Importance or otherwise for multinational enterprises of developing codes of ethics

Résumé du document

According to Milton Friedman, there is one and only one social responsibility of business - to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud. He advanced this view in 1962. With the increased process of globalization changed this public view apparently. Business nowadays is seen in a more widely context and have to account for its affection on stakeholders. In the Global Compact of the United Nations the importance of corporate social responsibility is pointed out. The objective is to encourage businesses to commit themselves on the "ten universally accepted principles", according to the United Nations. The ten principles contain corporate challenges as the Human Rights, Labor Standards, Environment and Anti-Corruption. An instrument for Multinational Companies to establish and articulate their corporate values, responsibilities and ethical ambitions is the code of ethics. In this report we present four real cases concerning global challenges as Human Rights, Corruption, Environment and Genetically Modified Food in order to examine the importance for MNEs to take social responsibility and develop codes of ethics.

Extraits

[...] Several Siemens executives were suspected of bribe paying in order to secure foreign contracts, and they built up a secret slush fund of millions of euros to get a business agreement. For example, some investigations can be related to the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The suspects would have diverted company funds of around million 25.5 million) to front companies and bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. But there are some million of suspicious transactions (most of them are bribery abroad). For example, Siemens managers deposited million to Enel executives in Italy in order to have contracts. [...]

[...] After that the tests proved that there is petrol in this area, the consortium signed a sale contract with the Petroleum Authority of Thailand in 1995. For the installation of these oil companies, a lot of human rights abuses took place. Firstly, in order to secure the pipeline, the pipeline region was militarized by Burma's army. This led to a violation of the human rights of the populations. In fact, because of this militarization, the population was resettled and forced to work. TOTAL supported the Burma's army morally and financially. [...]

[...] Trouble brews in Southern India carton in Corpwatch article. p.1. http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14768 [accessed 05 december 2007] Crawford, D. and Esterl, M. (October 8th, 2007) Siemens Settlement Sets Off Criticism of German Inquiries Corpwatch article http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14741 [accessed 08 december, 2007] Der Spiegel (November 17th, 2006) Siemens Executives Held Over Bribery Allegations http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,449115,00.html [accessed 07 december, 2007] Earth Rights International (01 January 2002), Fueling Abuse http://www.earthrights.org/burmareports/fueling_abuse_4-page_brochure.html [accessed 07 december, 2007] Earth Rights International Dcember, 2000), Total Denial Continues http://www.earthrights.org/burmareports/total_denial_continues.html [accessed 07 december, 2007] Elnaiem, O. [...]

[...] In fact, German prosecutors have very weak laws and limited manpower in chasing big foreign bribery cases and firms as large as Siemens. Contrary to the US, German prosecutors have only limited resources to investigate and they cannot mobilise the nation for major enquiries. Siemens tries now to improve its image. After being investigated for bribery allegations, it changed many of its executives. Therefore, Peter Solmssen named to the management board and the former general counsel at General Electric put in charge of compliance. [...]

[...] Conclusion These different cases show how important it is for MNEs to develop ethical codes and show responsibility for organisations. We can find some solutions in order to organisations respect their social responsibilities. - To give subsidy to enterprises which answer to a - The state working with only companies which answer to state regulations incentives and benefits - Penalize companies who pollute the environment on a percentage of their profits or oblige companies which pollute the environment to pay more than the average emission cost - To handle the development and introduction to the market more careful and responsible These ideas oblige companies to sell competitive products but fairly traded and environmentally friendly disposable products for the interest of the environment and the consumer. [...]