Globalization has led to the emergence of a global marketplace with falling barriers to cross-border trade. This has created the need for global institutions to help regulate international business. While globalization allows firms to offer standardized products worldwide, it also raises issues of ethics and social responsibility that companies must consider when operating internationally, such as corruption, working conditions, and environmental impact. Common challenges include bribery of foreign officials and addressing human rights concerns. Philosophical approaches for guiding ethics in international business include utilitarianism, rights theories, and justice theories.
The Corporate Social Responsibilities of Financial Institutions for the Condu...Larry Catá Backer
Abstract: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be split along two distinct lines. The first touches on the nature of corporate personality and is rooted in domestic law regulating enterprises specifically and legal persons generally. The second touches on the nature of the rights of individuals and is rooted in international law (and sometimes domestic constitutional law) defining the scope of the human rights of individuals and the consequential obligations of states and legal persons. Both conversations intertwine though they tend to operate autonomously. In both cases, however, the traditional focus of corporate responsibility has focused on the relationship between an operating company and its direct effects on individuals, society and the environment. That discussion remains contentious, conflicted and unresolved. But it ignores a critical actor—the financial institutions which provide operating capital to enterprises. This paper considers the corporate social responsibilities of financial institutions, including sovereign wealth funds, for the conduct of their borrowers. The focus will be the extent of any duty or responsibility of lenders to ensure that their borrowers comply with CSR obligations (or alternatively conforms to international human rights standards) as a core aspect of their own CSR obligations (or alternatively) of their responsibility to respect human rights. Section II examines the general regulatory framework. There are two aspects that are relevant. The first is to understand the scope and character of the legal norms that may be applied to enterprises generally with respect to their operation’s that might be understood as CSR-human rights related in nature. The second is to consider the range of non-legal normative governance rules that might apply. In the process it will be important to distinguish between a CSR based regulatory approach and a human rights based approach. Section III considers the application of these norms to financial institutions. This requites distinguishing between those obligations that apply to the internal operations of financial institutions generally, and those obligations that apply to the financial institution’s obligations with respect to its lending activities, that is with respect to its relationship with its borrowers. The essay ends with a brief examination of recent cases in which financial institutions undertook such a responsibility, and the ways in which that obligation was undertaken. Three different types of institutions are considered—private banks, sovereign wealth funds and international financial institutions (IFIs). The paper ends with a preliminary consideration of the consequences of this movement for domestic CSR in the U.S.
Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more.
The Corporate Social Responsibilities of Financial Institutions for the Condu...Larry Catá Backer
Abstract: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be split along two distinct lines. The first touches on the nature of corporate personality and is rooted in domestic law regulating enterprises specifically and legal persons generally. The second touches on the nature of the rights of individuals and is rooted in international law (and sometimes domestic constitutional law) defining the scope of the human rights of individuals and the consequential obligations of states and legal persons. Both conversations intertwine though they tend to operate autonomously. In both cases, however, the traditional focus of corporate responsibility has focused on the relationship between an operating company and its direct effects on individuals, society and the environment. That discussion remains contentious, conflicted and unresolved. But it ignores a critical actor—the financial institutions which provide operating capital to enterprises. This paper considers the corporate social responsibilities of financial institutions, including sovereign wealth funds, for the conduct of their borrowers. The focus will be the extent of any duty or responsibility of lenders to ensure that their borrowers comply with CSR obligations (or alternatively conforms to international human rights standards) as a core aspect of their own CSR obligations (or alternatively) of their responsibility to respect human rights. Section II examines the general regulatory framework. There are two aspects that are relevant. The first is to understand the scope and character of the legal norms that may be applied to enterprises generally with respect to their operation’s that might be understood as CSR-human rights related in nature. The second is to consider the range of non-legal normative governance rules that might apply. In the process it will be important to distinguish between a CSR based regulatory approach and a human rights based approach. Section III considers the application of these norms to financial institutions. This requites distinguishing between those obligations that apply to the internal operations of financial institutions generally, and those obligations that apply to the financial institution’s obligations with respect to its lending activities, that is with respect to its relationship with its borrowers. The essay ends with a brief examination of recent cases in which financial institutions undertook such a responsibility, and the ways in which that obligation was undertaken. Three different types of institutions are considered—private banks, sovereign wealth funds and international financial institutions (IFIs). The paper ends with a preliminary consideration of the consequences of this movement for domestic CSR in the U.S.
Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more.
Presentation of paper: Realizing Socio-Economic Rights Under Emerging Global Regulatory Frameworks: The Potential Impact of Privatisation and the Role of Companies in China and India
Priorities and Strategic Initiatives for Securing Forest and Community Land ...SIANI
Presented as part of the Seminar on Securing Forest and Community Land Rights - Challenges, Trends and Ways Forward. The seminar focused on forests and other off-farm areas that constitute vital resources for the food security and livelihoods of the rural poor in many developing countries. These lands are often used in integrated ways by local communities under communal customary arrangements while often formally owned by the state. Unclear land rights make these resources and associated livelihoods particularly vulnerable in the current context of increased demand for land; this needs to be better recognized and articulated in discussions on land rights and responsible land investments.
Financial Sector Responsibility for Human Rights Conduct of Borrowers: What W...Larry Catá Backer
Extractive industries have been at center of CSR and environmental responsibilities debates at the national and international level
The sector faces unique social and environmental challenges when operating in developing countries. Faced with these challenges, a number of Canadian companies are engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, generally defined as the voluntary activities undertaken by a company to operate in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner. Building the Canadian Advantage: A Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategy for the Canadian International Extractive Sector
To what extent are financial institutions responsible for the human rights breaches of their borrowers?
“While the obligation for the protection of human rights lies with the state, IFIs and their member states also have responsibilities to ensure that activities they support do not cause, or contribute to, human rights abuses by putting in place adequate safeguards.” Statement of Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to UN Human Rights Council. How might these obligations constrain borrowers?
Business and Human Rights: MBA / Executive ModuleEthical Sector
Teaching Business and Human Rights: A teaching module for business school tutors. Business school students need to understand what responsibilities businesses have when it comes to human rights. This teaching pack is designed to give business school faculty sufficient material and teaching resources to enable non-specialists to introduce the subject: http://www.ihrb.org/publications/reports/teaching-module.html
Business Reference Guide UNITED NATIONS DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGEN...Dr Lendy Spires
The United Nations estimates that there are roughly over 370 million indigenous peoples living around the world, from the Arctic to the South Pacific, in over 90 countries. Indigenous peoples are responsible for a great deal of the world’s linguistic and cultural diversity, and their traditional knowledge is an invaluable resource; it is estimated that indigenous peoples occupy approximately 20 per cent of the world’s land surface, yet steward 80 per cent of the planet’s biodiversity. Combined with their unique cultural and spiritual ties to ancestral lands and territories, indigenous peoples are often fitting custodians of natural resources and ecological knowledge.
This often symbiotic relationship with land can on one hand make indigenous peoples sought after as potential partners for business ventures in various industries, and on the other hand make them vulnerable to potential negative impacts of commercial development. Historically, many indigenous peoples have suffered from abuse, discrimination, and marginalization, and in many areas this continues today. As a result, many indigenous peoples live in poverty and poor health and their cultures, languages and ways of life are threatened. Indigenous peoples comprise 5 per cent of the world’s population, yet they make up 15 per cent of the world’s poor and one-third of the world’s extremely poor.
In many areas, their average life expectancy is shorter than non-indigenous people. Facing these realities, indigenous peoples are often particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of commercial development and business activities. There may be a sense of distrust by indigenous peoples towards the business community and State actors as a result of historical mistreatment such as dispossession and degradation of land and various human rights abuses. Harm has occurred when indigenous peoples unwittingly become parties to an agreement without informed understanding of its full implications.
Further, indigenous peoples and their cultures often lack full legal protection at the State level. Unfortunately, some businesses have either directly or indirectly caused or contributed to adverse impacts on indigenous peoples’ rights, and in some cases such impact has been irremediable. Business faces both challenges and opportunities when engaging with indigenous peoples. When businesses collaborate with indigenous peoples, they are often able to achieve sustainable economic growth, for ex-ample, by optimizing ecosystem services and harnessing local or traditional knowledge.
