Social responsibility and globalization

Abstract

Ethics is an evaluation of moral decisions and the processes involved in making them. The term also encompasses the study of moral standards and how they apply to the social systems and organizations through which modern societies produce and distribute goods. This paper argues that moral judgments do not always transfer readily onto ethical conduct in geographically and culturally diverse nations. The existing literature tends to reject relativism in addressing how multinational organizations are guided by a core set of ethical principles regardless of the culture within which they operate. The dilemma arises when multinationals need to avoid imposing American ethical ideology and formality in localized subsidiaries. This paper extends this dilemma to government intervention in foreign affairs and discusses how ideological positions can conflict within the same culture. This is apparent in the challenge government and private sector meet when balancing issues such as climate change with human rights. This paper supports an integrated approach toward bringing stability to influential oilproducing nations. © by author(s).