Ethics and international business

Abstract

The activities of oil and other energy companies are increasingly being challenged by nongovernmental organizations and media to justify their behavior in ethical terms. Activities that visibly damage the environment have long been challenged by advocacy groups. In recent years public interest has broadened into calls to respect `sustainability,' human rights, and other ethical imperatives. This article attempts to set these developments in the context of international promotion of the idea of a global `civil society.' Ethical codes reach, by persuasion, beyond coercive legal obligations. They have the character and role of `repeated games.' Codes of behavior for business are rooted in national and cultural values, which may conflict at the international level. However, many governments following the lead of the United States are often developing sanctions to promote ethical behavior by businesses, to redress the failure of markets to manage common access to resources and to protect aspects of the natural world for its own sake. Examples are efforts to uphold human rights, fight against corruption, and promote sustainability of resources. Business leaders and the nongovernment organizations that advocate international values on these subjects have the opportunity to contribute to the development of global civil society by working together to establish persuasive codes that do not require slow and difficult international intervention by government.