Business Ethics: Read An Article Taking Your Code To China

Code of Conduct – India
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Code of Conduct – India
One of the aspects that characterize business organizations today is expansion into foreign countries. As a result of globalization, firms can easily start operations in foreign markets. Code of conduct is an important part of businesses today, particularly for those that have operations on the global arena. As companies formulate their code of conduct, they have to consider the conditions of the markets they serve. However, as informed by Hanson & Rothlin (2010), most companies resort to formulating a code of conduct that is applicable globally. With countries having different cultural, political, and economic conditions, ethical values differ between among them. Formulation of the ethics code that is consistent with a country’s conditions is thus important. India is one of the growing economies of the world, and it has been a target for many firms. Formulation of the ethics code for India can be challenging particularly for US-based countries because of the cultural, economic, competitive, and political differences.
Just like other countries, India has a unique set of cultural standards that are different from those of other countries. As a firm formulates ethics code for India, it has to take into consideration the cultural standards which define the ethics in the country. Considering such cultural standards is essential in aligning the codes with the conditions in the country. The Indian society bases its value on Hinduism, and as a result, there is a high significance placed on status and authority. As such, it is rare for the suggestions put forth by lower level employees to be shared with the superiors in an organization (Maclachlan, 2010). This aspect of culture is not present in western countries like the US. Therefore, in this case, the code of ethics that is used for operations in the US may not be applicable in India. In the US, the code may encourage offering suggestions to help the management solve organizational problems. However, for India, the code may discourage offering such suggestions because status and authority are highly important in the country.
Another reality in India that may affect the formulation of the code of conduct is corruption. Incidences of corruption in the country are high compared to western countries. The high-level of corruption in the country is problematic to companies that intend to enter the market. For US-based firms operating in the country, it is high challenging because of the United States’ Foreign Practices Corrupt Act that makes corruption outside the country a crime. It becomes more chal...