Standardizing Ethics East and West

A basic element that separates primates from us Homo sapiens is language, which serves as a socializing catalyst for interpersonal and intercultural communication. Linguistic rules can be regarded as the ethics of communication. Without such rules, encoding and decoding of communication between a speaker/writer and a listener/reader would be impossible. Etiquette and the social emotion of shame, which have dissimilar connotations in Confucian heritage cultures of the East and Socratic or Judeo-Christian cultures of the West, are examples of moral qualities having different attributes and applications for diverse peoples. Whereas distinctive societies, cultures, and civilizations define morality based on their particular history and culture, including religion, humans everywhere are the same. Thus, drawing on Jean-Jacques Rousseau's 1762 Social Contract, the current reality of globalization requires a cultural contract that harmonizes the morals and ethics of Eastern and Western civilizations.

Business Ethics and the Greek Healthcare System

This chapter provides a review not only of classic literature on healthcare business and ethics, but also an introduction to the legal changes in the Greek healthcare system with ethical values on focus. A study examining in both a quantitative and qualitative way what the Greek healthcare experts think and feel about ethics and healthcare services presents the factors that shape attitudes towards ethical values from the viewpoint of the healthcare professionals. For this reason, 34 semi-structured interviews, accompanied by the administration of perceived cohesion scale, generalized immediacy scale, job affect scale, state anxiety inventory, Maslach burnout inventory, and the attitude towards business ethics questionnaire revealed that healthcare professionals do have knowledge of ethical values and moral responsibility, but no clear connections with specific emotional aspects were found. The chapter concludes with future directions on how business ethics can be further examined and applied.

Assessing the Correlation of Culture With Business Ethics of Company Managers in the United States and Mexico

Observable harm has been inflicted upon business by unethical decisions and misconduct. Much of this phenomenon can be traced to impoverished ethical attitudes. Among the various reasons for this problem is that of a manager's culture, which has a distinct influence on attitudes and behaviors. The purpose of this chapter was to determine, through empirical data, whether differences rooted in culture significantly contribute to differences in ethical attitudes. Management scholar Geert Hofstede's classification of cultural elements for understanding and explaining aspects of national culture was correlated with the ethical attitudes of business managers in the two national cultures of the United States and Mexico. Results indicated a significant positive relationship between national culture and ethical attitudes and the dultural dimensions of uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, and long-term orientation. A significant difference in ethical attitudes between managers from the United States and Mexico was also found.

The Influence of CSR on B2B Relationships

The chapter addresses how ethical actions deliver value through sustainable competitive advantage. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has a proven role in developing audience trust that increases brand equity among target audiences and stakeholders, thus ensuring that the brand sustains its competitive advantage through improved profitability and reputation in the market. Not only do businesses have a social responsibility to the markets from which they earn revenues, but buyers expect ethical businesses to have an established CSR program in place. Businesses that engage in CSR activities within the process of corporate brand management experience stronger reputation that drives loyalty and sales, resulting in a competitive, sustainable market advantage.

Reconfiguring Responsibility in International Clinical Trials

This chapter aims to prominently position the African philosophical notion of the self within the clinical trials context (and the larger bioethics project). As opposed to autonomy-based principlism, this other-regarding or communalist perspective is proposed as the preferred alternative model. The intent is to draw further attention to the inadequacy of the principlist approach particularly in multicultural settings. It also engenders a rethink, stimulates interest, and re-assesses the failed assumptions of universal ethical principles. As a novel attempt that runs against much of the prevailing (Euro-American) intellectual mood, this approach strives to introduce the African view point by making explicit the import of the self in a re-contextualized (nay, globalized) arena. Viewed as such, research ethics is guided to go beyond autonomy-based considerations for the individual with absolute right to self-determination; to embrace more holistic-based approach, recognizing that the individual is embedded in his/her family, community, and the environment.

