Answer to Question #318108 in Management for NTWANA

Question

find an example of a South African company’s code of ethics. then name and discuss the ethical theory that argues this company adheres to. Make a clear and convincing argument as to why (after reading the code of ethics) you think this is the ethical theory that the company subscribes to

Answer 1

Companies must help managers distinguish between practices that are merely different and those that are wrong. For relativists, nothing is sacred and nothing is wrong. For absolutists, many things that are different are wrong. Neither extreme illuminates the real world of business decision making. The answer lies somewhere in between.

When it comes to shaping ethical behavior, companies must be guided by three principles.

• Respect for core human values, which determine the absolute moral threshold for all business activities.
• Respect for local traditions.
• The belief that context matters when deciding what is right and what is wrong.

Respecting differences is a crucial ethical practice. Research shows that management ethics differ among cultures; respecting those differences means recognizing that some cultures have obvious weaknesses—as well as hidden strengths. Managers in Hong Kong, for example, have a higher tolerance for some forms of bribery than their Western counterparts, but they have a much lower tolerance for the failure to acknowledge a subordinate’s work. In some parts of the Far East, stealing credit from a subordinate is nearly an unpardonable sin.

People often equate respect for local traditions with cultural relativism. That is incorrect. Some practices are clearly wrong. Union Carbide’s tragic experience in Bhopal, India, provides one example. The company’s executives seriously underestimated how much on-site management involvement was needed at the Bhopal plant to compensate for the country’s poor infrastructure and regulatory capabilities. In the aftermath of the disastrous gas leak, the lesson is clear: companies using sophisticated technology in a developing country must evaluate that country’s ability to oversee its safe use. Since the incident at Bhopal, Union Carbide has become a leader in advising companies on using hazardous technologies safely in developing countries.