Intercultural Management

Ethical Relativism and Ethical Universalism
Ethical relativism is a theory that indicates that morality varied based on the norms of one’s culture. This theory holds that whether an action is wrong or right is pegged on the moral norms of the society in which it is considered. As per the ethical relativism, there exists no moral absolutes nor no absolute set Of ethic. Ethical relativism requires that ethics of the society to evolve to fit the respective circumstance. Ethical relativism maybe used by companies as a justification of different human resource practices such as human resources practices. A major problem associated with this practice is that organization may tend to act in generally unacceptable manner and use cultural differences as the justification. On the other hand, ethical universalism refers to a concept where the ethical implication of an act is considered to be similar across the universe despite the situation (Quintelier, De Smet, & Fessler, 2013). under ethical moral universal, the basic moral principles transcend cultural and national boundaries. Ethical universalism is used to the application of similar principles across different cultures such policies against sexual violence. A problem of the extreme moral universalism is that is can lead to the situation of cultural imperialism where managers make the assumption that they are correct and ethical in their actions and ends up disregarding other cultures (Kim, 2015). As a multinational manager, to avoid problems associated with these ethical positions, I would create a mechanism of analyzing scenario based on factors such as; economic factors; on what is best for the company’s profits, legal factors; decision that abides by the laws of both the host and parent states, and also on the ethical factors; considering what is generally right to do.

Transition from Communism to Capitalism
The demise of communism had effects to the countries that have been forced to adjust to capitalism. Countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet have largely been hit by this scenario. Among the most common implications of the transition from communism to capitalism has been the reduction of the economic activity level (Burawoy, & Krotov, 1992). This leads to the conclusion that despite the move to a scenario of free prices, economic transformation occurs gradually. The early stage of the transition process is faced with inflation as the most prevalent economic problem which required tighter control on the government expenditures and reinforcing the central banks to facilitate stricter monetary controls and eliminate subsidized credits. The most common form of reform in the process of transition is the privatization that facilitated the process of distribution of wealth (Fabbri, 2008). There was witnessed several populist revolts following a perpetual decline in output. This transition from communism to capitalism is a representation of economic globalization, which presents both threats and challenges for multinational companies. Such companies would be largely affected by a change in different economic factors such as flow of large quantities of trade, investment, and technologies. The economies in such countries would decline, which would be accompanied by a reduction in the standard of living.

Principle of Ethics
Ethics refers to a set of principles that is used to establish what is right in relation to the conduct of an individual. Ethics mainly deal with the basic concepts and principles that govern the human conduct. It therefore entails the study of moral values and standard of people and society at large. Business ethics refers to the application of the same ethical principles used to determine the conduct of individuals to a professional setting. In business ethics, the discussion seeks to highlight the ethical concepts connected to a business that are prevalent in business set up. Analysis of business ethics leads to a situation where the basic principles of ethics are applied in the perspective of a business (Smith, & Dubbink, 2011). Some concepts that portray this scenario include; consideration of business as corporate citizens, good business ethics, immoral business practices, what makes up a moral right, and ideas about justice. Business ethics is regarded as an extension of moral philosophy. These ethics can be used by organization to generate an organizational culture which requires putting attention on informing the employees on their moral obligation while carrying out business dealings. An example of this, is where moral philosophy could lead to generation of a culture of honesty as well as coming up with a code of ethics that can be influences the workers and leaders.

Social Institutions and Globalization
A social institution refers to the different and complicated positions, roles, and norms, and values within the different types of social structure and structuring majorly stable patterns in human resources. The three major types of key social institutions that may have an impact on the business environment are economic systems, level of industrialization, and types of religion. Social institution has been described to comprised on an array of positions, roles, norms and values fixated in the social structure and involved in the organizing the patterns of human activity geared towards fundamental problems seeking to generate life-sustaining resources. The institutional theory highlights different entry mode choice of the MNCs whereby it indicates that organizations need to adhere to the institutional environment such as institutional values and norms. The organization may take the form of a joint venture or a wholly owned subsidiary in a foreign country which indicated a great regard on the social acceptance (Karakaz & Yildiz, 2012). It is noted that the institutional environment has three major domains including regulatory, cognitive, and normative pillars. The regulatory pillar is related with what organizations and individuals may engage in. Cognitive pillar entails what the individuals can or cannot do. Normative pillar outlines what the organizations and individuals should or should not do. The elements of the social institutions need to be considered in making the decision on where to start a subsidiary.

Reference
Burawoy, M., & Krotov, P. (1992). The Soviet transition from socialism to capitalism: worker control and economic bargaining in the wood industry. American Sociological Review, 16-38.
Fabbri, V. (2008). From Communism to Capitalism: A World Transformed. Italian Journal of International Affairs, 43, (2), 122-124.
Karakaş, M., & Yıldız, H. E. (2012). Institutional Determinants Of Multinational Corporations’entry Mode Choice In Turkey. Journal of Economics & Administrative Sciences/Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi Iktisadi ve Idari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 14(2).
Kim, H. S. (2005). Universalism versus relativism in public relations. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 20(4), 333-344.
Quintelier, K. J., De Smet, D., & Fessler, D. M. (2013). The moral universalism-relativism debate. KLESIS–Revue philosophique, 27, 211-262.
Smith, J., & Dubbink, W. (2011). Understanding the role of moral principles in business ethics: A Kantian perspective. Business Ethics Quarterly, 21(2), 205-231.