Chapter 3: Ethics & Social Responsibility

Question 1

Ethics and Social Responsibility

Answer 1

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR):
- Closely related to ethics
- Actions of a firm to benefit society beyond requirements of law and direct interests of firm
- CSR involves taking voluntary action
- CSR concerns include working conditions in factories and service centers as well as environmental impacts of corporate activities

Question 2

Employment and business practices

Answer 2

• Employment and business practices
  
  • Difficult to establish a universal foundation of employment practices
  • Difficult dilemmas in deciding working conditions, expected consecutive work hours, and labor regulations.
  • Offshoring due to differences in labor costs

Question 3

Ethics and Social Responsibility

Answer 3

Human Rights
- Currently no universally adopted standard
- A great deal of subjectivity and culturally biased viewpoints exist
- Some basic rights: life, freedom from slavery or torture, freedom of opinion and expression, general ambiance of nondiscriminatory practices
- Human rights violations still rampant globally

Question 4

Corruption

Answer 4

Government corruption pervasive element in international business environment

Scandals in Russia, China, Pakistan, Lesotho, South Africa, Costa Rica, Egypt and elsewhere

Question 5

Ethics and Social Responsibility Around the World

Answer 5

Ethical Problems and Concerns : China

• Ethical issues
  Workers not well paid (often work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week)
  Piracy of intellectual property, counterfeiting, and industrial spying
• Human rights violations
  Use of prisoner and child labor

Question 6

Ethical Problems and Concerns US

Answer 6

• Political campaign contributions & lobbyists
• Fraud in mortgage sector (secteur hypothécaire)
• Rising wage inequality
  middle class wages stagnant for a decade
• Lack of health (Manque de santé ) benefits for workers
  Loss of promised retirement benefits

Question 7

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability

Answer 7

CSR: Action of a firm to benefit society beyond the requirements of the law and direct interests of the firm

Sustainability: Development that meets humanity’s needs without harming future generations

Question 8

Rise of Civil Society and NGOs

Answer 8

• Emergence of organized civil society and NGOs altered
  Business environment globally
  Role of MNC within global business environment

NGOs (ONG) in the U.S. and globally
Save the Children
Oxfam
CARE
World Wildlife Fund
Conservation International

Question 9

Rise of Civil Society and NGOs

Answer 9

• Corporations receiving heavy criticism:
  Nike
  Levi’s
  Chiquita
• Major criticisms:
  Exploitation of low-wage workers
  Environmental abuses
  Intolerable workplace standards
• Response to social obligations:
  Agreements and codes of conduct
  Maintenance of standards in domestic and global operations
  Cooperation with NGOs regarding certain social issues