Integration question

School: Topic: INTEGRATION QUESTION Lecturer: INTEGRATION QUESTION Ethical and cultural standards are part of the everyday experiences that make up socio-cultural set up of a particular country. In most case, these ethical and cultural standards are translated into customer behaviour, becoming important decision making factors that determine the purchasing trend of people within a given country (Hurn 2008). Once this happens, we say there has been an ethical influence over the economic environment. During such times, corporate entities need to structure and strategise their personal and organisational standards in such a way that aligns with any influences that the ethical and cultural standards would have with the market (den Nieuwenboer & Kaptein 2008). Lately, much of the focus has been on emerging market as there seem to be an economic balance of power that has focused attention on emerging markets. Noting that most of these emerging markets have very established cultural and ethical foundations, the question that many have asked has been whether a change in the economic balance of power might portend a change in ethical influence in emerging markets, or whether the ethical influence will overshadow the economic environment. The aim of this paper is therefore to investigate an empirical answer to this question and find ways that organisations can adapt to the response. The protection of cultural and ethical standards of every country remains an important variable for establishing and instituting national pride and heritage. In most cases, countries, including the various emerging markets pride themselves with national sovereignty that is rooted deeply in their cultural and ethical identity (Michaelson 2010). Based on this understanding, the need to protect national identity has always remained very important variable that cuts across most aspects of the PESTEL analysis of emerging markets. This is to say that the protection of national identities cuts across political, economic, social, technological, educational, and legal factors that determine the rate of success for various companies in these emerging countries. With this understanding, the argument that change in the economic balance of power might portend a change in ethical influence can hardly be supported. It is important to note that the various corporations and companies that enter emerging markets go as fragmented pieces of cultures and ethics that go to be part of a larger and well formidable cultural and ethical sect (Torres-Baumgarten & Yucetepe 2009). In such a situation, even though some ethical practices maybe borrowed from the foreign corporations, these will continue to be measured by the standards of the host countries and so a sense of portending ethical influence can hardly take place. With this understanding established, it is important for organisational leaders and managers to have a focused will that looks at ways of integrating and merging well with the ethical and moral standards of business practice in the countries they go to. As a foreigner in an emerging market, one of the best ways to create and maintain personal and organisational standards of business practice that are both ethical and moral is to ensure that within all aspects and areas of the organisational structure, there are indigenous or local people who are given a place to operate in the organisation. This way, it will be easier to learn from these people. Such people will not only include employees but other stakeholders in supply chain including suppliers and distributors. Alignment has also been found to be an important component of corporate governance that ensures that foreign companies are putting up and maintaining the right and acceptable standards, ethically and morally. Within the country therefore, all non-shareholder stakeholders that the company will align with in the conduct of business must be people whose ethical and moral track records can be identified, substantiated and justified. Finally, quality assurance is very important where there must be checks on ones internal and external standards of conducting business (PRME 2010). To this end, a third party quality assurance team shall be set to closely monitor the company. In conclusion, it can be established that the adherence to ethical and moral standards of a particular market is important in determining rate of economic and market success. This is particularly because of the consumer behavioural theories and perceptions that such ethical and moral standards create. Adhering to the standards would therefore help in the creation of competitive advantage because it will create an acceptable corporate image among the citizenry and for that matter, consumers (Pelle 2007). Leaders of organisation therefore have very crucial and critical role to play in ensuring that they become the facilitators of changes that ensures that their corporations do not live in a different world in a new world but that they accustom themselves with the very world in which they find themselves in the emerging markets. References den Nieuwenboer, N. A. & Kaptein, M. (2008) ‘ Spiraling down into corruption: a dynamic analysis of the social identity processes that cause corruption in organizations to grow’. Journal of Business Ethics, 83 (2), pp. 133-146 Hurn, B. J. (2008) ‘ Ethics in international business’, Industrial and Commercial Training, 40 (7), pp. 347-354 Michaelson, C. (2010) ‘ Revisiting the global business ethics question’, *Business Ethics Quarterly*, 20 (2), pp. 237-251 Pelle, S. (2007) Understanding emerging markets: building business BRIC by brick. London: Sage. PRME (2010) PRME – Principles for Responsible Management Education [Online]. Available from: http://www. unprme. org/index. php (Accessed: 14 October 2010). Torres-Baumgarten, G. & Yucetepe, V. (2009) ‘ Multinational firms’ leadership role in corporate social responsibility in Latin America’, Journal of Business Ethics, 85 (Supplement 1), pp. 217-224