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GLOBAL DIFFERENCES AND 
COMMONALITIES IN ETHICAL PERCEPTIONS AND THEIR IMPACT 
ON BUSINESS PRACTICES
Paul Herbig

ABSTRACT

This manuscript examines global differences and similarities in ethical practices. A variety of cultures, both developing and developed, Western and Eastern, are viewed from an ethical perspective.  Implications are noted and recommendations made for businesspersons on how to best conduct business overseas, maintaining one's own ethical perspectives while respecting to and adhering to ethical cultural differences abroad.

INTRODUCTION
	  Webster’s Dictionary describes ethics as the "discipline dealing with what is good and  bad or right and wrong or with moral duty and obligation” and   “A group of moral principles or set of values” (Webster's Third New International Dictionary, 1986).  Ethics promotes goodwill.  It is often manifested as a willingness to forgo immediate self-interest for the long term interest of the enterprise and society.  Ethical values that are both legal and right are set by individuals or groups and thus may vary among individuals, enterprises, and countries. In business, ethical behavior is generally conducted not because it would be illegal otherwise, but because it is expected behavior in a civilized society.  It is business’ demonstration of  responsible, mature behavior.      
	Webster, also defines ethics in another way, ethics is “A set of principles of conduct governing an individual or a profession, character or the ideals of character manifested by a race or  people.”  Therefore, ethics can mean different things to different people; It is culturally based.  For example, at one time slavery was legal and considered acceptable in the United States.  Now, not only is slavery illegal in the United States but its practice globally is condemned by Americans. Ethics, therefore, is not only an issue at the local level but at the international level  as well. What is considered unethical in the U.S. can be both legal and ethical in other countries (e.g., slavery, paying bribes, and child labor.)  Even frightening practices like human sacrifice are accepted and practiced elsewhere globally. Societies have basic religious and cultural similarities which flow into ethical behavioral norms.
	When doing business abroad, different customs, languages, religions, and cultures can affect the society’s view on ethics.  For example, in the United States it is generally believed that taking bribes is wrong (unethical) and thus society has declared it illegal (even though the practice still occurs).  Other countries see nothing wrong with the practice.  They accept the fact that it is payment for special services rendered, similar to other practices performed in the United States for  a tip.  It is also viewed as supplemental income in undeveloped countries where incomes are low.
	International business ethics remains to be fully developed, although some initial steps have been made (Donaldson, 1989).  Additional efforts are needed to elaborate ethical principles to guide corporations engaged in international business, to guide policy making, and to guide enforcement of policy guidelines (Velasquez, 1992).  Developing methods of monitoring the activities of international business is an area of high priority for a number of U.S.  government agencies, including the Department of Commerce, the Department of the Treasury, and the U.S. Customs Bureau, and is an area in which effective techniques and measures have yet to be fully developed.  Enforcement of law, development of appropriate public policy relating to trade and taxation, and elaboration of ethical standards in international trade, and taxation, could proceed more effectively if more adequate globally generalized measures were available.   
	We will discuss the importance of ethics and its relationship to business by giving specific examples of differences of ethical beliefs and practices in other nations.  This will be complimented with studies on other nations and the impact of global ethics on business in the future.    

IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO BUSINESS
	The importance of ethics in business through  corporate responsibility should encourage community and global relations.  Milton Freeman indicated that the social responsibility for a corporation should be its bottom line, no more and no less.    Robert MacGregor, president of the Minnesota Center for Corporate Responsibility, disagrees:  “The market system works best when it is based on moral values”  (Glosserman, 14).
	Ethical behavior and corporate responsibility have a profound impact on corporate performance and can even create a competitive advantage for companies.  For a producer, trust and mutual confidence are essential for building long-term relationships with customers. Practicing ethical values is an asset.  For example, Levi Strauss Co. ties profit to its governing principles and reputation.  Also, companies like  Canon, The Body Shop, General Mills, and 3M have all discovered that setting their goals  beyond  the profit and loss statement has paid dividends (Glosseman, 14).
	The right behavior is related to the law or the practice of law.  For example, several members of the European Communities do not recognize in-house council as members of the legal profession.  This fact was very influential in the decision not to grant in-house council the right of attorney-client privilege.  The legal systems of the members were reviewed to determine whether and to what extent, communications between clients and attorneys were considered privileged.  It is the aim of Community law (law among nations) to find the best solution regarding national laws.  It is necessary to examine the spirit, orientation, and general tendency of the national laws on legal privilege (Hill, 147).As in ethical behavior, there are differences in the concept of privilege in common law countries and civil law countries.  Privilege in common law countries is “legal professional privilege.”  This is a rule of evidence which protects all aspects of the relationship between attorney and client. This is not necessarily the rule in civil law countries to be members of the bar: Italy, France, Belgium, and Luxembourg (Hill, 159-162) . 
Ethical Differences and Their Impact on Business Practices
	The differences in ethics among countries has had an impact on the business world.  The Minnesota Center for Corporate Responsibility produces the Minnesota principles for business..  It is a declaration of ethical standards that would guide the corporate behavior of subscribing companies.  This was based on how business is actually conducted in Minnesota. Minnesota is not the only place that exercises ethical behavior.  Internationally minded executives have been discussing the moral foundations of business behavior since 1986.  These meetings, called the Caux Roundtable, involves executives from Europe, Japan, and the United States (Glosserman, 14).  In the summer of 1995, they released their own principles of business.  It was the first time business leaders had come together and agreed on a set of common values that can be applied worldwide.
	These executives were from developed, industrial countries. For these values  to be accomplished, all global cultures, not just those from industrialized countries must be involved.  The developing countries and communist countries live by a different set of ethics and should be considered if there is to be a true set of global ethical principles.  Research into places like Asia, Latin America, and Russia should be, and is being conducted as to the similarities and differences of their moral practices.
	Why is this necessary?  The trend of the times brings us there.  For example, Asia is on the brink of great power (Caplen, 23).  Asia’s leaders are already negotiating at the global level from a position of strength.  Their economies are growing faster than those of North America and Europe.  Asian corporations are earning larger profits.  Some of its political, social, and management systems are proving superior. If  this continues, Asia will be dictating policy to others rather than following their policies (Caplen, 22).  This is why it is so important to learn about their moral code and ethical philosophy.   
	World trade is growing due to regional and international trade barriers coming down faster than expected.  The North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is reducing its trade liberalization period from 15 to 10 years.  The Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum is aiming to abolish all trade barriers by 2010.  Protected domestic markets in utilities and telecommunications are being deregulated and foreign investment rules eased the world over.  These have created new business opportunities (Caplen, 23).   One emerging country, Thailand, entered a manufacturing boom in 1986 and is exporting more manufactured goods than ever before.  Chalongphob Sussangkarn, director of the Thailand Development Research Institute Foundation believes that the key word for Thailand’s future is partnership.  In the future, all countries will be partners in international business and need to understand one another while conducting business responsibly.  The challenge of companies in emerging countries is to realize that low-cost labor export production is moving to places like Vietnam, but  local companies do not have the technical ability to go into higher export phases alone. Partnerships will give control over export direction in multinational  corporations (Caplen, 24).  
	Business ethics in the United States has long been an intense subject.  High ethical behavior is expected.  This is a result of over a century of  development and values codified within the law that have been influenced by the Judeo-Christian heritage, belief in individualism, and access to opportunities based on abilities.  We see this in the form of the Protestant work ethic encouraging working hard to accumulate wealth.  Also, there is the sense of personal achievement and accountability (Puffer and McCarthy, 37-39).  Many immigrants came to America to escape social oppression and to succeed according to their abilities.  Americans, therefore, place a high value on fair play and healthy competition.  All these influences on American ethics are supported by laws and  business that are willing to abide by these laws.  For example, 80%  of Fortune 500   companies have codes of ethics, but not solely out of altruism (Ciulla, 46).  Companies also realize that such practices are in their best interest since they should help prevent lawssuits and enable the firms to be viewed as good corporate citizens (McCarthy and Puffer, 43). 
	The ethics of American business have been strengthened by a series of laws and reforms over the past twenty years, for example, the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which forbids American corporations from bribing foreign officials.  Many businesspersons argue that the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act puts American businesses at a disadvantage globally since no other country has such a law today and in many countries, bribery and kickbacks are still a way of business and a way of life.   This preoccupation with ethics in the United States is sometimes viewed by other nations as excessive, naive, and unrealistic (Puffer and McCarthy, 38).  Some Europeans wish that America would “lighten up."  
	Greece has been an important “Economic Player” in Europe for centuries.  It is one of the world’s oldest civilizations.  The ethical philosophy developed from ancient Greek culture has been a major source of modern thought of business ethics.  Present day Greeks tend to disapprove of social favoritism and intrusion into the control of Greek economic affairs by western business interests.  Greek society also recognizes the importance of its economic ties to western business (Kourvetaris and Dobrantz, 1984). One study conducted facilitated a cross-cultural comparison between the Greek and American cultures by exposing respondents to a series of bribery scenarios and recording their ethical perceptions.  (Tsalikis and Latour, 252).
	The importance of ethics in international business can be illustrated by the following example.  The scenarios included in the study are those of American, Greek businessmen, and  their governments.  A second perspective of the scenarios is when the government officials forces the businessmen to pay a bribe.  Americans view the bribery of an American official as unethical when the bribing was done by an American. However, when the bribing was done by a foreigner, the act was condemned as unethical.  On the other hand, when an American businessman bribed a foreign official, there was a significant decrease in the degree that the act was condemned as unethical (Tsalikis and Latour; p.253-255). It should be noted that both the Americans and Greeks viewed all the acts as unethical to some degree.  The ethical perceptions on bribery of Greeks and Americans appear to be different with Greeks perceiving the action of the businessman as less unethical.  Comparisons of two cultures’ views on ethics in such studies can yield noteworthy results.  This is necessary in the further growth of understanding international ethics.


