Introduction
Globalization set forward lots of issues, regarding organizational behavior and culture. According to T.Yaeger, T.Head,P.F.Sorensen (2006), the most important among these questions is whether cultures remain diverging or we are currently moving towards establishment of the common culture, shared by humans all over the world (27). Despite the fact that it may seem that cultural differences are just about customs, traditions, and cuisine and so on, it is evident that in terms of global companies’ activities abroad, we should consider using more profound approach and research into culture- and history-based perceptions of foreign business activities, being conducted abroad. The first issue we will discuss for the purposes of this assignment is the ways businesses, originating in the U.S. and Canada, are perceived in developing countries. Then we will also refer to identifying cultural issue within the organization. The next one relates to corporate responsibility novelties, called forth by outsourcing some of business activities from developed countries to developing ones. Summarizing we will compare ethical perspectives, which are currently faced by global companies.
Cultural issues within and outside the organization
Running any kind of organization, either at local, national or global level is about ensuring effective communication among people, responsible for different aspects of organizational functioning and development. Effective communication becomes even more important with respect to organizations’ outsourcing practices as the links between organization’s main headquarter and field office can be viewed as necessary prerequisite for success of global organizations’ activities abroad. It is also necessary to take into account locals’ attitudes towards running business in their location. Lack of understanding and support at the local level is likely to result in various allegations and accusations against the global company. For instance, if we consider extracting activities, which are being performed by U.S.-Canada company“Advance Gold in Africa”, it is necessary to understand that locals can likely perceive extracting gold at their territory an act of foreign invasion and look for the ways to stop legally acceptable activities of the company, filing complaints and addressing international organizations. In order to avoid oppression from the side of locals, it is worth getting an insight into their values and customs, so that the company can get the chance to justify its activities in a culturally appropriate way.Apart from cultural issues, which may stem from relations between organization and external actors, cultural issues and misunderstandings can still follow the company, being formed within it. The core reason for such a phenomenon lies in diversity of staff. Some issues may be connected with relations between male and female staff, and the ways workers with different cultural backgrounds approach each other may become of crucial importance to be dealt with by human resource managers. According to most wide-spread cross-cultural human resource management perspective, the way to cope with such kind of issues is building corporate culture of significant strength, which people with different backgrounds can share, so that intercultural differences between them are leveled (Jackson, 2002, 29).
Corporate social responsibility: cross-cultural perspectives
One of most important trends in the global organization development is that organizations should be viewed not only as entities, launched for acquiring monetary profit, but important actors in terms of societal development, able to take responsibility not only for implications of their own activities, but for global concerns, such as development and environmental issues. Evolution and broadening of corporate social responsibility issues calls forth the fact that organizations are currently considered responsible both for their activities in home country and abroad. In legal terms such a responsibility manifests in the form of international organization’s being obliged to comply with legal norms, promulgated at the international, national and local level. In cross-cultural perspective and the light of the need to provide cultural justification for international businesses’ extraction activities in Africa, it is worth referring to corporate social responsibility encompassing the issue of promoting development. In our view corporate social responsibility, stemming from extracting activities should include attention to environmental implications of organization’s activities, both with regard to the ones, which already exist, and future ones, as well as promoting the development of local population. In case it is possible organization should consider chances to create extra jobs for local population. Many of global organizations are currently developing initiatives, aimed at improving welfare of people in developing countries, combating environmental issues and even HIV/AIDS epidemic. Importance of developing corporate special responsibility is called forth by the fact that modern global organizations often tend to disregard their obligations, stemming from outsourcing activities, and the lack of efficient legal mechanisms to bring lawsuits against them has been repeatedly reported. The most important goal in this regard is not to let situational challenged go step forward to foundational ones, which cannot be eliminated with the help of situation-centered means.
Ethical perspectives in the global organization
Ethical perspectives in contemporary organizations are concerned with such dimensions of business as domestic deregulation, competition and technological changes, as well as corruption and mismanagement. Negative influence of factors, mentioned above (the factors can significantly vary in dependence on the country under study) can be combated with the help of building organization’s cross-cultural policies on the set of universally recognized ethical values, which can by-turn be based on different ethical perspectives, such as duty, rights, utility, virtue or relationship. Each of the perspectives can be considered with regard to foundational and situational, and individual tensions. As we have already mentioned above, avoidance of tensions of both foundational and situational nature can be reached with the help of introducing ethical values, which are recognized, irrespectively of culture, into everyday performance of the organization. These values (which are expected to be manifested in the form of the concrete practices in the future), include alignment of personal, professional and organizational behaviours, launching and maintaining dialogic communication among all interested stakeholders, promoting other stakeholders’ participation in decision-making, providing for the establishment of transparent organizational structures, procedures and policies, putting an emphasis on accountability and integrity, so that the organization is able to identify and resolve ethical dilemmas in a timely and open manner. Despite different cultures, ethical perspectives and values are mostly shared, while practices of their introduction and management are likely to differ across culture.
Conclusion
Modern global development called forth the need to pay extra attention to the ethical issues within companies and related to their outsourced activities. Furthermore, companies’ from developed countries operating in developing ones and overall growing of business’ role in society calls forth enhancement of global companies corporate social responsibility, especially in terms of promoting development and combating global issues. Despite similarities in ethical perspectives, which can be watched worldwide, the ways to foster ethical practices are highly different across cultures.
References
Jackson, T. (2002).International HRM: a cross-cultural approach. London: SAGE
Yaeger, T.., Head, T, Sorensen, P.F. (2006). Global organization development: managing unprecedented change. Charlotte: IAP
