Globalization: A Code Of Ethics In Global Business

In 2007, the CEO and board of chairman Germany 's Siemens Cooperation stepped down after admitting to nearly $2 billion in bribes, which was the largest single corruption case in German corporate history. Klinkhammer (2013), argues that after being a corporate staple in Germany for almost 150 years, “corrupt activities had become cognitively institutionalized within the Siemens culture”. Similarly, the scandals of global companies such as Worldcom and Enron, just a few years prior garnered public attention and forced organizations such as the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) to focus on the ethical practices of businesses. These are just a few examples of unethical business practices that continue to be a challenge within global markets and there are more being document every year. As globalization has taken center stage, ensuring that there is a common standard for ethics is more important than ever. However, there are numerous challenges that will need to be overcome before this can be a reality, which include reactive ethical practices, the focus of profitability and the different cooperate cultures across the global market. History in global business practices has shown the …show more content…
Globalization, from an ethical standpoint, has brought to light many of the deficiencies the corporate world have in regards to establishing following and adhering to a Code of Ethics. Unfortunately, globalization has resulted in a lack of a common standard for ethical business practices. This is mainly due to the like of proactive ethical practices, companies’ prioritization of profits over ethics and inconsistency of practices from culture to culture. There is no one solution to fix this issue but understanding contributing factors business professionals can begin shifting the paradigm towards a shared Code of Ethics across