The Impact of Culture and time on business ethics

Introduction

There is need for any company to integrate and implement the business ethics for it to have the competitive edge and advantage over others. The ethics includes the societal ethics which involve the culture and the moral values therefore the business ought to be conducted in a certain self-recognized moral standards.  There are many practices that a company can indulge in to ensure that they have the competitive advantage, this may include outsourcing which involves the practice of setting up foreign companies in a bid to expand to other markets and ensure that it achieves the cost of labor advantage (S. Byars, 2018). This however sometimes raises questions on the ethical considerations in that it the company seeks to strike a balance between the quality of the products and  their affordability hence for a company that seeks to invest overseas there is need for ethical consideration such as the labor wages and even the working conditions.

Corporate social responsibility

Apart from doing business and ensuring that a company becomes profitable, there are other responsibilities that a company ought to fulfill and ensure that it impacts a community. This is what is referred to corporate social responsibility in that it undertakes to ensure that it commands the respect and trust of its consumers (S., 2012). This could include undertaking the philanthropic acts such as the ones Merck and company have undertaken in Africa in a bid to fight river blindness disease in which it made a drug to fight it and help the world health organization thus contribute positively to the society by ensuring that the victims are able to be cured and even avoid being blind (Merck, 2019). These kind of practices by a company makes it be applauded by its consumers thus is able to win their favor thus ensuring that its product are sold.

The Nike Controversy

There are also practices that are loathed and looked down up especially on companies that have set up foreign plants. There are international ethical standards which ought to be adhered to thus failure to observe them would lead to the products being shunned by the consumers because at the manufacturing point it failed to attain the required ethical standards. These may include the working standards and conditions thus failing to adhere to the social and cultural considerations.  A case study of this includes the Nike Company and the issue of the sweatshops in that the company had moved its production plants to third world countries such as Vietnam, China, Taiwan and even South Korea with a bid to access cheap labor (Jeffrey, 2018). At first this move was lauded positively as it exposed the company to new markets but ethical issues ma up with critics stating that the American culture of good ethics had been overlooked. This is because the foreign plants were not adhering to the ethical standards in that the employees in the companies were being paid less; there was also the overtime labor and even arbitrary abuse. These practices led to protests over the company products hence the clamor for a change and ensure that the international standards are adhered (Bain, 2017).

Advocacy for the labor rights in foreign countries

Companies ought to adhere to ethical and social responsibility as it goes hand in hand. In that the corporate social responsibility include the company acting in line with the ethical obligations which include it being accountable to the stakeholders of the organization of which in Nike’s situation involving its consumers. Transparency is also important such that it ought to ensure that the foreign companies observe the business ethics standards (TeamSweat, 2011). Apple also changed its labor practices in the plants that were situated in China after it was discovered that there was breach of the fair labor association working rules providing for the 60 hour per week standards of working. It had an obligation in ensuring that Foxconn which was being outsourced for the assembling of apple products adheres to the required international working standards such as the health and safety of the workers. Therefore companies should advocate for the labor rights which include the minimum wages, ensuring there is no underage employment and even good favorable conditions. This would ensure that good international practices that are observed in the western countries where these companies have their parent companies are implemented in the host countries thus ensuring that they have adhered to their obligation of advocating for the labor rights which include the working conditions and standards. Consumers also have an obligation to ensure that the products they are using have adhered to the ethical standards so as to promote good competitive practices. This would go a long way to ensuring that the companies that do not adhere to the required standards are profiled thus the need to change their practices.

Conclusion

Corporate social responsibility which goes hand in hand with the ethics is important in ensuring that a company achieves the competitive advantage. Setting up foreign plants in a bid to ensuring the company stays afloat and make profits is acceptable. However these plants ought to be in line with the international standards of ethics in that the conditions that the employees face while in the foreign countries should be almost same if not same with the original parent companies that are situated in the western countries. This would ensure that there are universal accepted standards of working conditions hence ensure that the employees are not taken advantage of. Where there has been outsourcing such as the Foxconn situation, there is need for adherence of the obligations which should be enforced by the parent company. This would ensure that the good cultures are not eroded and that business ethics is observed to the latter.

References

Bain. (2017). Nike is facing a new wave of anti sweatshop protests. Quartz.

Jeffrey, S. C. (2018). Nike’s Bad Air. Counter punch.

Merck. (2019). Over 30 years: the Mectzan donation program. Retrieved March 5, 2020, from Merck: https://www.merck.com/about/featured-stories/mectizan.html

1. Byars, S. K. (2018). Chapter Five: Business Ethics. In Impact of culture and Time on Business Ethics (pp. 131-154). OpenStax.

S., M. (2012). Social responsibility of a U.S company dping busines abroad. Ethics Sage.

TeamSweat. (2011, July 28). Nike Sweatshops: Behind the Swoosh . Retrieved March 5, 2020, from YouTube: https:youtube.com/watch?continue=1097&v=M5uYCWVfuPQ