At any level, practicing good business ethics is essential to maintaining relationships with clients, whether they be individuals in a B2C scenario, or other business in a B2B model. Most companies have a list of ethics included in their credo, though attention to those ethics certainly varies from case to case.
Though the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t do any short-term favors for companies (aside from those producing products or providing services related to the pandemic, of course), one trend that is expected to continue even after stay-at-home orders are lifted is the remote work trend. There are several reasons that companies are expected to continue employing remote workers, with money saved on office space, and time saved on transportation certainly near the top of the list.
Another thing that rapid evolutions in remote work capabilities is showing companies is that their potential employee pool can now extend across the globe, rather than to those individuals who were in a given locale, or were willing to move to said locale. In addition to the employee pool growing, businesses are also utilizing the same tools to extend their business reach, including going international.
Whether a company has been doing international business for decades, or is just entering given the evolutions in digital communications and data sharing, the business ethics they practice stateside have to evolve just like technology, when conducting business on an international level. Here is a look at 5 key principles of business ethics and how global business leaders should adapt them for the international business market.
Social Responsibility
Most companies have some sort of social responsibility tied into their code of ethics, meaning they will make conscious efforts to help within the communities they serve. For local businesses, this may mean donating to something like Meals on Wheels, or a restaurant making a vow to only use locally sourced vegetables for their meals.
For international businesses, these local initiatives can certainly still take place, but are generally headed by someone at a given locale. For large-scale (international) corporate social responsibility initiatives to be successful, a company must have an international mindset. This requires a lot of preparation, and a conscious dive into cultural regularities in the countries you will be performing business in. Something that might make your company look saintly to one area of the world may make it look demonic to another. Monetary donations to world organizations are generally safe bets, as well as promises to not use products that were products of child labor or things of that nature.
Training
A staunch focus on inclusiveness and diversity in the workplace should be present at any company doing business in 2021, no matter the size. Not only is it morally sound, but countless reports have proven that an inclusive workplace is a successful one. A rare win-win in the business world. At the local level, it’s much easier to educate yourself on the cultures of people you may interact with on a day-to-day basis, but on the international level, cultural differences from contact to contact can be drastic, and anyone on your team who is client-facing on the international business side should have hours and hours of training on cultural awareness. Offending someone, or coming off as culturally elite is a very quick way to lose customers and clients, and simply put, it’s polite to respect the cultures of others, and that respect can go a long way in international business.
Leadership Style
If your team is going to employ members from other countries, as well as doing business with them, leaders who display ethical behavior are paramount for continued business abroad. One of the reasons being employee retainment. As business evolves and moves overseas, many employees jump ship in fear of losing their jobs involuntarily. Staffing leaders who know how to display ethical behavior, as well as recognize it in others, keeps communications honest and transparent, making the company more appealing to potential employees, as well as those who choose to stay. These leaders should also display a deep level of cultural awareness as mentioned in the training blurb above.
Quality
If you produce a physical product and are planning on moving or extending operations overseas, the question of quality can be a very difficult line to toe, regarding ethics and practicality. Transparency in the global supply chain regarding any changes in product creation is not only ethical, but will also help avoid any meltdown situation where proof comes out that foreign facilities are producing different quality products that are being sold for the same price.
Even in this scenario, a situation could occur where shipping costs for a given material would be astronomical, so a different material is used overseas. That different material could be actually higher in quality, making for a justifiable reason as to why the prices are the same. If this process is not public, and found out later, it can be spun a million ways, none of which paint the business in a positive light.
Marketing
Just as business communications must change when conducting international business, messaging to potential customers must as well. Most basic marketing principles are the same from domestic to international advertising, but legalities and similar tenets to those involving cultural awareness and respect must also be taken into account when creating messaging for an international audience. Localized messaging can be a bit narrower, but things that will be advertised on international mediums like social media need to be very carefully created to ensure attention is paid to cultural awareness on the global scale.
Be Prepared for Change
In the international market, changes in legalities and customs are frequent, especially when a new administration comes into power, as it recently has in the United States. Training should be frequently updated, and leaders should be well-informed on global activities that may affect business, and whether or not to lead with a softer hand in given situations where entire areas of the planet are affected by something like a natural disaster.
Ultimately, making decisions based on honesty, morality, and transparency, and having an open mind that some people you will encounter in the international business world will have different levels of morality is the simple blueprint for acting as an ethical businessperson on the international level.
