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Yahoo in China

This document discusses ethical issues that international companies face when operating in countries with different standards and values. It outlines the debate between ethical relativism and absolutism. It then asks questions about Yahoo's responsibilities in providing user information to the Chinese government that led to the arrest of a journalist, and what, if anything, the company could have done differently.

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Khushboo Raj
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148 views5 pages

Yahoo in China

This document discusses ethical issues that international companies face when operating in countries with different standards and values. It outlines the debate between ethical relativism and absolutism. It then asks questions about Yahoo's responsibilities in providing user information to the Chinese government that led to the arrest of a journalist, and what, if anything, the company could have done differently.

Uploaded by

Khushboo Raj
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Yahoo in

China
International business ethics and
HRM
• When business is conducted across national and cultural
borders, the operationalization of an enterprise’s ethics
program takes on added layers of complexity. In particular,
questions about the existence of universal ethical standards and
global values are raised. This is especially problematic when
multinationals operate in host countries that have different
standards of business practice, are economically impoverished,
whose legal infrastructure is inadequate, whose governments
are corrupt and where human rights are habitually violated. The
question of ethical relativity arises not only in the context of
different home- and host-country employment practices but
also in the central operations and policies of multinationals.
(cont.)

2
International business ethics and
HRM (cont.)
• Ethical relativism or global values?
– Global organizations face a challenge: should they apply their own
values everywhere they do business, irrespective of the cultural
context and standard of local practices?
– For the ethical relativist, there are no universal or international rights
and wrongs, it all depends on a particular culture’s values and beliefs.
– Unlike the relativist, the ethical absolutist (or imperialist) believes that
when in Rome, one should do what one would do at home, regardless
of what the Romans do. This view of ethics gives primacy to one’s own
cultural values.

3
• The Questions
– Should Yahoo have provided information on Shi Tao
to the Chinese Government
• Both For and against
– What were yahoo’s responsibilities?
– How would you explain the Chinese Government’s
Internet Policy?
– What , if anything, could Yahoo have done
differently to prevent the Shi-Tao situation? Once
the incident had occurred, what, if anything, could
they have done differently?
4
• The Questions
– Do Internet Companies have a special responsibility
to defend individual rights to free expression
because of the business they are in?
– What were the responsibilities of Lantos and his
fellow representatives in the US Congress? Did they
meet it?

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