Question

What are the Straw men approaches to ethics? How relevant are these approaches?

Answer 1

Business ethics scholars agree straw men approaches offer inappropriate guidelines for ethical decision making in a multinational enterprise Several straw men approaches includen Friedman doctrine Cultural relativism Righteous moralist Naïve immoralist

Friedman Doctrine Economist’s Milton Friedman’s suggests the onlyn social responsibility of business is to increase profits, so long as the company stays within the rules of law Friedman does not believe companies should undertake expenditures beyond those mandated by law and those required for the efficient running of a business

Cultural Relativism Cultural relativism - Belief ethics are culturallyn determined and firms should adopt ethics of the cultures in which they operate “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” The Righteous Moralist Righteous moralists claim multinational homen country standards of ethics are the appropriate approach to follow in foreign countries Approach common among managers from developed countries

The Naïve Immoralist Naïve immoralist asserts if a manager of an multinational sees firms from other nations are not following ethical norms in a host nation, that manager should not either Actions are ethically justified if everyone else is doing the same thing