Cultural Examples
	Markets are becoming more global as  the 21st century approaches and corporations face the challenges of operating in diverse cultural environments fostering a set of business ethics different from the corporation's home country.  Perceptual differences exist as to what is ethical and what is not.  While the world is getting smaller through the formation of alliances and trade blocs, ethical differences in business conduct continue to exist.
	If one takes the point of view "When in Rome do as the Romans do," it eventually leads to what is called cultural imperialism (Wood, 1995).  Several studies in the past have indicated that ethical standards are embedded in inherent cultural beliefs (Dubinsky et al. 1991; Armstrong and Sweeney, 1994; Becker and Fritzsche, 1987; Chan and Lee, 1986). We now examine numerous ethical codes in a variety of cultures.

Russia
	Breaking the barriers of history and culture can help international companies to trade with other nations while understanding their code of ethics and preventing the risk of practicing unethical behavior.  Russian history is marked by oppressive political regimes that created confusion about business in Russian society, as well as ethical standards.  History and the recent turmoil to move toward a market economy creates ambiguity  among  ethics.  Other factors are the high value placed on strong authority, the collective behavior in traditional Russian culture, communist ideology, and the political/legal structure.  Like America, historical factors shaped Russia (Puffer and McCarthy, 39).  Russian culture has been filled with ruling elites and authority figures who tightly controlled society.  First, there were the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church which imbued Russians with Christian values as obeying the golden rule.  The church did not value work as religious virtue.  People in business were suspected of being selfish (Puffer and McCarthy, 40). The Tsars ruled politically and landowners economically, which continued the same autocratic and oppressive philosophies.  The entire environment for centuries was one of central control, oppression, and the lack of individual freedom (Puffer, and McCarthy, 41).
	The legalization of private enterprises in the late 1980s became a major source of widespread ethical confusion.  Communist philosophy did not recognize the existence of private property or profits, yet both became legalized by Soviet and Russian law at that time.  Within the developing free enterprise system, these laws contradicted one another.  The chaotically evolving legal structure gave little direction to people in business.  People had to define proper behavior themselves (Puffer and McCarthy; 44-45).  The future should hold more social development in this area, as Russia develops a stronger free enterprise system and international business activities as a result of this development. Russia’s unique culture, tumultuous history, totalitarian political regimes, and undeveloped system of business laws have led to this current state of ambiguity about business ethics.  More social interaction with the United states will benefit Russian as American strong traditions and values codified ethics into law (Puffer and McCarthy, 45).
  
