Business ethics create the most basic of framework from which a company’s core values, corporate culture and decision-making stem. An individual’s ethics reflect their perceptions and moral judgments of right and wrong. When considering a business as it’s own entity, business ethics reflect its moral judgments of right and wrong, defining their corporate culture and affecting shareholder value. Much like each individual person’s ethics, business ethics vary by culture. I understand the importance of adapting to cultural or societal norms when interacting cross-culturally, but my question is this: Assuming that the ultimate goal of all business ethics is to present and maintain a publicly acceptable moral compass while maximizing profits, why can’t ethics in business be universal?

In one month, I will be studying abroad in Athens, Greece, where I will be taking an International Business course and to conduct an independent study on cross-cultural business ethics. My goal is to research and observe first-hand the corporate protocol practiced in Greece, and try to draw connections to North American business practices. In making such connections, I aim to explore ways in which similar or dissimilar practices can be integrated, consolidated or compensated for in order to universalize business practices and ethics.

Granted, most business ethics practices are guided by local law, which obviously differs greatly across the globe. This can be problematic when considering the consolidation of “ethical” business practices. Due to the cultural variance in laws and social norms, many businesses have adopted the “when in Rome” approach, strictly adhering to the ethical practices of businesses locale. No doubt, this is an understandable approach regarding the social aspects of cross-cultural communication, but I cannot understand how a business can operate on one set of principles in its parent country, then adhere to the distinctly different practices of a host country.

In recent years, given the rapid growth of technology facilitating instantaneous global transactions and interactions, the business world is in fact a business world. This rapid globalization of commerce calls for a globalization of ethical practices. For instance, giving and accepting bribes to procure contracts and obtain business is legal and morally acceptable in much of the Eastern world. This places the globally competitive counterparts in the West at a disadvantage. North American companies are enticed to commit bribery overseas, where it is acceptable, in order to stay competitive with their international counterparts. Western organizations must weigh the risks of committing bribery to maintain  competitive equality, versus permanently damaging their reputation in their host country. In this particular situation, organizations on either side of the globe are caught between a rock and a hard place, in assessing the importance of remaining globally competitive increasingly global business world while also maintaining their local integrity.

My belief is that a universal, yet transparent standard of business ethics, properly communicated and sanctioned within each global company, will facilitate the growth of global companies and ultimately global economy. While it is important to consider the social sensitivity of all shareholders while operating in foreign countries, I feel it is equally important for a global company to strictly enforce some set of ethical standards. Consider the traditional “when in Rome” approach. Now, consider the company itself as a country, as its own entity with its own set of practices, independent of the host or parent country. It only makes sense for all shareholders to adhere to a standard of ethics at the company’s discretion.