Positive engagement with indigenous peoples can also contribute to the success of resource development initiatives – from granting and maintaining social licenses to actively participating in business ventures as owners, contractors and employees. Failing to respect the rights of indigenous peoples can put businesses at significant legal, financial and reputational risk. For example, for a world-class mining
The Responsibilities of Banks, Sovereign Wealth Funds and Other Financial Ins...Larry Catá Backer
Extractive industries have been at center of CSR and environmental responsibilities debates at the national and international level. It has been noted that "The sector faces unique social and environmental challenges when operating in developing countries. Faced with these challenges, a number of Canadian companies are engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, generally defined as the voluntary activities undertaken by a company to operate in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner" (Building the Canadian Advantage: A Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategy for the Canadian International Extractive Sector). These generally involve direct compliance. Domestic law focuses on the law and regulatory frameworks of home and host states. Soft law focuses on national (to a small extent) and more generally in international framing mechanisms and indigenous law (national an international). In addition, private law also applies--to the extent that extractive enterprises build their own internal governance systems applicable through their production chains worldwide.
But increasing there is a need to think about indirect compliance: especially the responsibilities of financial institutions, suppliers, and upstream customers to gauge their conduct by the legal/normative compliance of the extractives enterprise itself.
This presentation focuses on financial institutions and their responsibilities with respect to the human rights responsibilities of their borrowers.
Ethics for artificial intelligence, machine learning and automated decision m...Steven Finlay
Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence are having an ever increasing impact on our lives. This presentation discusses some of the ethical issues associated with automated decision making systems, driven by machine learning and predictive models. It also provides a risk assessment framework for assessing the potential risks of such systems.
Presentation of paper: Realizing Socio-Economic Rights Under Emerging Global Regulatory Frameworks: The Potential Impact of Privatisation and the Role of Companies in China and India
Priorities and Strategic Initiatives for Securing Forest and Community Land ...SIANI
Presented as part of the Seminar on Securing Forest and Community Land Rights - Challenges, Trends and Ways Forward. The seminar focused on forests and other off-farm areas that constitute vital resources for the food security and livelihoods of the rural poor in many developing countries. These lands are often used in integrated ways by local communities under communal customary arrangements while often formally owned by the state. Unclear land rights make these resources and associated livelihoods particularly vulnerable in the current context of increased demand for land; this needs to be better recognized and articulated in discussions on land rights and responsible land investments.
Financial Sector Responsibility for Human Rights Conduct of Borrowers: What W...Larry Catá Backer
Extractive industries have been at center of CSR and environmental responsibilities debates at the national and international level
The sector faces unique social and environmental challenges when operating in developing countries. Faced with these challenges, a number of Canadian companies are engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, generally defined as the voluntary activities undertaken by a company to operate in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner. Building the Canadian Advantage: A Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategy for the Canadian International Extractive Sector
To what extent are financial institutions responsible for the human rights breaches of their borrowers?
“While the obligation for the protection of human rights lies with the state, IFIs and their member states also have responsibilities to ensure that activities they support do not cause, or contribute to, human rights abuses by putting in place adequate safeguards.” Statement of Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to UN Human Rights Council. How might these obligations constrain borrowers?
Business and Human Rights: MBA / Executive ModuleEthical Sector
Teaching Business and Human Rights: A teaching module for business school tutors. Business school students need to understand what responsibilities businesses have when it comes to human rights. This teaching pack is designed to give business school faculty sufficient material and teaching resources to enable non-specialists to introduce the subject: http://www.ihrb.org/publications/reports/teaching-module.html
Business Reference Guide UNITED NATIONS DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGEN...Dr Lendy Spires
The United Nations estimates that there are roughly over 370 million indigenous peoples living around the world, from the Arctic to the South Pacific, in over 90 countries. Indigenous peoples are responsible for a great deal of the world’s linguistic and cultural diversity, and their traditional knowledge is an invaluable resource; it is estimated that indigenous peoples occupy approximately 20 per cent of the world’s land surface, yet steward 80 per cent of the planet’s biodiversity. Combined with their unique cultural and spiritual ties to ancestral lands and territories, indigenous peoples are often fitting custodians of natural resources and ecological knowledge.