 	In the spring of 1994, the first Presidential Business Development mission to Russia brought the CEOs of 29 major American firms to negotiate with Russian partners.  Managers from both Russia and the United States know that there are many obstacles to success.  Besides economic and political barriers there are the ethical issues (Puffer and McCarthy, 29).  This is a major obstacle to Americans doing business in Russia.  There is much unethical and even criminal behavior among segments of Russian business such as mafia connections, briberies, extortions, and murders. For example,  it is estimated that as much as 20% of sales volume of a large majority of private enterprises in Russia is paid as an extortion tax to the mafia.  This is unacceptable to both  Russian and American ethics.  There are less serious activities that are questionable from the American point of view.  Although American businessmen view these as undesirable and unethical. Russians may think otherwise due to the different ethical premises they hold.  One example is when an American partner found his Russian partner borrowing supplies and  equipment to use for his other businesses.  To the American, this was unethical.  To the Russian, it was reasonable to use the equipment since he was the owner of both companies.  Americans and Russians have different views on ethical behavior.  This is why attention to ethical behavior is important for the development of Russian business partnerships.
	Russian businesses are in a uncertain environment.  Besides criminal behavior, other problems come from the closed economy of the former USSR.  Russian managers have little experience operating in a market economy.  Russia’s planned economy infrastructure has not been replaced and a legal framework for business has not been developed (Puffer and McCarthy, 35).  Ethics is not a high priority, but for these problems a fundamental ethical system is needed for Russia.  This is the way for the Russian economy to advance and for Americans to participate in this advancement.
	Russians expecting to do business need an ethical code because they have no system of business law or clear government policies.  Evaluating the ethics of Russian business should be less from the Western experience and more from the perspective of Russians trying to build a business culture.  This is seen by many Russians as necessary to develop business relationships in a country that has a limited history of entrepreneurship and free association.  The only exception is the Shadow Economy or Black Market.  For 70 years, managers in Russia have operated in a centrally planned economy and have little chance to make ethical decisions (Puffer and McCarthy, 35-37).
	Russians appreciate the importance of basing their business relationships on universal values even though their ethical behavior is less clearly developed.  Some business activities are considered to be unethical to both, such as keeping one’s word and maintaining a trustful relationship.  Other activities are considered to be unethical to both such as breaking one’s word, violating trust, competing unfairly, and committing criminal acts like racketeering.  Finally, other activities may be ethical for Americans but not for Russians such as the legitimacy of maximization of profits.  This concept is still anti-ethical to many Russians due to the fact that under Communism, the only profit seen by many Russians was “dirty” money made by black marketeers and the government propaganda about the evils of Western capitalism (Puffer and McCarthy, 39-42). 

India
	In India, Enron's $2.8 billion power project was abruptly canceled by the Indian government because it was perceived that Enron behaved in an arrogant an colonialistic manner in a country where such behavior is unacceptable (Rao, 1995).  There were strong protests against the KFC in India, because of the belief that KFC was using unacceptable levels of monosodium glutamate (Rao, 1995).

Malaysia
	In a study conducted by Alam (1995), Malaysian business students were surveyed on their perceptions of “business ethics.”  The results of this study indicated that business ethics is a secondary issue for Malaysia businesses.  There seems to be a vast difference in corporate and individual ethical beliefs in this nation.  Top managers are mainly concerned about making profits for their organization.  The general opinion is that the current business atmosphere in Malaysia does not facilitate the emphasis on values and religion and that may be the cause of business ethics being considered a secondary issue by most (Alam, 1995).

Japan
	In Japan, a collectivist society, business ethics are deeply rooted in religious and social dimensions.  The Japanese culture is influenced by Confucianism, Buddhism, and other traditional as well as modern Japanese religions (Taka, 1994).  There are internal differences among people of different religious groups in business ethical beliefs, and certainly differ immensely from those of the west.  The Buddhist perspective of ethics is rather an experiential perspective of viewing the world, it’s a holistic perspective that focuses on one’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors in relation to one’s ethical stance  (Gould, 1995).  Japanese business principles are rooted in two basic ethical ideals: kyosei and human dignity.  Kyosei means living and working together for the common good.  Kyosei is a goal rather than a description of the way Japanese companies act.  The principles note that law and market forces are necessary but insufficient guides for business conduct and that shared values, including a commitment to shared prosperity, are essential elements for all communities (Glosserman, 14).
	
