be at the opposition side.
Business world is a risky world, thus it is not a game. Also the same with ethics, although it is a
variable, but it could be leading to different consequences regarding how the ethics is interpret and how
action is taken according to the ethics. Here is a good example that was learnt in class:

A half naked body is shown in a newspaper with a headline about it. Whether or not it is about
bad or good news, the picture itself will show to the reader what the article is about. Thus, many
different people will think differently, depend on the values and culture that they had learnt.
Maybe if this article and the pictures are published in Asia region, the reader would think
differently from those readers who are at the west. Those Asia maybe would think of taking
legal action on the newspaper company but those that are open minded will think that it is a
normal situation for them.

From online sources Encarta, the word ‘global’ means worldwide and overall. For ethics, its definition
is study of morality's effect on conduct and code of morality. So, overall, global business ethics has to
do with ethical issues affecting the business world. When thinking about global ethics, we are
concerned with actions taken by citizens and political leaders of nations, and with international laws.
As in Romans 12:16, “Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but
associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.” It sound ethically befits as human
being. This verse can be apply in business world too as there is many competency that apply to global
ethics. It is applied in many fields without us knowing about it. Here for an example that taken from the
part of the dialog on America’s Economic Crisis (26 September 2008) with Bob Abernethy, Father
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Jim Martin and Reverend Jim Wallis.

“Father JIM MARTIN (Editor, America Magazine): Well, I’d like to go from the general to the
specific. You can start with the Jewish and Christian principles of caring for the poor, which is
very important in both the Old and the New Testaments. Jesus speaks about that very forcefully.
More specifically, the Catholic tradition in their social teaching documents talk about solidarity
with one another and the common good. It’s not just every man in it for himself, or every
woman. You know, we Jesuits talk about not making decisions in a time when you’re freaking
out. So there’s a sort of discernment that’s needed. And then, finally, I think that the role of
conscience needs to play in this. There’s a reason why people feel uncomfortable with so many
people making money and with the bailout possibly helping only the wealthy, and I think the
 reason people feel that sort of uncomfortable feeling is conscience. I mean, it’s telling us that
something’s wrong when only the wealthy benefits, so I think those are some of the principles.
ABERNETHY: But, Jim Wallis, whatever we do has to be something that, first of all, is
practical, perhaps. Does it work? Does it work for the whole economy, and does it also work for
the very poor?
Reverend JIM WALLIS (Editor-in-Chief and CEO, Sojourners Magazine): Well, I’m an
evangelical convert to Catholic social teachings, so I’m going to agree with Jim about all this.
You know, this crisis is structural and spiritual both, and this has come about because private
gain, greed, has prevailed over the common good. We’ve lost sight of what the common good
is, and it’s true, there’s a conversation going on about rewarding the people who are indeed
most responsible for the crisis.”

Furthermore, with values and cultures differences, global ethics would be impossible. But some would
against this statement. “Such a set of principles can only be agreed upon if representatives of diverse
organizations and cultural values will work together to understand each others' perspectives. This
approach is consistent with the goal of ‘mutual understanding’ that increasingly characterizes public
relations practice. It is also consistent with recent theoretical work in ethics and post colonialism,”
according to the journal Public Relations Review in Volume 22, Issue 2. By referring to the talk that
was given by Aron Cramer, the President and Chief Executive officer of Business for Social
Responsibility on March 9, 2007, the social responsibility and ethical behaviour determine the business
ethics in global world. In his conference, he add that the growth of business ethics in China and India
been formed by those who are west-educated. Thus these show that these ethics is globalised by
referring to the example of China and India. But then, global change in business world will lead to
different perspective of thinking of businessman. These thinking will then create different creativity.
Taking the climate change in China and India as an example:
“China and India have several advantages in addressing this issue: Both are committed to
developing their technological expertise. Both have large domestic markets, which make
developing new services easier. And neither has legacy industries – such as an auto industry
built on cars that use gasoline – to offer resistance to new technologies.
Cramer also predicted that the fragmentation of power and information would continue. This
presents real challenges for both India and China. For example, the Internet is developing
differently in China than in the West, because of government restrictions on free expression.”
Apart from that, there is Institute of Global Ethics (IGE) which works with Fortune 500 companies,
professional business associations, and with local, state, and federal government departments. With
offices in Maine, New York, England, and Canada, IGE seeks to raise the profile of values and ethics
by working with foundations, other nonprofits, and global thinkers. This institute help to explore the
global common ground of values, elevate awareness of ethics, provide practical tools for making
ethical decisions, and encourage moral actions based on decisions. Mr. Rushworth M. Kidder, the
President and Founder of IGE, stated that:

“But a code, like a strategic plan, has a life cycle. Codes need periodic refreshing. Their core
principles should remain immutable. But their examples change with the decades, as does the
relevancy of their language. This report admits the obvious: Firms that have built codes will
sooner or later be rebuilding. Doing so, it takes the lead as the essential companion to any
executive team charged with making ethics matter.”

This statement is referring to the Ethics Newsline which reported according to the ‘Global Corporate
Ethics Practices: A Developing Consensus’ on Jul 26th, 1999. This demonstrates that a global set of
ethics can be done so as to uniform the organization in the world to avoid any confusion or wrong
interpretation by any people in this world.

In brief, Business Ethics (A Global and Managerial Perspective) defined that business ethics is the
process of evaluating decisions, either pre or post, with respect to the moral standards of the society’s
culture. Again, the culture and the society itself verify whether a conduct of behaviour in business
world is ethical or not. Thus, the situation itself that vary can create different understanding on whether
it is right or wrong. Either both, global ethics can be apply but it should using the principle of charity
whereby the majority is getting the benefits because it will influence the society and the surrounding
culture. Thus, it is to conclude that a global set of ethics is not impossible in business world, but the
values and cultures should be applied as well to create a balancing human world of business.

(1254 words)