This often symbiotic relationship with land can on one hand make indigenous peoples sought after as potential partners for business ventures in various industries, and on the other hand make them vulnerable to potential negative impacts of commercial development. Historically, many indigenous peoples have suffered from abuse, discrimination, and marginalization, and in many areas this continues today. As a result, many indigenous peoples live in poverty and poor health and their cultures, languages and ways of life are threatened. Indigenous peoples comprise 5 per cent of the world’s population, yet they make up 15 per cent of the world’s poor and one-third of the world’s extremely poor.
In many areas, their average life expectancy is shorter than non-indigenous people. Facing these realities, indigenous peoples are often particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of commercial development and business activities. There may be a sense of distrust by indigenous peoples towards the business community and State actors as a result of historical mistreatment such as dispossession and degradation of land and various human rights abuses. Harm has occurred when indigenous peoples unwittingly become parties to an agreement without informed understanding of its full implications.
Further, indigenous peoples and their cultures often lack full legal protection at the State level. Unfortunately, some businesses have either directly or indirectly caused or contributed to adverse impacts on indigenous peoples’ rights, and in some cases such impact has been irremediable. Business faces both challenges and opportunities when engaging with indigenous peoples. When businesses collaborate with indigenous peoples, they are often able to achieve sustainable economic growth, for ex-ample, by optimizing ecosystem services and harnessing local or traditional knowledge.
Positive engagement with indigenous peoples can also contribute to the success of resource development initiatives – from granting and maintaining social licenses to actively participating in business ventures as owners, contractors and employees. Failing to respect the rights of indigenous peoples can put businesses at significant legal, financial and reputational risk. For example, for a world-class mining
The Responsibilities of Banks, Sovereign Wealth Funds and Other Financial Ins...Larry Catá Backer
Extractive industries have been at center of CSR and environmental responsibilities debates at the national and international level. It has been noted that "The sector faces unique social and environmental challenges when operating in developing countries. Faced with these challenges, a number of Canadian companies are engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, generally defined as the voluntary activities undertaken by a company to operate in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner" (Building the Canadian Advantage: A Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategy for the Canadian International Extractive Sector). These generally involve direct compliance. Domestic law focuses on the law and regulatory frameworks of home and host states. Soft law focuses on national (to a small extent) and more generally in international framing mechanisms and indigenous law (national an international). In addition, private law also applies--to the extent that extractive enterprises build their own internal governance systems applicable through their production chains worldwide.
But increasing there is a need to think about indirect compliance: especially the responsibilities of financial institutions, suppliers, and upstream customers to gauge their conduct by the legal/normative compliance of the extractives enterprise itself.
This presentation focuses on financial institutions and their responsibilities with respect to the human rights responsibilities of their borrowers.
Ethics for artificial intelligence, machine learning and automated decision m...Steven Finlay
Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence are having an ever increasing impact on our lives. This presentation discusses some of the ethical issues associated with automated decision making systems, driven by machine learning and predictive models. It also provides a risk assessment framework for assessing the potential risks of such systems.
Palestine last event orientationfvgnh .pptxRaedMohamed3
An EFL lesson about the current events in Palestine. It is intended to be for intermediate students who wish to increase their listening skills through a short lesson in power point.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
Instructions for Submissions thorugh G- Classroom.pptxJheel Barad
This presentation provides a briefing on how to upload submissions and documents in Google Classroom. It was prepared as part of an orientation for new Sainik School in-service teacher trainees. As a training officer, my goal is to ensure that you are comfortable and proficient with this essential tool for managing assignments and fostering student engagement.
Unit 8 - Information and Communication Technology (Paper I).pdfThiyagu K
This slides describes the basic concepts of ICT, basics of Email, Emerging Technology and Digital Initiatives in Education. This presentations aligns with the UGC Paper I syllabus.
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
The French Revolution, which began in 1789, was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France. It marked the decline of absolute monarchies, the rise of secular and democratic republics, and the eventual rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. This revolutionary period is crucial in understanding the transition from feudalism to modernity in Europe.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
2. Overview
• Introduction to International Business
• Ethics and Social Responsibility in
International Business
3. Globalisation and International Business
• The idea of one global marketplace: no barriers to
consumption, movement of capital and people.
