Managing business ethically

The difficulty of making moral decisions for multinational corporations could have a negative impact on their potential for production. Many academics have put forth many philosophical perspectives that can direct the management in these institutions to make moral choices. The Friedman doctrine, the righteous moralist approach, the naive immoralist hypothesis, and the notion of cultural relativism are some of these theories.

The Friedman Principle

Milton Friedman believed that businesses had a duty to increase shareholder profits, even if doing so limited their ability to fulfill other societal obligations (Shea, 2017). Friedman emphasized that a company should avoid engaging in activities that are in opposition to its objectives for profit maximization.

Adaptivism to Culture

The theory of cultural relativism dictates that an organization should have a comprehensive understanding of the values, practices, and beliefs of the societal members in its locality before coming up with an ethical structure on how to engage in social responsibilities. Godiwalla and Damanpouir (2006) claim that ethics are determined by the culture of the society an organization operates in.

The Righteous Moralist

The proponents of the righteous moralist theory dictate that the best standards of ethics a multinational firm can adopt are those it has already incorporated in its home country (Salius & Hall, 2011). They, therefore, argue that the laws and morals of a specific multinational corporation’s country of origin are to be adopted in all its branches irrespective of their location.

The Naïve Immoralist

The theory dictates that a manger of any multinational organization should examine the behaviors of other foreign firms and behave in a similar manner (Salius & Hall, 2011). According to this theory, if the manager finds that other multinational organizations are not following the ethical standards in the host nation, then he should also not adopt them.

Effects of an Organization’s Ethical Standing, or Reputation on Its Business Abroad

A corporations’ ethical standing is a key factor that determines the nature of its business in foreign nations. To start with, shareholders will always be willing to invest in firms that have a commendable ethical reputation, hence, a corporation’s whose opinions on ethics is questioned is more likely to lack local investors in a foreign country (Beer, 2010). In addition, most employees opt to work in businesses whose reputability on ethical matters is applaudable, which implies that a multinational organization may be faced with a challenge of recruiting employees if its ethical standards are deemed to be relatively low.

Whether Any of the Philosophical Approaches To Ethics Work In My Selected Organization

My selected organization is involved in the provision of telecommunications services in various countries of the globe. An in-depth analysis of this firm reveals that it has adopted the cultural relativism theory of ethics. As a result, the firm has launched various social projects whose implementation starts after the societal members have expressed their opinions on the effects of the proposed initiatives. If the societal members claim that a respective program is beneficial to them, then the organization goes ahead to implement it within the shortest time possible.

How A Philosophical Approach to Ethics Reflect On An Organization and Its Managers

The essence of the philosophical approaches to ethics on an organization cannot be underestimated as they provide the manager with the insight which should be the guiding principle in the firm’s engagement in social activities. For instance, when the management decides that the corporation should cut down its costs in order to maximize its profits, then there is a high probability that its involvement in social affairs will be quite minimal.

References

Beer, L.A. (2010). A strategic and tactical approach to global business ethics. Business Expert Press.

Godiwalla, Y.H., Damanpour, F. (2006). The MNCs global ethics and social responsibility: A strategic diversity management imperative. Journal of Diversity Management. Vol.1(2).

Salius, S., Hall, S. (2011). Paying the price: A study into the corruption of the multinational corporation. School of Business, Economics and Law: Guteborg University. Retrieved on 9 November 2017, from, https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/26625/1/gupea_2077_26625_1.pdf

Shea, B. (2017). Business ethics: The Friedman doctrine and its critics. Academia. Retrieved on 9 November 2017, from,http://www.academia.edu/32256021/Business_Ethics_The_Friedman_Doctrine_and_Its_Critics