Ethical Bribery in Business

Business Ethics Megacomp

Ethics are play a major role in how an organization carries out its duties and responsibilities. Ethical behavior is a leader driven quality that resonates throughout the company files. By default, the leader of an organization sets the ethical and moral tone of the organization, and will reflect the inner most qualities of the leader.

Ms. Werner, as the CEO of Megacomp, needs to be aware of her role as a leader and that what she says and does will most likely be repeated in other business scenarios. The importance of Ms. Werner's decision regarding what she must tell her division managers regarding the business practices of the Chinese cannot be understated. The important issue dealing with this case is not necessary ethics but more of a practical or moral situation.

Megacomp was created and grew successful under a certain ethical approach. That approach needs to be modified if it is to continue to grow. Ms. Werener must sacrifice some of her old ethical methods in order to achieve the growths and profits her eagerness is driving at. Any directions given to her Division Chiefs must include the necessity of the ethical transformation that must take place to succeed.

Ethics are a more of a personal issues, but when organizations adopt ethics, they are internalized by the those in the company. By directing her chiefs in a new ethical direction, one that reflects a more global society that requires a suspension of normal behavior, a new ethical precedent is created. Ethics are subjective and can be used in certain situations. Blanket behaviors do not usually work and reason, temperance and careful thought may adjust the ethical boundaries of any situation including this case with Megacomp.

Question 2

The act of bribing Chinese officials is not too much different than the normal sales approach that takes place in America and the rest of the world. While Chinese officials need to be bribed, other environments require the customer to be wined and dined and treated as special. The nature of Megacomp's business deals with making profits and I see no problem with continuing the practices directed by Ms. Werner here in Hong Kong and throughout China.

The ability for international business to succeed requires that business to remain flexible. Growing and expanding Megacomp's business into Asia and the untapped markets the Chinese provide is quite exciting and there is ample room to grow the company and create more of a competitive advantage within the software industry.

Overall, I am enjoying this position and would prefer to keep this job for as long as possible or as long as Ms. Werner sees fit. Hong Kong is an exciting place with many resources and has a rich and interesting culture. I enjoy doing a different type of approach to my job, and the act of bribing officials so openly is stimulating due to the illegality of this act in other parts of the world. These types of challenges are fun and present a new way to grow and develop may own business acumen and become a better leader with a wider appreciation for ethical frameworks that do not reflect the cultures of the West.

Question 3

By having Ms. Werner dictate the manner in which the bribe payments are to be channeled by her subordinates suggests that there may be something wrong with this arrangement as the leader of the organization is not performing a task that she is asking of her subordinates. This may imply that she cannot participate in the bribe payments because of international law violations. It may also imply that there is nothing illegal about this action, and Ms. Werner would simply prefer not to be involved.

By delegating such a task to here subordinates, it implies that this is a task that must be done and done to a certain standard. Ms. Werner is implying that she trusts her people to make the right decisions and to perform the right actions in dealing with such a foreign practice that puts here workers in a unique position. This action also implies that the Chinese are not very trustworthy when it comes to business. In many Western practices, a person's word and a handshake goes a long way in agreeing on ethical and moral obligations in a business deal. The Chinese, despite their long traditions as a people, certainly have different cultural standards that reflect the necessary adjustments that must be completed by Ms. Werner's Division Cheifs.

The situation must be considered for its specific properties. If this practice was to be carried out in the United States, it would definitely appear as if an ethical breach has occurred. Subordinates follow the leaders lead, not the other way around By giving the Division Chiefs the green light to carry out the bribe payments on their own, a loss of command and control can be an implied consequence of this action. Division Chiefs may take this order as a new change that allows them to do whatever they want. This sense of lawlessness that this business maneuver implies suggests that this truly is a special case, where ethics are being transcended due to cultural difficulties.

Question 4

Ethics are more individual than anything. When individuals agree with each other on a certain behavioral standard, a shared ethic has been created and signifies a sacred bond between those individuals. Because what is right for one person in a certain situation may be wrong for another person in that same situation suggests that there is no completely shared or universal business ethic.