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3. Culture and Business Ethics, Social Entrepreneurship & Organizational Integrity

The Impact of Culture and Time on Business Ethics 1

  • Enculturation refers to the process by which humans learn the rules, customs, skills, and values to participate in a society. In other words, no one is born with culture; all humans, regardless of their origin, have to learn what is considered appropriate behavior in their surrounding cultures. Which means the acquisition of society’s norms and values.
  • Acculturation refers to the cultural transmission and socialization process that stems from cultural exchange. The effects of this blending of cultures appear in both the native (original) culture and the host (adopted) culture.
  • The major historical periods that have shaped business ethics are:
    • The age of mercantilism: 16th to 18th centuries.
    • The Industrial Revolution: 18th to 19th centuries.
    • The postindustrial era: 20th century.
    • The Information Age: late 20th century.
    • The age of economic globalization, to which the rise of the Internet contributed significantly.
  • If we accept that business today has two purposes—profitability and responsibility—we might assume that business ethics is in a much better position now than in the past to affect conduct across industries. However, much of the transformation of business over time has been the result of direct government intervention.

Social Entrepreneurship 2

  • Unlike ordinary business entrepreneurs who base their decisions solely on financial returns, social entrepreneurs incorporate the objective of creating social value into their founding business model.
  • Despite the eager reception from consumers, critics of social entrepreneurship have raised concerns about the creation of social value in a for-profit context.
  • Some critics go so far as to suggest that social entrepreneurs are merely using public relations tactics to engage in social or environmental greenwashing—taking advantage of consumers’ desire to do good.
  • Some other types of corporations that take social responsibility into account are:
    • Benefit corporations (B Corps): a new class of corporation that by definition must
      • (1) create a materially positive impact on society and the environment;
      • (2) expand the fiduciary duty to require consideration of non-financial interests when making decisions;
      • (3) report on its overall social and environmental performance using recognized third-party standards.
    • Flexible purpose corporations (FPCs): pursue one social mission and make profits.
    • Low-profit limited liability companies (L3Cs): a hybrid between a for-profit and a nonprofit organization.

Organic Food: Health Benefit or Marketing Ploy? 3

  • The market for organic food has grown rapidly in the past decade, and the organic food industry has become a multibillion-dollar industry.
  • Organic food is expensive, but people buy it because they believe it is healthier and better for the environment.
  • Should hospitals and schools be required to serve organic food?
  • Organic food is produced without the use of synthetic pesticides, chemical fertilizers, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), chemical food additives, artificial food-ripening substances, or irradiation.
  • Processed foods may be allowed to contain a small percentage of non-organic ingredients and still be labeled organic (up to 5% in the United States).

Corruption in International Business 4

Collective vs. Individual Rights 5

  • International human rights are based on individual rights, that is; the protection of individuals’ inherent dignity and worth.
  • Classification of rights:
    • 1st generation: Civil and political rights.
    • 2nd generation: Economic, social, and cultural rights.
    • 3rd generation: Collective rights:
      • The right to self-determination and development.
      • Started in the 1960s and 1970s.

Corruption, Development, Chaos and Social Disorganization: Sociological Reflections on Corruption and Its Social Basis 6

  • Corruption is also often seen as a ‘local’ problem—as a form of crime that requires ethical, legal or managerial mechanisms to prevent, contain or eradicate it, or as a failure of individual morality or traditional norms when vulnerable people are placed in a position of temptation.

References

  1. Byars, S. M., & Stanberry, K. (2022). Business ethics. OpenStax College and Rice University. https://openstax.org/details/books/business-ethics?Book%20details. Chapter 5: The Impact of Culture and Time on Business Ethics. ↩

  2. Jimenez, G. C., & Pulos, E. (2016). Good Corporation, Bad Corporation: Corporate Social Responsibility in the Global Economy. Open SUNY Textbooks. Retrieved from: https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/good-corporation-bad-corporation. Chapter 5: Social Entrepreneurship. ↩

  3. Jimenez, G. C., & Pulos, E. (2016). Good Corporation, Bad Corporation: Corporate Social Responsibility in the Global Economy. Open SUNY Textbooks. Retrieved from: https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/good-corporation-bad-corporation. Chapter 7: Organic Food: Health Benefit or Marketing Ploy? ↩

  4. Jimenez, G. C., & Pulos, E. (2016). Good Corporation, Bad Corporation: Corporate Social Responsibility in the Global Economy. Open SUNY Textbooks. Retrieved from: https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/good-corporation-bad-corporation. Chapter 10: Corruption in International Business. ↩

  5. SDG Academy. (2019, August 7). Collective vs. individual rights [Video]. https://sdgacademylibrary.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Collective+vs.+Individual+Rights/1_i593mb4w ↩

  6. Clammer, J. (2012). Corruption, development, chaos and social disorganization: Sociological reflections on corruption and its social basis. In Barcham M., Hindess B., & Larmour P. (Eds.), Corruption: Expanding the Focus (pp. 113-132). ANU Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt24hbwc.11 ↩