• The merging of distinctly separate national markets
into a global marketplace
– Falling barriers to cross-border trade have made it easier
to sell internationally
– Tastes and preferences converge onto a global norm
– Firms offer standardised products worldwide creating a
world market
4. The Emergence of Global Institutions
• Globalisation has created the need for institutions to
help manage, regulate and police the global
marketplace
– GATT
– WTO
– IMF
– World Bank
– United Nations
7. Top 25 Global TNCs 2013 (based on foreign assets).
Source: UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2014
8. Ethics and Social Responsibility
• Issues to consider:
– Bribery/corruption
– Child/forced/bonded labour
– Working conditions/remuneration
– Product safety/environmental concerns
9. The Friedman Doctrine aka The Stockholder
Theory
- “The Social Responsibility of a Business is to Increase its
Profits”.
- A business is an artificial person and has no responsibilities.
- The executives are employees of the business and has
responsibility to the owners.
- As the owners tend to want their business to make as much
money as possible, this should be the responsibility of the
executives.
Source: Friedman, M. (1970) “A Friedman doctrine. The Social Responsibility of a Business is to Increase Its Profits” New York Times, Sep 13.
10. Philosophical Approaches to Ethics: Utilitarian
and Kantian Ethics
• Utilitarian approaches to ethics hold that the moral worth of actions or practices is
determined by their consequences
– An action is judged to be desirable if it leads to the best possible balance of
good consequences over bad consequences
– One problem with utilitarianism is in measuring the benefits, costs, and risks of
an action
– The second problem related to utilitarianism is that it does not consider justice,
so the minority will always be at a disadvantage
11. Philosophical Approaches to Ethics:
Rights Theories
• Rights theories recognise that human beings have fundamental rights
and privileges which transcend national boundaries and cultures
• Rights establish a minimum level of morally acceptable behaviour
12. Philosophical Approaches to Ethics:
Rights Theories
• United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
– All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights
– They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one
another in a spirit of brotherhood
– Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and
favorable conditions of work, and to protection against unemployment
– Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal
work
– Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration
ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and
supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection
– Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of
his interests
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. United Nations. Available at: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/history.shtml
13. Philosophical Approaches to Ethics:
Justice Theories
• Justice theories focus on the attainment of a just distribution of economic
goods and services
• Valid principles of justice are those with which all persons would agree if
they could freely and impartially consider the situation
– Impartiality is guaranteed by a conceptual device called the veil of
ignorance
– Under the veil of ignorance, everyone is imagined to be ignorant of
all of his or her particular characteristics
• race, gender, intelligence, nationality, family background, and
special talents
Source: Rawls, J. (1971) A Theory of Justice, Harvard University Press.
14. Philosophical Approaches to Ethics:
Justice Theories
• Rawls argues that under the veil of ignorance people would unanimously agree on
two fundamental principles of justice
– Each person be permitted the maximum amount of basic liberty compatible
with a similar liberty for others
– Once equal basic liberty is assured, inequality in basic social goods is to be
allowed only if such inequalities benefit everyone
• Difference principle states that inequalities are justified if they benefit the
position of the least-advantaged person
• Moral philosophers have a problem with Rawls’ concept of the veil of ignorance
because decisions generally include some of the factors
15. Corruption
• Difficult to define.
• Certain acts/gestures/favours may be construed as bribery, nepotism
or corrupt practices in some countries but not others.
• Examples: gift giving, use of networks (guanxi in China, wasta in the
Arab countries)
Hutchings, K. and Weir, D. (2006) Guanxi and Wasta: A Comparison. Thunderbird International Business Review, 48, pp.141-156
16. Corruption
• The United States passed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) to fight
corruption
– Outlawed the paying of bribes to foreign government officials to gain business.
• In 1997, the trade and finance ministers from the member states of the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) followed the U.S. lead and
adopted the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in
International Business Transactions
– Obliges member states to make the bribery of foreign public officials a criminal
offense
17. FCPA
• Exception for routine governmental action
Subsections (a) and (g) of this section shall not apply to any
facilitating or expediting payment to a foreign official, political party,
or party official the purpose of which is to expedite or to secure the
performance of a routine governmental action by a foreign official,
political party, or party official.
