Ethical Responsibility of Multi National Corporation Essay Example

every manager and the social responsibility the corporation. It is very crucial that the managers and the organization be ethical in all their undertakings to develop a good relationship with their host countries.

Body

Although it’s hard to have a universal code of ethics and morality in every country, existence of such guidelines provide a foundation of judgments regarding some specific situations. Moral universalism is about developing a standard that can be accepted and that can function in all the countries. Ethnocentrism is a good approach to ethical responsibility, and a corporate should apply the morality they use in their countries of origin. If the managers decide to follow ethical relativism, they should observe the moral and ethics of the country they operate in.

Multi-National Corporations have a moral responsibility towards human rights. The priorities and perception of people in different countries define what constitutes “human rights” at that nation. The best way to be ethical in guarding human rights is by coming up with common international ethics principles to make ethical standards in the different countries standard (Ruggie 2013: 24). By having standard human rights, it will be easy for the authorities in a country to identify the unethical corporations which fail to defend and protect human rights. The human rights differ depending on a state. The multinational corporations operating in different countries face challenges of how they deal with human rights issues. But the differences occur due to differences in customs, laws, and ethics in the various countries the Multi-National Corporation operate in.

The best approach to gaining ground on human rights around the world would be for the government and multinational corporations to take a united

stance (Ruggie 2013: 22). Several multinational corporations which are image conscious are developing a corporate code of conduct for their suppliers, buyers, and contractor and have strict procedures that ensure human rights ethics are adhered to in their corporation. An example of human rights that the multinational company needs to observe is not to use forced labor or employ children.

When this rule is made international and adopted by all corporations, it will be applied internationally, and any corporation which violates that rule will face just punishment. When human rights are determined by priorities and perception, different people will argue differently, and some might even go unpunished when they break the standard ethics law. Human rights are protected to protect the minority from being mistreated by the mighty. Ethics require those people who manage the multinational corporations to treat the minority with respect and dignity.

Multi-National Corporations have some ethical responsibility to conduct their business in a transparent manner. The standard of performance is part of ethical behavior. Every corporation should, therefore, apply the highest levels of ethical behavior and avoid double standards (Crane and Matten 2007: 42). Multi-National Corporation should ensure that their rules and principles are observed in all the countries they operate in. The managers are expected to run the branches they represent in a transparent manner without hiding any detail of the organization's operations. The books of accounts should be accurate to ensure that the corporations pay the right taxes to the authorities.

The Multi-National Corporations also take care of the environment as part of their responsibility. The operations and decisions of these corporations have a direct link to the environment in which they

operate. The activities of these organizations affect the environment and determine the future performance of that business. Many companies have realized that taking care of the environment has better results since it creates better customer relation, better sale, and continuity of the corporation to the future. It is an ethical responsibility of the Multi-National Corporations to ensure they only engage in what they are licensed to do to make sure they do not put the lives of the community around them at any risk.

It is ethical to take care of where you operate from. Hence Multi-National Corporation must support efforts relating to ecological interdependence (Crane and Matten 2007: 32). They need to integrate strategic planning with ecological interdependence factors. They should look for raw materials that will not destroy the ecology either by producing harmful wastes or by its extraction. They may have to consider looking for an alternative because ethics require them multinational corporations to make the life of the people living around them better and not worse than they found them.

Conclusion

Ethics relate to the activity or conduct of people whether it is done consciously or knowingly. Ethics apply to organizational life. Decisions in an organization are made by people on behalf of the organizations and not organizations themselves. Those individuals who make decisions need to follow a set standard to ensure no conflict arise and ensure there is order in the management of Multi-National Corporations. These individuals act on behalf of the organization hence they are required to put the interest of the organization before their own. They are also obliged to consider the well-being of the community around them. They should carry

out their activities in a manner that they improve the life of those living with them and not make their life worse.

References

• Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2007. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press, USA.
• Ruggie, J.G., 2013. Just Business: Multinational Corporations and Human Rights (Norton Global Ethics Series). WW Norton & Company.