Syllabus and schedule highlights
http://yourpeakescape.com/uscupstate
What kind of problem do you want to see?
Nokia in the Congo: Blood in the Mobile
Al Jazeera: Nepalese kids sold to work in Indian circuses
Corruption in Cambodian logging destroying forests and local livelihood
(be sure to click the “show more” button below the video
United Nations: Shell Oil’s pollution in Nigeria may cost $1 billion to clean up
The Cove: Dolphin slaughter for free school lunches in Japan
PBS NewsHour: Health dangers of making i-Phones in China
60 Minutes: Child labor on farms in US
Set 3:
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Ethics in international management
Some ethical issues and problems for MNCs
Pressures/action—industrialized countries, companies
Initiatives for corporate accountability, corruption
Ethics
Study of morality and standards of conduct
Dilemmas due to differing ethical standards
Most evident in employment practices/HR
Legal issues of right and wrong
Social Responsibility
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR):
Closely related to ethics
Firm’s actions to benefit society beyond law and
self-interest
CSR involves taking voluntary action
Typical MNC CSR issues: factory conditions,
environmental impact, human/animal rights
Employment/Human Resources
Hard to standardize practices across countries
Working, length of shift, vacation, safety, pay
e.g., U.S. MNCs give more vacation in Europe 
Moving because of cheap labor
Discrimination—sex, age, religion, race, appearance
Human Rights
No universal standards
Subjectivity, cultural bias
Some basic rights? Life, freedom from slavery or
torture, freedom of opinion and expression, general
ambiance of nondiscriminatory practices
Terrible track record around the world
Corruption
Pervasive in international business environment
Transparency International http://www.transparency.org/
Corruption Index (perceptions of experts and polls):
http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys
_indices/cpi/2010/results
Corruption
Exercise:
Pick an industry/sector and let’s talk about
how corruption might be relevant…
Corruption Index:
Least and Most Corrupt Countries
NGOs, MNCs and Ethical Balance
Non-Governmental Organization; private, not-for-profit,
focused on social, political, or economic issues
e.g., poverty, social justice, education, health and the
environment.
Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, Red Cross, One Laptop Per
Child, Save the Children, CARE, World Wildlife Fund, etc
Numerous, powerful, influential, active
NGO leaders have high trust
Trust in Leaders
Rise of NGOs
Rise due to problems
MNC response to social obligations:
Create agreements and codes of conduct
Maintain in domestic and global operations
Cooperate with NGOs
Some heavily-criticized companies
Nike
Levi’s
Chiquita
Ethics/CSR Examples: CHINA
Poor pay, hazardous work,
Piracy, counterfeiting, industrial spying
Prisoner/child labor
Pollution
Ethics/CSR Examples: JAPAN
Political and business scandals:
bribes and favors for politicians and bureaucrats
banking loan collapse
Minimata Bay mercury, Fukushima reactor
Discrimination:
against other Asians
women absent from management
treatment of women at work
United Nations’ Global Compact for
Business
Human Rights
Labor
Environment
Anti-Corruption
United Nations’ Global Compact for business
Human Rights
Labor
Environment
Anti-Corruption
Corporate Governance
The direction and control of corporations:
Distribution of rights and responsibilities
Stakeholder management
Rules and procedures
Goal-setting, decision-making, planning, monitoring
Corporate Governance
Many foreign companies are “insider” systems
Concentrated ownership
Owned by holding companies, families, banks
U.K. and U.S. systems are “outsider” systems
Dispersed ownership
Many outside investors
Some Initiatives to Increase Accountability and
Limit Corruption
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
US law, has lead to international changes
More countries making bribes of foreign officials illegal
(but often not payments to political parties…)
International assistance partnerships
Government-corporate collaboration
For example,
Gates Foundation: health, poverty, education
http://www.gatesfoundation.org
UN Millennium Project goals
What we just did
Set 3: Ethics and Social Responsibility
Ethics in international management
Some ethical issues and problems for MNCs
Pressures/action—industrialized countries, companies
Initiatives for corporate accountability, corruption