Asia
	Similar to South America, corruption is pervasive in Asian countries.  It is a little more subtle than it is in Latin American countries, nevertheless it exists in countries like China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam (Economist, 1995).

Western Philosophical Ethics
	According to Carlin and Strong (1995), American business ethical philosophies are deeply rooted in traditional ethical theories of western philosophies such as Kant’s theory and British Utilitarianism and the Greek classics.  Historically these western corporations following these philosophies operated primarily in western domestic markets.  Now that world trade barriers are coming down--European Union, the restructuring of the Soviet Union, the NAFTA, these corporations in the west are having to deal with companies from other parts of the world that not only do not share the same ethical philosophies but are offended by them (e.g.,: the case of Enron in India).  Western business ethics are deemed as insensitive and rude by their foreign counter parts (dealing with Japan has provided valuable lessons to the U. S.)
	The West is not all lilly-white and pure as regards moral standards.  Bribery is one of the major problems in South America, which is unacceptable to North Americans.  On the other hand, gifts and entertaining for business purposes is widely prevalent in North America and this may be viewed as mordida or bribery in a sense of 'cultural relativism' (Wood, 1995). Small (1995) discusses ethics and breaches of ethics in Australia.  Typically, the West has followed a "If it's legal, it's alright." approach to standard business practices. The standard Western focus on the ends and not the means provide a legalistic but not altogether moral framework for discussing ethics.


IMPLICATIONS
	What the future will hold for ethics and it's business implications is a question that can be answered only with time, but  at the least international business leaders will have learned about all cultures through the  study  and develop  of a universal respect for the similarities as well as the differences.  With this, coping with the ethical behavior of other countries will come easier.  This is necessary because as technology grows the world will seem to get smaller as different nations trade with each other.  In fact, a form of universal moral code may come about at least for international business transactions in the future. Today, however, in developing countries because of the other overwhelming economic, social and political problems that these countries have to deal with, business ethics takes a back seat..  But lately, an increasing number of developing countries are realizing that in order to deal with corporations from developed countries (in which business ethics is give the utmost attention) that they need to incorporate “business ethics” into their cultural system in order to become global (Rossouw, 1994).
	Ethics are based on human nature and culture.  These are the basics that make all people the same. We will see a future where, like kyosei, businesses will contribute to economic and social development in their communities and in the world at large.  They must at all times  behave within the letter of the law, and strive to transcend the narrowest of legal perspectives to build trust, confidence, and stability in business transactions.  This is necessary in a future where we will be trading more with countries like Russia, those in Eastern Europe, and Latin America  many of which have little or no experience in economic or social development.
	Being aware of the Russian ethics will assist business managers from the United States in interpreting the ethics of behavior they will encounter in dealing with Russian managers.  This will help ensure a less chaotic social and business future for Russian companies in their practice of international business ethics.  Behaviors that Americans perceive as ethical or good business practice often perceived by Russians as unethical or inappropriate will be better clarified.  Both American and Russian managers will work together toward the development of mutually acceptable ethical standards for doing business together internationally.
	This is why the future will see more regulation of codes.  The European Communities have specific regulation for lawyers.  Lawyers are regulated by the Code of Conduct for Lawyers and the Lawyers Services Directive as well.  One very important goal of the CCBE code is to minimize problems that lawyers face because they are governed by their country’s laws as well as those of the European Communities.  Under this code, they have to obey the laws of both their country and that of a host country when doing business abroad (Hill, 80-183).  In the United States, the main issues are who exactly is the client and how far privileged should be extended.  Some justifications in the US are the same as in the European communities such as the attorney-client privileges and any differences will eventually be decreased.  U.S. attorneys follow the laws of the individual US states (Hill, 184). 
	These codes of conduct will reach Russia, one day as Westerners further their understanding of Russia’s state of affairs.  The challenges facing Asian companies today include deciding on ethical codes. At the end of every situation, ethics is the bottom line especially since Asian companies will deal with Western ones.  They will draw up an ethics policy but it doesn’t mean that they will duplicate those of American companies.  What it does mean is thinking through exactly what company executives  believe is permissible and drawing up an enforceable code of conduct.  For example, in taxation the costs can be larger as a company internationalizes if they try to dodge payments.  At any rate, confronting ethical issue will be an aspect of the long term planning serious Asian companies will be tackling (Caplen, 23-24).  As the Greek and Russian models showed, cultural factor will be studied for further understanding of all ethical norms.  Based on only the most important similarities can a worldwide enforceable code of business ethics come about.  This will open the future in international business.   