The Ethical Dilemma of Early Global Childhood Education

This chapter investigates ethical dilemmas associated with early childhood education in Confucian heritage countries. It draws on literature in philosophy, psychology, sociology, and anthropology in concluding that sociocultural differences between Eastern and Western civilizations amount to an ethical dilemma, which threatens to prevent a basic epistemology as well as a pedagogy for the education of children in the context of globalization and the information technology revolution. As evidenced by inventions, innovations, developments, and other technological and scientific breakthroughs, Western learners enroll in science and technology courses. It seems as though Eastern learners are duty-bound to fulfill a national or cultural objective, which calls for studies in the science and engineering disciplines at the expense of subjects in the arts, independent of individual desire or competency.

A Swift Kick

This chapter examines the unusually swift downturn in Russo-Bulgarian relations between 1879 and 1883. In 1879, relations between the two countries were unusually good, founded on a basis of mutual sympathy, geopolitical necessity, and strong administrative ties. By 1883, however, a series of lapses in Russian diplomatic practice damaged Russo-Bulgarian relations to the point that all of Bulgaria's political elite was united in opposition to the Russians, and by 1886 diplomatic relations were severed altogether. This chapter examines three incidents in particular – the Titles Controversy of late 1879/early 1880, the Coup of 1881, and the tenure of Generals L. N. Sobolev and A. V. Kaul'bars in 1882-1883. Ultimately, this chapter demonstrates how flawed diplomatic practice may result in undesirable foreign policy outcomes.

Mother America

After the Korean War, it became acceptable and expected that American families would adopt Korean children into their homes, symbolizing American prosperity and security. As significant a role as social work played in this process, there currently exists no research that examines the activities of the profession and the origins of Korean adoption. This chapter discusses the maternalist nature of adoption efforts during the 1950s by one international social welfare agency after the Korean War: the American Branch of International Social Service (ISS-USA). Predicated on maternalist ideologies that shaped the social work profession during the Progressive Era, in what the author calls Cold War maternalism, the gendered notions of motherhood were expanded to genderless notions of parenthood. Anticommunist sentiments thrust adoptive parenthood into the political spotlight on an international level, thus serving the best interests of adoptive parents and the nation long before serving those of the children.

Interactions Between Personality Traits of Law Enforcement and Corrections Officers, and Attitudes Toward Felony Drug Offenders

Punitive attitudes in criminal justice staff towards felony drug offenders, as related to level of social dominance orientation, right wing authoritarianism, protestant work ethic orientation, and openness to change were examined. These traits were hypothesized to be factors contributing to continued acceptance of a paradigm emphasizing use penalties and punishment to address substance abuse. The study utilized 28 law enforcement officers, 14 corrections officers, and 58 non-criminal justice individuals. Data was collected using Altemeyer abbreviated RWA scale, SDO-6 scale, Miles and Garrett protestant work ethic scale, attitudes to organizational change, officer's attitude survey, and researcher designed survey. Results indicated both moderating and mediating effects between variables, except in the case of openness to change. To reduce unwanted behaviors, focus needs to be on assisting criminal justice staff with challenges in a more psychologically healthy manner.

The Relationship Between Leadership Ethics and Organizational Success

Over the last few decades, business fraud and examples of scandalous management behaviors have sparked a lot of attention among several interested stakeholders. These increasing scandals have necessitated the question on the necessary steps required to prevent their frequent occurrence. The lack of commitment to strong ethical standards by management has been underpinned as the cause of ethical misconducts in organizations. The fiscal crisis of 2007-2009 witnessed many leadership misconducts and abuse of leadership responsibility. The fiscal crisis revealed the loss of about $11 trillion in household wealth, 26 million Americans losing their jobs, and 4.5 million Americans who could not afford their mortgages. These events and statistics show the prevalent lack of ethical leadership in organizations. While leadership ethics is a concern for all stakeholders within business organizations in the United States, only a few segments of the industry are taking steps to incorporate ethical awareness within their organizations.