18. Bribery and Australia
• the Australian Government has ratified:
- the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the United Nations Convention
against Transnational Organized Crime and
- the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in
International Business Transactions (Anti-Bribery Convention).
• Facilitation Payment Defence: the value of the benefit was of a minor nature; and
the person’s conduct was engaged in for the sole or dominant purpose of
expediting or securing the performance of a routine government action of a minor
nature; and as soon as practicable after the conduct occurred, the person made a
record of the conduct.
• The Government is currently re-considering the use of this defence.
19. Corruption Perception Index 2014
• Source: Transparency International. www.transparency.org
Rank Country
1 Denmark
2 New Zealand
3 Finland
4 Sweden
5 Norway
6 Switzerland
7 Singapore
8 Netherlands
9 Luxembourg
10 Canada
11 Australia
12 Germany
14 United Kingdom
15 Japan
17 Hong Kong
17 United States
25 United Arab Emirates
43 South Korea
50 Malaysia
53 Czech Republic
Rank Country
64 Turkey
69 Italy
85 India
85 Thailand
94 Colombia
100 China
107 Indonesia
119 Vietnam
126 Pakistan
133 Madagascar
136 Iran
136 Lebanon
136 Russia
145 Bangladesh
145 Kenya
156 Cambodia
170 Iraq
172 Afghanistan
174 North Korea
20. Bribe Payers Index 2011
Rank Country
1 Netherlands
1 Switzerland
3 Belgium
4 Germany
4 Japan
6 Australia
6 Canada
8 Singapore
8 United Kingdom
10 United States
11 France
11 Spain
13 South Korea
14 Brazil
15 Hong Kong
15 Italy
15 Malaysia
15 South Africa
19 Taiwan
19 India
19 Turkey
22 Saudi Arabia
Source: Transparency International. www.transparency.org
Rank Country
23 Argentina
23 United Arab Emirates
25 Indonesia
26 Mexico
27 China
28 Russia
21. • MNCs continue to be accused of being unethical and socially
irresponsible.
• Some well-known cases include:
– Shell in Nigeria,
– Union Carbide in India
22. Shell in Nigeria
• Royal-Dutch Shell had oil exploration rights in Nigeria.
• The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni people represented the interests of the
minority Ogoni people who lived in the area called Ogoniland.
• Accusation that the Niger Delta was being polluted and the rights of the Ogoni ppl
were not being protected.
• After numerous attempts to silence Ken Saro-Wiwa, the Nigerian government of
Gen Abacha arrested Ken.
• On 10 Nov 1995 Ken and 8 other supporters were executed.
• In 1996 Ken’s family started legal proceedings against Shell in the USA.
• In June 2009 (before the trial commenced) an out of court settlement was reached
(US$15.5 million).
23. Union Carbide India Limited
• 1969: Union Carbide India Limited (subsidiary of US based Union Carbide-UCC)
builds a pesticide factory in Bhopal, capital city of the State of Madhya Pradesh.
• 2 December 1984: a deadly gas is released due to a suspected leak in the plant.
• Official figures: 3,500 deaths within days and more than 15,000 deaths since then.
• Campaigners claim the figures are close to 25,000 deaths.
• 1989 UCC pays the Indian government US$470 million in an out of court
settlement. Part of this amount when distributed to the half a million victims by the
Indian government totalled 200 rupees per month (roughly US$4)
• 1999: UCC became a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemicals (US$11.6 billion).
• June 2010: The Indian court hands down final verdict. Convicts 8 of the accused
(all Indian nationals). All released on bail of 100,000 rupees each (US$2125).
24. Ethics and Advertising
• More prohibition on promoting products now than ever before (for
example, tobacco).
• Information readily available: cannot make unsubstantiated claims.
• How can companies continue to promote such products?
25. Intellectual Property Protection
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) convention
(www.wipo.int)
• 188 member states. Part of the United Nations
• Members are expected to protect IP: both industrial property
(inventions, trademarks, industrial designs etc) and Copyrights (art,
literary work, music).
