Pricing and International Business Ethics: Perceptions of Executives in Spain and the U.S.

1995 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 261-272
Author(s):  
Terri L. Rittenburg ◽  
Robert E. Jones ◽  
Kathleen M. Jones ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
International Business ◽  
International Business Ethics ◽  
The U.S

Child Workers, Globalization, and International Business Ethics: A Case Study in Brazil’s Export-Oriented Shoe Industry

2005 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 615-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Lawrence French ◽  
Richard E. Wokutch
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
International Business ◽  
Local Resistance ◽  
Global Order ◽  
Child Work ◽  
Shoe Industry ◽  
International Business Ethics ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Shoe Workers

Abstract:Disputes regarding the ethics of work by children have intensified in recent years, with little resolution. The impasses stem from failure to recognize the diverse forms of child work and a lack of empirical research regarding its causes and consequences. We report on data gathered in Brazil’s export-oriented shoe industry, which is notorious for the employment of children. Central findings are: 1) the causes of child work have less to do with backwardness and more to do with how shoe workers are integrated into the global order; 2) local employers and children regard this work as benign, but the U.S. government sees it as hazardous to children and unfair to U.S. producers; 3) efforts to remove children from the shoe industry have been frustrated by local resistance and raise ethical questions; and 4) in certain circumstances, efforts to eliminate hazards from the workplace are morally superior to campaigns to remove child workers from employment.

International Business Ethics

1994 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard T. De George
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
International Business ◽  
International Economic Order ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Business ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Ozone Level ◽  
Global Issues ◽  
International Business Ethics ◽  
Ethical Norms

International business ethics, as the term implies, cannot be national in character, anymore than international law can be national in character. Yet the analogy to law is as misleading as it is enlightening. For although we can speak of American, German or Japanese law, it is odd to speak of American, German or Japanese ethics. The reason is that ethics is usually thought to be universal. Hence there is simply ethics, not national ethics. Despite this, there is a sense that can be given to American business ethics or German business ethics. American business ethics does not refer to American as opposed to German ethics, but rather to the approach taken by those who do business ethics in the United States. What characterizes the American approach is not that it uses a special ethics or a national ethics, but that it is concerned with certain problems that are embedded in the American socio-economic-political system and faced by American business. German or Japanese business ethics differs from American business ethics in the cases and topics it deals with, in the different set of background institutions it takes for granted or investigates, and in the different culture, history, and social setting in which business operates.The same is true of what is often called international business ethics insofar as we can distinguish American, German, Japanese approaches to it. International business ethics might refer simply to the comparison of business practices and their ethical evaluation in different countries; it might investigate whether there are in fact ethical norms commonly recognized in all countries that should govern international business and economic transactions, and if there are variations in ethical norms, whether multinational firms are bound by the ethical norms of their mother country, by the ethical norms of their host countries, by either, by both, or by neither. International business ethics might involve broad issues about the economic inequality of nations, the justice of the present international economic order, the ethical status and justifiability of such organizations as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and of their structures and practices, as well as the ethical dimensions of international debt, and the claimed economic dependence of some countries on others, or such global issues as the role of industry in the depletion of the ozone level.

Reflections on business ethics through 1992-2017

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 628-641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg Wood
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
International Business ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Foreseeable Future ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Developed Economies ◽  
International Business Ethics ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide reflections on business ethics in the 25-year window from 1992-2017, and to then seek to examine some of the concerns for the future of which we all need to be cognizant. Design/methodology/approach The paper represents the reflections of a now retired academic who spent the period from 1992 to 2017 researching in the area of business ethics. Findings In the world of commerce, we are still seeing the same alleged behaviours by corporations from developed economies that have dogged business for so long. Have we moved forward and how far have we moved are difficult to determine. Research limitations/implications The paper is based on the reflections on 25 years of research in the area of international business ethics. The limitation is that the paper is based on the experiences of one academic. Practical implications The paper points to considerations that are required if the field of business ethics is to move forward in a positive manner. Originality/value The paper looks at many of the pertinent issues facing the field of commerce in respect to business ethics now and into our foreseeable future.

Five Views on International Business Ethics: an Introduction

1997 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georges Enderle
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Business Ethics ◽  
International Business ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
International Business Ethics ◽  
History Of

“International business ethics” is a fairly new field of investigation compared to “business ethics,” that already has a history of 25-plus years in North America, and, even more so, to the well-established disciplines of management, economics, and ethics. This new field is emerging not because it has been designed by academics, but primarily because international business itself has dramatically developed since the 1980s. It has brought about plenty of ethical implications and challenges. To a large extent, they affect not only “international” business but also “domestic” business, which are increasingly being interconnected, and reach far beyond the commonly defined “business domain.” This process of globalization with multiple dimensions is extremely complex and rather opaque and, therefore, needs a great deal of clarification through thoughtful and courageous business initiatives as well as academic expertise.

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