Ethical obligation for companies to ensure that all workers receive what is considered a living wage in the United States
Individuals living in poverty in the developing countries are many and multinational organizations from the United States have been accused of underpaying them given the fact that people are desperate to put something on the table. The living conditions are always poor and education among the locals is diminutive yet many multinational organizations look for the most educated in society. Based on the policy of social justice, US firms are expected to ensure that people receive a minimum wage by paying out a certain basic salary. In this regard, such organizations have an ethical obligation of ensuring that the standards of people are raised.
However, defining a minimum wage is an issue that raises a heated debate since some are of the view that the American scale should be employed while others claim that organizations should conduct a study to establish what is sustainable to an employee in the country. Judgment of the living wage has to be based on the salary scale of the host country and the firm should only use the American scale in case an employee is sent to work in the head office. Since the multinational organization might be performing poor in terms of profit generation, it might be a challenge to use the American scale since it would disadvantage the firm. Internationally, it is observed that an individual should not live under a dollar a day meaning that the organization has to design a minimum wage based on this reality.
The minimum wage should not be fixed since economies are not similar in terms of performance and strength, as some are developed, others are developing, and several are underdeveloped. A minimum wage for an employee in a developed host country should not be similar to the one for a worker in a developing country. This means that the strength of the economy should be the determining factor as far as the minimum wage is concerned.
Paying a bribe as an “acceptable” practice in another country for a US company
Ethics is a controversial issue that is understood differently in the global society, with some associating it with the law while some are of the view that it entails the aspects of culture of the people, such as values and major beliefs. In this regard, something considered ethical in one society would be viewed as immoral in the other. Bribery is one of the ethical issues understood variously, with some societies accepting it as a way of life while the western societies are of the view that it entails a social crime that is punishable by law. First, it is observed that ethics differ from law in many ways and the US companies should appreciate this reality.
In case they want to survive globally, they have to be prepared to embrace cultural change meaning that they might engage in behaviors considered unethical in the US to achieve their interests. The US laws on employee responsibility and expectations should never be applied since they will lead to discrimination. The company has to adopt the new culture given the fact that the majority of employees will be the locals who are used to the local ways of doing things. Again, the major stakeholders of the company would be the local community, including the clients and the government. In developing countries, a contract will never be awarded to any organization without softening the hands of those in positions of influence. Representatives of government of the south are known to formulate reactionary policies that might end up affecting the performance of the US companies.
For instance, drastic changes might be made on the labor laws forcing the companies to close their operations, but the situation could be improved through abiding by what is locally accepted as a normal behavior, which is bribing the government by promising to fund projects. In East Africa, the US owned corporation in the name of Citibank holds its employees to higher standards whereby they are expected to keep off from unnecessary actions that lead to corruption and enticement. However, this has never helped the organization in achieving its interests.