ETHICAL AND SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS PRACTICES IN THE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE

Podjetja na globalnem trgu se soočajo z dilemami s področja družbene odgovornosti in etičnosti poslovanja. Prevladujoči vir dilem je raznolikost kultur in posledično različne vrednote na področjih, kjer podjetja delujejo. Najvišji management podjetja je zato postavljen pred izziv, kako zagotoviti takšno delovanje, da bo podjetje ugodilo željam globalnega potrošnika in hkrati zadovoljilo pričakovanja lastnikov. Med poslovanjem se management podjetja mnogokrat znajde v t. i. »sivem področju«, ki se nahaja med etiko in zakoni. Pri odločitvah v takih situacijah so jim v največjo oporo kodeksi etike. Skozi zgodovino se dojemanje etičnosti in družbene odgovornosti podjetja spreminja in raste skupaj z družbeno zavestjo. Etično poslovanje in družbena odgovornost podjetja na globalnem trgu še nikoli prej nista imela tako velikega pomena. Glavna naloga poslovne etike je zahteva po poštenem poslovanju. Etičnost podjetja mora biti razvidna v viziji, poslanstvu in strategiji podjetja. Globalna podjetja so spoznala, da etično in družbeno odgovorno poslovanje prinaša mnoge prednosti. Največjo grožnjo družbenemu razvoju predstavlja korupcija. V svetu obstaja mnogo organizacij, ki se skupaj borijo proti njej in tako zmanjšujejo njen škodljivi vpliv. S korupcijo je mnogokrat povezano tudi pranje denarja. Nelegalno pridobljen denar pa se lahko steka tudi do raznih terorističnih organizacij, kar predstavlja veliko grožnjo varnosti v svetu. V državah tretjega sveta kljub izboljševanju razmer še vedno obstaja veliko tovarn, kjer so delavcem kršene osnovne človekove pravice. Velik del krivde za to nosijo globalna podjetja, katerih proizvodi se proizvajajo v teh tovarnah. Podjetja, ki vlagajo v človeški kapital, so uspešna in imajo v svetu največji ugled.Companies in the global market are faced with dilemmas in the field of social responsibility and business ethics. The dominant source of dilemmas is the diversity of cultures and consequently different values in areas where the companies operate. The highest management of the companies is therefore faced with the challenge of how to ensure such action, that the company will uphold the wishes of the global consumer and at the same time meet the expectations of shareholders. Companies often find themselves in the so-called "gray area", which is located between ethics and laws. For decisions in such situations codes of ethics are the greatest support. Throughout history, perceptions of ethics and corporate social responsibility is changing and growing with social consciousness. Ethical business and corporate social responsibility in the global market have never before had such great importance. The main priority of business ethics is a requirement for a fair business. Ethnicity should be evident in the vision, mission and strategy of the company. Global companies have realized that ethically and socially responsible business brings many advantages. The greatest threat to social development is corruption. There are many organizations that fight together against corruption and thereby reduce its harmful impact. The corruption is often linked to money laundering. Illegally obtained money can be channeled to various terrorist organizations, which represents a major threat to security in the world. In third world countries, despite improving conditions, there are still a lot of factories where basic human rights of the workers are violated. Much of the blame for these violations bears global companies whose products are produced in these factories. Companies that invest in human capital are successful and have the highest reputation in the world