Business Ethics Across Cultures
When looking from one country to another around the world you need to understand that as you change the culture you are surrounded by, the business and personal ethics also tend to change as well. Take Australia and Spain for example. Even though these two places have some businesses that travel around the world, they still have their own set of guidelines that help to decide what their business ethics will turn out to be. In Spain, businesses are all about personal contacts. A businessman in Spain will make sure that they know the right people and put that to good use so that their company can be ran using these contacts. Once these contacts or relationships are formed, they tend to keep them as long as possible. They prefer not to transfer over to new contacts.
In Australia, businesses center on something quite a bit different. They do not focus mainly on the rank or title that someone may hold. Instead, they focus on the job that someone does. If someone does a great job and they continue to do so, then they will be more appreciated and more likely to move up in the company. They will also be seen with a higher respect with these types of work ethics being practiced. Another ethical difference is in the equality sense that is being put to place in both of these areas. In Spain, women have had to work their way to equality for some time, but have still not reached it in totality. They are still held to many of the common stereotypes and are still expected to do the at home chores along with raising the children. When they step into the workplace, things are a little different. They have reached a sense of equality which is based on the work that they do and not their gender. Things are a little different in Australia. Women have reached a higher sense of equality in this area. When someone comes to this place from overseas, they are apt to meet a woman that has a higher ranking than if they were to visit Spain.
In an open, unregulated and globalized economy,
In Australia, businesses center on something quite a bit different. They do not focus mainly on the rank or title that someone may hold. Instead, they focus on the job that someone does. If someone does a great job and they continue to do so, then they will be more appreciated and more likely to move up in the company. They will also be seen with a higher respect with these types of work ethics being practiced. Another ethical difference is in the equality sense that is being put to place in both of these areas. In Spain, women have had to work their way to equality for some time, but have still not reached it in totality. They are still held to many of the common stereotypes and are still expected to do the at home chores along with raising the children. When they step into the workplace, things are a little different. They have reached a sense of equality which is based on the work that they do and not their gender. Things are a little different in Australia. Women have reached a higher sense of equality in this area. When someone comes to this place from overseas, they are apt to meet a woman that has a higher ranking than if they were to visit Spain.
In an open, unregulated and globalized economy,
References: Ethics and the Board of Directors in Spain: The Olivencia Code of Good Governance: J L Fernandez www.sp.upcomillas.es Keasey, K.et al.: 1997, Corporate Governance. Economic, Management and Financial Issues, (Oxford University Press) Monks, R. And Minow, N.: 1995, Corporate Governance, (Blackwell, Cambridge). Urquijo, J.L.de and Crespo, A.: 1998, El Consejo de Administración. Conducta, funciones y responsabilidad financiera de los consejeros. El silencio de los consejos, (The Board of Directors. The Conduct, Functions and Financial Responsibilities of the Members of the Board. The Silence of the Boards), (Deusto, Bilbao).