CONCLUSION
    	In conclusion, we can say that we are in the midst of a global ethics revolution.  There are many aspects to it.  One is the growing public revulsion for corrupt business and political practices, another aspect is the revival of public interest  in the question of moral values.  There is a strong sense among many people in different countries today that the standard of both public and private conduct must be raised.  Not only will this make  a better world, but it will help international business.  By  large, you may be surprised to hear, American companies are in the ethical vanguard.  We are ahead of companies in other  countries in our ethical policies and ethical practices. 
	Every culture follows its code of ethics and thinks that other cultures make little or no sense.  As companies around the world research more into the differences of cultural morals, this is where they will find the similarities.  For example, if it is immoral to eat beef in India and pork in Israel, we can not only see the differences in tastes but also the cultural/religious reasons for it.  At least we can recognize both examples are similar because both resist eating a certain kind of animal.
	With moral behavior comes responsibility.   To do business around the world, international corporations have a responsibility to understand and interpret foreign codes of ethics.  Universally, all countries have ethical codes that can be interpreted.  These codes are the same in ideals as religion or in actuality as murder.  Almost every culture regards some kind of killing as wrong.  So we can conclude that ethics is universal.
	As far as the legal aspect is concerned, one major goal of any legal system is to 
efficiently administer justice.  In order for corporations to exist within this system, lawyers need to be involved locally and on a global level. 
	Regarding business responsibility,  business must be responsible not to a narrowly defined group of stockholders but to a larger body of stakeholders such as customers, employees, owners/investors, suppliers, communities, and even competitors.  In other words, they must be responsible to everybody and every country.  Traditionally, business avoided the public interest, arguing that it was concerned with maximizing profits for investors.  
	These principles will be getting attention when they are distributed to delegates to the World Summit for Social Development held in March 1996 in Copenhagen.  The meeting will stress international interdependence, an how events in one country can no longer be isolated in their impact.  It is about time to think about the boundaries of communities and their impacts (Glosserman, 14).
	Utopia is still a long way off, of course.  But over time, this new worldwide ethical 
consciousness will improve business practices around the globe.  It is  an inevitable result of the globalization of business itself.  If we are trading heavily with each other, if we are investing in each other's countries, it is only going to work well in the long run if we are all guided by the same standards. 
	The world is a complicated place, and sometimes you simply can't calculate all the angles, or control all the outcomes.  That is why your relations with other nations should be guided by whatever best serves your country's immediate economic and political interests, whatever is morally right , and whatever is likely to be most popular at home.  Adjustment must be made between countries who do business with each other.  There will always be more to study and consider due to the cultural, economic, political, historical, and social differences throughout the world.  Companies involved in international trade may accept or reject the cultural ethics of other countries.  Although this is true it is unrealistic.  Companies must know of these differences in morality before any dealings are made.  This can result in compromises and further future understanding as agreements and adjustments are made.  This report showed the very importance of ethics in international business.  It is relevant simply because misunderstandings of other culture’s use of ethics or motives have caused mistrust for hundreds of years.  Relationships between nations would go bad.  Since the world is getting smaller by high-tech transportation and communication, world understanding is important.  No industry is free of a global market.  There will be a universal nature to how all nations conduct themselves morally and ethically.  The solution is knowledge and understanding and with this comes acceptance and compromise. 


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