Business ethics in Russia, China, and Germany: comparative analysis

¶ … Business Ethics: China and Mexico

This work in writing will discuss the business ethics in view of countries that are foreign to one another and specifically the countries of Russia and China and Mexico. This work will contrast and compare the business ethics of these two countries toward providing a contribution to the global ethical perspective. The work of Ma (2010) states that business ethics "refer to the moral principles or values that govern a group of people. These principles and values distinguish right from wrong, good from evil, and thereby guide individuals in their personal and professional decision making." As noted in the work entitled "European Business and Economics Ethics: Diagnosis -- Dialogue -- Debate: Is There a European Business and Economic Ethics Approach?" presented at the Berlin September 2007 states that the economic reality in Europe today is increasingly determined by pan-European and global forces that transcend the one predominant level of the nation state. As a result the 'economic ethical reality' has changed as well: economic actors, non-governmental organization, governments and the scientific community have to look beyond national borders in addressing ethical issues." ( )

I. Examination of Business Ethics of Russia

According to Ziegfeld (2011) the most recent report card on Russia indicates that "Russia is no-man's land in term of investing. The Heritage Foundation reports that Russia scores an F. In economic freedom and this is in addition to the fact reported that Russia "Then Transparency International delivers Russia's evaluation in business ethics. You guessed it, a third F. Russia is ranked #154 out of 178 states scrutinized for economic corruption, placing it alongside Tajikistan and Kenya in the bottom 15% of all world nations, even worse than Russia's performance in political liberty in a country governed by a proud KGB spy." (Zigfeld, 2011) Russia is also reported to be one of the worst possible countries for investors coming in behind even China.

III. Cultural Relativism

Cultural relativism is the term utilized in understanding the business ethics and how the culture of a society affects these ethics as cultural relativism refers to 'the right way to act' and varies depending on a country's culture and societal norms or "behavior that is socially approved by a majority within a culture." (Mitchell, 2003)

Summary and Conclusion

The reason that business ethics vary so greatly between countries is the variation that exists in the area of acceptable behavior that is constructed from the societal and cultural view of proper business negotiations. Perceptions vary greatly in this area between countries and specific to this study there are variations in acceptable business ethics in the countries of Germany and Russia. Germany had adhered to Western business ethics values more closely than Russia and this is true of many European countries which makes business relations and negotiations much easier and much sounder with better outcomes. Russia is a terrible place to invest according to the literature reviewed in this study likely due to the political factors of Russia. Germany while being more business-friendly also has some problems with business ethics as noted in this brief study with a cost of €6 billion per year in corruption cases alone for 2009. These countries will necessarily formulate a plan to address business ethics problems or alternatively continue to rank low on the national survey on business ethics ratings.