UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX-AXIA COLLEGE

Business Ethics Across Cultures Article Review

XMGT 216
Sherry Donath Henninger 2/27/2011

1 Business Ethics Across Cultures Business Ethics Across Cultures Article Review Italy There are two prized qualities in Italy, which are good manners and courtesy. Make sure you polish your conduct while in Italy. Always shake hands when upon entering or departing a meeting. Avoid moving away or keeping your distance when talking, they could interpret this as cold and unfriendly. Try to learn at least some Italian and always, always dress for success. They say what you wear is who you are. Always be on time. If you are late, make sure that you have a very good reason. There are some problems as to introducing business ethics to Italian companies. It seems that they have a low ethical temperature, in other words; the companies have no code of ethics. It seems that they do not have a very strong sense of identity as a country. Before 1987, there had only been a passing thought about business ethics. In 1985 and 1986 there, the association of Catholic businessmen produced two documents on the ethical implications of economic activity, inspired by the recent encyclical, Laborem Exercens. But in those years, the business worldthe world of big business, that ishad not yet realized how central the argument was becoming.(Unnia, 1990). In Italy, the business community faces two great threats, or challenges, if you will: The threat deriving from organized criminality And the threat deriving from our inefficient and corrupted political system. (Unnia, 1990)

2 Business Ethics Across Cultures In June of 1988, the first Italian National Conference took place in Milan. The conference had attracted the attention of universities, corporations, and practitioners. The biggest thing to come from the conference was that the constitution of the Italian Chapter of the European Network. There was a decision that needed to be made one of what would the criteria be for membership. Some only wanted individuals, some wanted non-profit organizations, and some wanted corporations in the end all the above were admitted for membership. They then had to figure out how to promote ethical awareness to the small and large businesses. In the ItalianUniversities and the privately owned business schools, there are no ethics programs at all;apparently, there is no awareness of the lack of it at all. It appears that in the business community, there is an effort to introduce a code of ethics into the medium and larger size companies but it is slow going. The ones who do have some sort of code of ethics are the affiliates of American companies. The Network has offered to consult any business that wishes to draft a code of ethics. They will help to design and has suggested that the beginnings of the code of ethics should be simple and be flexible enough to change as needed with the times.

3 Business Ethics Across Cultures Australia There had been scandals in the 1980s and into the 1990s that were shocking to the people of Australia. They had prided themselves on being open, fair, and honest. How wrong they were. They were able to expose and handle the corruption in a logical manner. After a survey, it is now known that there is widespread awareness that there is need for reform in many areas such as corporate governance and public administration. Nevertheless, there is a concern that there is a lack of leadership in how to identify and address the ethical problems that face this country. The people of Australia had felt let down by their leaders and the 1980s represent something that they hope will never be repeated. For some there is shock, disappointment, and shame still today and just as strong as it was then. Many executives point to deregulation measures in the 1980s as a watershed, members of the Accounting profession tend to high light the 1987 Crash as the catalyst for creating new ethical responsibilities. (Milton-Smith, 1997). As business activities become more broadly-based, a wider range of ethical and cultural considerations come into play and managers, especially those in larger organizations, spend more of their time dealing with them. (Milton-Smith, 1997). Even though most of the corruption has been taken care of, there still is confusion about where to draw the ethical line. The government officials are having a hard time understanding that they are considered role models to the people.

4 Business Ethics Across Cultures There are a few companies that have addressed ethics as a corporate issue that needs to be managed and supervised by the top management. It is encouraging that some senior management sees the need for the business community to present a better leadership and prove to be a better example than before. There are those that believe that there are higher expectations for them and their businesses and believe that we must not only accept responsibility for our actions but also be accountable for their consequences (Milton-Smith, 1997). Some of the ethical issues that are confronting Australian executives are: Employment conflicts of interest Environmental issues Sexual harassment Workplace safety conflicts between the Companys ethics and foreign business practices These are just a few of the many things that businessmen and women are trying to deal with. The businesses are now doing audits, there is more communication between the upper and lower management and then to the employees. Some multinational corporations have established company guidelines and committees for the operations in foreign countries. They now have just about every type of training programs imaginable for those who are working overseas. There is still a lot of hard work to do to get everybody on the same page, but it is slowly happening and it will take years to get there.

5 Business Ethics Across Cultures I thought that this table was interesting on how some countries compared with each other.

. Homogenous Subsets for Select Survey Items Item Low Middle Q4. My company's Japan, Italy senior management supports and practices high standards of ethical conduct. Q6. My company strives to serve the interests of multiple stakeholders (e.g., customers, employees, suppliers, and community), not just the shareholders. Q8. Where I work, people do not "get ahead" unless their behavior clearly demonstrates my company's values. Japan, Italy

Item Specific Country Cluster

High Netherlands, Germany, China, Mexico, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Australia, UK, US, India, Canada

Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Australia, US, India, China, Germany, Canada Brazil, Netherlands, UK

Netherlands, US Australia, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, UK, Canada, China, Germany

India, Saudi Arabia

Q26. My organization Japan, Italy has appropriate processes in place for me to report a policy violation. (Alexander Ardichvili, 2009)

Netherlands, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, China, Germany

India, UK, US, Canada, Australia

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References
Alexander Ardichvili, D. J. (2009, June). Dimensions of Ethical Business Cultures: Comparing Data from 13 Countries of Europe, Asia, and the americas. Retrieved February 27, 2011, from Center for Ethical Business Cultures: http://www.cebcglobal.org/uploaded_files/Dimensions_of_Ethical_business_ultur es_-_June_2009.pdf Milton-Smith, J. (1997, October). Business Ethics in Australia and New Zealand. Journal of Business Ethics, 16(14), 1485-1497. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25073016 Unnia, M. (1990, July). Business Ethics in Italy: The State of the Art. Journal of Business Ethics, 9(7), 551-554. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25072069