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The Ethical Dilemma of International Business: Can we afford to be Ethical?
by Erika Edwards Decaster
erika.decaster@hqpublications.com
Business Programs Columnist
As the international business economy becomes increasingly interdependent, it is almost impossible to ignore how important international business and trade are even for the smallest, home-grown businesses.
With a great amount of production being performed overseas, American and international business professionals are finding themselves in an ethical dilemma. Can businesses ensure the safety and rights of their international workers and at the same time maintain a reasonable profit? Can we afford to be ethical?
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The Effects of Ethics on International Business and Trade
Most international businesses have some code of ethics built in to their mission statement. It generally includes the intentions of the company and upon what moral principles the organization works. Ethics are essentially where you draw the line.
There are many sticky ethics questions that must constantly be dealt with in any business, but especially in international business and trade. The ethics of a company essentially determines what the international business considers to be right and wrong.
Good Business versus Good Profit
In the world of international business, where so much of the labor works in factories outside the developed world, the ethical line becomes very blurry. Without the protection of laws which guarantee minimum wage and workers rights, whose responsibility is it to draw the line?
The international business and trade sector must decide what is acceptable and what is not, especially with regard to such questions as child labor, minimum wage and worker's rights. The leaders of these companies must make themselves aware and responsible for what is going on in the factories that supply them with their product. They must not turn a blind eye to the abuses of workers and they must be sure that reporting on these factories is accurate. Can we afford to be ethical? In today's business world, we cannot afford not to.
What about Ethics at International Business School?
As more future business leaders are expected to take the lead in the coming decades, business program coursework will deeply analyze and discuss changes in the world of international business ethics.
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The debacles of Martha Stewart, Enron, and Mattel serve as fine examples for international business faculty in their moderation of classroom discussion. You can be sure that international business programs will increasingly focus on the need for ethics in all areas of the business world.
About the Author
Erika Edwards Decaster has most recently worked as an internship coordinator for Brigham Young University. Her previous experience includes publishing, curriculum development, museum administration and as a teacher of English as a second language. She has also worked as a full-time humanitarian aid volunteer in Portugal and as an employment specialist in the Dominican Republic.
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