Craig E. Johnson, Organizational Ethics, Third Edition
Instructor Resource
Lecture Notes
Chapter 13
Ethics in a Global Society
Organizational Ethics: A Practical Approach (3rd ed.)
The Dangers of Globalization
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•Organizations must now act as global citizens
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•The Downside of Globalization
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•Growing divide between rich and poor
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•Resource extraction
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•Promotion of greed
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•Ethical and spiritual values shunted aside
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•Destruction of local traditions
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•Chronic health problems
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•Growing corporate power
Craig E. Johnson, Organizational Ethics, Third Edition
Instructor Resource
The Challenges of Ethical Diversity
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•Cultures take difering ethical approaches to
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•Contracts
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•Bribery
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•Intellectual property rights
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•Deception
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•Extreme approaches to cross-cultural ethical decision making
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•One extreme: behave as ethical imperialists who impose
standards from the home company
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•Other extreme: opt for cultural relativism (always follow local
customs)
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•Alternative: develop cross-cultural ethical competence
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•Combat ethnocentrism and become a world citizen
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•Recognize values orientations of diferent cultures
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•Adopt universal moral principles
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•Employ guidelines for sorting through competing ethical norms
Craig E. Johnson, Organizational Ethics, Third Edition
Instructor Resource
Coming to Grips with Ethnocentrism
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•Deinition: viewing the world from our cultural group’s point of view
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•Our customs and values become the standard to judge the world
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•Can lead to reduced contact with outsiders, racial slurs, pressure on
other groups to conform, justiication for violence and war
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•How to confront ethnocentrism:
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• Develop ethical communication competencies
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•Adopt global cardinal virtues
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• Cultural humility
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• Commitment to truth
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• Recognition of human dignity
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• Solidarity with other individuals of other cultures
Becoming a Citizen of the World
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•Cosmopolitanism: acting as world citizens rather than as citizens of
one particular nation-state
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•Elements of cosmopolitanism
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•Hospitality towards strangers
Craig E. Johnson, Organizational Ethics, Third Edition
Instructor Resource
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•Every human being has dignity and value
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•Strong sense of global justice
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•Concern for human rights
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•Care for the “distant needy”
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•Taking action to address injustice
Understanding global Diversity
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•Cultures can be grouped according their values orientations
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•Understanding values orientations helps explain ethical diferences and
responses to moral dilemmas
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•Three widely used cultural classiication systems
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•Programmed value patterns
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•The GLOBE studies
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•Moral Foundations Theory
Programmed Value Patterns (Hofstede)
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•Dimensions
Craig E. Johnson, Organizational Ethics, Third Edition
Instructor Resource
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•Power distance: how societies deal with human inequality
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•Individualism/collectivism: preference for the individual or the
group
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•Masculinity vs. femininity: attitudes towards the role of men and
women (clearly deined—masculine; blurred diferences—feminine)
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•Uncertainty avoidance: how cultures respond to uncertainty
about the future
Values dimensions are related to corruption, ethnocentrism, prejudice,
quality of corporate governance, direct/indirect communication patterns
Project GLOBE
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•Incorporates Hofstede’s dimensions: power distance, uncertainty
avoidance, gender diferentiation, individualism/collectivism
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•Adds these dimensions:
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•Performance orientation: extent to which high standards are
encouraged
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•Future orientation: emphasis on future oriented activities
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•Assertiveness: encouragement of toughness and competition
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•Humane orientation: encouragement of altruism and care
GLOBE’s additional dimensions shape attitudes towards society,
competition, getting ahead, and intellectual property rights
Craig E. Johnson, Organizational Ethics, Third Edition
Instructor Resource
Moral Foundations Theory (Haidt)
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•Designed to account for the ethical diferences between cultures
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•Moral foundations: part of our genetic makeup that allows humans to
live together
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•Act like “moral taste buds” which are shaped by culture. Each culture
emphasizes some values more than others
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•Keep all ive foundations in mind when dealing with diverse cultures
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•Five foundations
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•Harm/care: sensitivity to sufering outside the immediate family
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•Fairness/reciprocity: justice and fairness
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•In-group/loyalty: degree of trust and cooperation with insiders
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•Authority/respect: degree of respect for and obedience to
authority igures
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•Purity/sanctity: disgust and focus on purity
Finding Common Moral Ground
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•Cultural relativism: follow local standards but have no grounds for