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Journal of Business Ethics

Erschienen in:

01.04.2013

A Social Contract for International Business Ethics

verfasst von: Paul Neiman

Erschienen in: Journal of Business Ethics | Ausgabe 1/2013

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Abstract

This article begins with a detailed analysis of how the choice situation of a social contract for international business ethics can be constructed and justified. A choice situation is developed by analyzing conceptions of the multinational firm and the domain of international business. The result is a hypothetical negotiation between two fictional characters, J. Duncan Grey and Elizabeth Redd, who respectively represent the interests of businesses and communities seeking to engage in international trade. The negotiators agree on ethical principles governing wages, the environment, and compliance social and cultural norms. These principles are then shown to rest in wide reflective equilibrium with considered moral judgments on international business ethics, which are drawn from international agreements, such as the UN Declaration on Human Rights, and voluntary business initiatives, such as the Global Sullivan Principles and the UN Global Compact.

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Suppose, for example, that Grey is representing a state-run company, whose main motivation is to provide social goods for people in its home nation, or that he is representing a family run business, whose main motivation is to provide for the future generations of the family. Being more, rather than less, profitable can only help achieve these aims.

See Hartman (2001) for a similar response.

This is not to suggest that domestic businesses do not have similar obligations. Redd and Grey are negotiating only over principles for international business ethics.

It might be objected that Grey’s fiduciary responsibility prohibits him from negotiating without full information about the company he is representing. However, it should be noted that the purpose of the Grey–Redd negotiation is to model the restrictions it seems reasonable to impose on arguments for ethical principles for international business. The decision to characterize Grey and Redd as representatives of clients is arbitrary. Grey might instead have been characterized more vaguely as the personification of multinational business itself, or even as the sole owner of a multinational firm with no fiduciary responsibilities to anyone else.

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Titel: A Social Contract for International Business Ethics
verfasst von: Paul Neiman
Publikationsdatum: 01.04.2013
Verlag: Springer Netherlands
Erschienen in: Journal of Business Ethics / Ausgabe 1/2013
Print ISSN: 0167-4544
Elektronische ISSN: 1573-0697
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1332-4

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