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Ethical Business practices
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Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to describe business practice in detail and provide a comparison of South Korea with that of the United States in regard to business practices. The researcher will define ethical and legal business practice as well as unethical and illegal business practices. Furthermore, the researcher will identify business practices that are considered illegal and unethical in the United States and address why these same practices are considered legal and ethical in South Korea. Finally, the researcher will provide a course of actions to deal with the difference in ethical and legal practices when transacting business with a country that has different standards.
Describe Business Practice
According to Chang, C., Chang, A., and Freese (2001) gifts and bribes are distinctly separate and while gifts are ethical, bribes are considered unethical and illegal. In some cultures particularly South Korea business practice such as the concepts of gifts and bribes are not distinctly separate. The problem is that gift giving can overlap into bribery which is both ethical and unethical at the same time (Chang, C., Chang, A., & Freese, 2001).
Chang, C., Chang, A., and Freese (2001) states gift giving in South Korea is defined as behavior based on social norms for congratulation, gratitude, condolence, attention, and reciprocity. Gift giving is one of the most important practices in South Korea and a person business may be in jeopardy if the individual fails to send a gift. Although a gray area exist between gifts and bribes South Koreans did not miss an opportunity to give gifts especially to prominent figures in hopes of obtaining a favor in the future. Furthermore, South Koreans both the giver and re...
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Despite there may be some commonalities between Korean Law and American Law in perspective of protecting individual’s rights, there still exist lots of differences, and one of the main cause for the disparity is based on their fundamental gaps in history. Looking into America’s history, freedom was not free. Obviously, the United States was built in objection of the Great Britain’s despotic monarchy, holding freedom, equality, and pursuit of happiness, which became the cornerstone of civil rights. As time passed by, America also went through the Civil War, and all those Civil Rights Movements by African Americans, paving the way for cultural and legal changes toward protecting more individual rights. On the other hand, Korea had a comparatively
The movie “Glengarry Glen Ross” presented a series of ethical dilemmas that surround a group of salesmen working for a real estate company. The value of business ethics was clearly undermined and ignored in the movie as the salesmen find alternatives to keep their jobs. The movie is very effective in illustrating how unethical business practices can easily exist in the business world. Most of the time, unethical business practices remain strong in the business world because of the culture that exists within companies. In this film, the sudden demands from management forced employees to become irrational and commit unethical business practices. In fear of losing their jobs, employees were pressured to increase sales despite possible ethical ramifications. From the film, it is right to conclude that a business transaction should only be executed after all legal and ethical ramifications have been considered; and also if it will be determined legal and ethical to society.
Trevino, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2011). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right. New York: John Wiley.
Trevino, L., & Nelson, K. (2011). Managing business ethics - straight talk about how to
Ethics in business is a highly important concept, as it can affect a company’s profits, salaries paid to employees and CEOs, and public opinion, among many other aspects of a business. Ethics can be enforced by company policies and guidelines, set a precedent when a company is faced with an important decision, and are also evolving thanks to new technology and situations that arise due to technology usage. Businesses have a duty to maintain their ethical responsibilities and also to help their employees enforce these responsibilities in and out of the workplace. However, ethics and the foundation for them are not always black and white. There are many different ethical theories, however Utilitarianism, Kant’s Deontological ethics, and Virtue ethics are three of the most well known theories in existence. Each theory is distinct in that it has a different quality used to determine ethicality and allows for a person to choose which system of ethics works best with both the situation and his or her personal ethical preferences.
Soh, C. S. (2001). South Korea. In C. R. Ember & M. Ember (Eds.), Countries and Their Cultures (
Gallagher, S. A. 2005. Strategic response to Friedman’s critique of business ethics. Journal of Business Strategy, 26(6), 55-60.
Seawell, Buie 2010, ‘The Content and Practice of Business Ethics’, Good Business, pp. 2-18, viewed 22 October 2013, .
To make a payment in exchange for special consideration where the recipient has a duty to offer equal consideration to all (more commonly referred to as bribery) is morally reprehensible on three distinct grounds. Not only does it violate inherent principles of justice and equality by enabling one to use their wealth in order to attain or reinforce influence, it also provokes the recipient to violate the positional responsibility that they have tacitly agreed to uphold (this duty is therefore contractually binding): namely that he or she will perform their role in a manner that adheres to the rules of the organisation in question. The covert nature of the bribe is also problematic; once a bribe is uncovered, the vitality of the entire organisation is endangered because people will inevitably question the integrity of all prior actions undertaken by the affected institution. I shall argue that bribery is wrong regardless of whether the bribe has any impact upon the actions of the recipient, for the motivation that underlies an action is as important as the action itself. Only when one knows institutional corruption to rife can bribery be deemed common practice; in this case, one has a moral right to violate the duties of their position, for their duties require them to engage in corrupt practise.
Additionally, Samsung has established an Ethical Management (Anti-Corruption) System which allows “… employees and other stakeholders to confidentially and anonymously report violations of (their) ethical standards” (People 31). It has successfully aided in resolving over 1,820 cases in the past three years (People 28-33). This system is a risk-free way for any stakeholder to bring up issues they may see in the company. This also provides feedback to the managers and helps to prevent ethical dilemmas from occurring in the
Treviño, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2007). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right Fourth ed., Retrieved on July 30, 2010 from www.ecampus.phoenix.edu
Also, considering the economic value of the gifts given and received. Characteristics of commodity and gift exchange
“[while] in theory these are voluntary, in reality they are given and reciprocated obligatorily” (3). Gifting is rather much more complicated than simple goodwill; with gifting comes “honor [and] prestige” from exhibiting one’s wealth but also “the absolute obligation to reciprocate these gifts” at the threat of losing that honor and prestige (11). This is because to give a gift is to give “some part of oneself” and conversely,