Kohlberg's Four Component Model Of Ethics In International Business

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The term ethics mean to accept principles of right or wrong that govern the conduct of a person, the members of a profession, or the actions of an organization. The old saying, “Not everything is black or white,” clearly defines my personal stand on ethical issues in foreign affairs. I am a believer in strong morals and ethical values, but when it comes to global business, I cannot let myself be blinded by my own moral compos. Although, one might question my ideals, it is unrealistic to peruse a career in international business and expect every country, even the United States, to be free of corruption. Sadly, corruption is a plague that has infected every country in one-way or another. In all reality, I would appreciate a world where ethical …show more content…

In the international business setting, the most common ethical issues involve employment practices, human rights, environmental regulations, corruption, and the moral obligation of multinational corporations. Lawrence Kohlberg’s Four Component Model of moral behavior could express the grounds of corruption. There are several reasons humans fail morally according to him: insufficient moral motivation, missing the moral issue, defective moral reasoning, and ineffective implementation. The business practice of corruption could be added into this …show more content…

These prominent scandals ranged from complex accounting frauds involving special purpose entities and off-balance sheet transactions to more obvious thefts of corporate assets. An example of a company handling corruption badly is the former executives of Siemens who are guilty of 20 years of money laundering and 5 years of bribery in Argentina. Siemens’ executives paid $27 million in bribes to top-ranked government employees to get a contract for producing national identity cards. On the other hand an example of a well-handled situation was Nike. Nike broke no laws when it subcontracted work to factories in Southeast Asia that had very poor working conditions, although many argued that it was acting unethically. Nike no doubt made its decisions regarding subcontracting to drive down its costs and therefore maximize the corporation’s long-run

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