Professional ethical standards are
a system of moral values that motivated the way people conduct themselves based
on an idea of right and wrong. The standards have a tendency to be codified in
a formal system of rules explicitly adopted by the group using them and
internally defined. Hartman (2011) states that the shared patterns of
belief that are fashioned by an organizational culture “influence and guide the thinking and
behaviors” of the people who are a part of that culture. Ethics are also
sometimes refered to at morality because the two are so closely related.
Culture
affects ethics and shapes businesses behavior because unspoken standards and
expectations develop and influence practices. The climate of a firm’s culture
is significantly influences by the values and morals exhibited by their leader.
The behaviors that culture impacts the most are the tempo at which work is
done, approach to humor, methods of use for problem solving, individual
autonomy, and how competetive the environment is. Unfortunately, because of the
influence that culture climate has on the members of the group, people can be
swayed to make both moralily and immoraly responsible business decisions.
Because different countries have
different cultures, they may have a different stance on the difference between
right and wrong. They may make business decisions that they feel are ethical
that seem unethical to our culture and vis versa. It is important to be sensitive
to the views of others that you are conducting business with. It is also important
to develop a set of values that your company adheres to, and not take the easy
way out of things just because it has been made available. A company’s
corporate integrity is dependent upon the decisions that they make.
Some things that we as Americans view as unethical and the
wrong thing to do could very possibly be legal in another country. Corrupt international business transactions
would not be ethical because the very definition of corrupt is “to change from
good to bad in morals, manners or actions” (Merriam-Webster, 2011). Whether or not it
is legal is a different question. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other
such measures were created both domestically and internationally in an effort
to reduce the amount of corrupt international business that was taking place. Igor Osyka (2000) categorizes the types of
corruption in international business transactions in three groups; Political,
commercial and personal. While you may be able to get away with corrupt
international transactions like insider trading, there's always the possibility
that you could get caught and jeopardize your future as well as your company’s
future. “Knowledge of international and
domestic legal instruments and local custom, use of code of ethics and wise
risk management policies could make it possible and successful to do business
in any developing country and with avoiding conflicts with FCPA” (Osyka, 2000).
References
Hartman. (2011). Business Ethics: Decision-Makng
for Personal Integrity & Social Responsibility. McGraw-Hill.
Merriam-Webster. (2011). Merriam-Webster.
Retrieved November 8, 2011, from corrupt:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/corrupt
Osyka, I. (2000). Univd. Retrieved November 8,
2011, from International Business Transactions and Corruption:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CFYQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.univd.edu.ua%2F_projects%2Fezloch_kor%2Fdocs%2Feng%2F1.doc&ei=CmO5TpLoCoHX0QGoq5HVCA&usg=AFQjCNHAW7gRi8UXKI2I9ruCuYVimkPwNQ
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