The Moral Responsibilities of Multinational Corporations (MNCs)

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Multinational companies like Caltex have a moral obligation to improve the living conditions of the citizens who live and work in those countries. Their role cannot be limited to increasing shareholder value, while perpetuating and fortifying political regimes that persecute and discriminate a group, or groups of their citizenry. I liken this to reforestation, and the responsibility that governments and corporations have to our planet. A corporation cannot simply make a profit and deplete natural and human resources; it needs to give back to that country and its communities.

Under South Africa's apartheid government, the Black majority was not given the same opportunities to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as the White minority was. In fact, the Prime Minister of South Africa, John Vorster, made the statement that “We are building a nation for whites only." During the period that apartheid was in place, it was illegal for Blacks to vote, organize trade unions, eat in the same restaurants as whites, and their living conditions were hideous in comparison to Whites. I intend to refute the validity of utilitarianism as it relates to Caltex and South Africa in the 1970s, 1980s, and until “De Klerk dismantles apartheid in South Africa” on February 2, 1990 (BBC, 1990).

Let us start by defining utilitarianism: “Utilitarianism is a general term for any view that holds that actions and policies should be evaluated on the basis of the benefits and costs they will impose on society” (Velazquez, 2006, p. 61). The key to the argument, if one is a follower of utilitarianism, is the belief that the correct course of action is one which provides society with the greatest benefits at the lowest cost. Meanwhile, Blacks in South Afric...

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...le business, but always with the goal of being a good corporate citizen.

Works Cited

BBC. (1990, February 2). On This day. Retrieved January 26, 2011, from BBC Home: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/2/newsid_2524000/2524997.stm

Bucholtz, R. (1991). Corporate responsibility and the good society. Bloomington: Indiana University.

Gibbs, L. M. (2003,). History: Love Canal: the Start of a Movement. Retrieved January 27, 2011, from Boston University School of Public Health: http://www.bu.edu/lovecanal/canal/

Stoss, F. W. (1998, gust 2). Love Canal: Reminder of Why We Celebrate Earth Day. Retrieved January 27, 2011, from UC Santa Barbara Library: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/istl/00-spring/article2.html

Velazquez, M. G. (2006). Business Ethics. Concepts and Cases 6th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

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