ETHICAL ISSUES IN MANAGEMENT

Ethical Issues in Management

Ethical Issues in Management

Introduction

Globalization forces have been sweeping global and individual country economies. This emerging economic order has made it imperative for many businesses to deal with overseas market environments. Issues such as global warming, child labor, green marketing, software piracy, protection of intellectual property rights, and patent infringement have acquired increased prominence as a consequence of these globalization trends (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 1998).

However, these issues do not have the same importance in every country. Vast differences exist across countries in terms of their economic development, cultural standards, legal/political systems, expectations regarding business conduct (Wotruba, 1997), and enforcement of policies (Mittelstaedt and Mittelstaedt, 1997). Consequently, what may be considered illegal in one country may be customary or even acceptable in others (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 1998). Under such circumstances, understanding how marketers in different countries make ethical judgments about business situations involving ethical dilemmas is important.

Discussion

In order for a company to be successful management must remain proactive in dealing with problems surrounding diversity. Public and private sector organizations are becoming more and more involved in a number of activities that are aimed at reducing cultural as well as communication barriers, in order to create a more productive work environment. Management is tasked with helping employees maximize their potential through self-awareness, while understanding and respecting the diverse and unique qualities that each individual brings to the organization.

Managerial Perspective

From a managerial perspective, an understanding of the extent to which marketers from different countries apply the rules of idealism and relativism, and why they apply these rules to a varying degree across countries, is useful. It helps managers comprehend the underlying thinking (philosophy) of marketers from different countries in evaluating ethical actions. In the international context, such an understanding can be used by corporate managers to develop training programs as well as develop codes of ethics that will enhance the ethical environment in corporations. This study also provides input on how corporate ethical values are related to the idealism and relativism of marketers, and how gender and age influence the extent to which one is idealistic and relativistic, which has implications in terms of developing management policies/organizational culture, and planning of ethics training programs.

Hoban (2005) defines diversity as human qualities that are different than our own and are outside of the groups to which we belong, but are present in other individuals and groups. As the United States of Americas population continues to expand, so increases the diversity among the people that make up Americas workforce. According to the US Census Bureau, by the year 2010 36% of our nations population will be multicultural. Because of this rise is diversity, many organizations are faced with ethical and legal aspects of a diverse workforce, and in order for an organization to benefit from diversity it is imperative to understand the individual and cultural differences of the people that make up the organization.

Organizations have been challenged with understanding and addressing the linguistic and cultural needs of a diverse ...