I n pur suit of Ethics
An investment in trade
By Alexandra Salas
La extensión del comercio mundial, y las tecnologías de comunicación comerciales han llegado a elevar el reconocimento e importancia de la sensibilidad cultural al igual que las capacidades de negocio. En el mercado global de hoy, el éxito exige el conocimiento competitivo, tolerancia y aceptación cultural, y ética.
Para desarrollar un modelo provechoso del negocio que ofrece un producto o servicio viable debe también incluir una infraestructura que con-sidere cómo se dirige el negocio, objetivos de la compañía, códigos de la conducta y valores. La aten-ción a la ética es una inversión holística en estatura y longevidad de una compañía, no importa cual sea el negocio o profesión.
Trade, market expansion, globalization, and communication technologies have led to increased business sensitivities and competencies. In today’s global market, success demands competitive knowledge, cultural relativism, and ethics.
Developing a profitable business model that offers a viable product or service must also include an infrastructure that considers how business is conducted, company objectives, codes of conduct and values. Attention to ethics is a holistic investment in stature and longevity in the marketplace, no matter the business or profession.
In the Journal of Psychotherapy, “Ethics in the Postindustrial Era – Quo Vadis?” Stanley Lesse, M.D. remarks, “All of the professions as originally conceived have disappeared and now march to the rhythm of an institutional drumbeat. They are now dominated by the same operational philosophies that are applicable to any large conglomerate. In all instances, the welfare of the organi-
zation takes precedence over the welfare of customers, the public, clients or patients, as the case might be.”
Due to heightened awareness corporate industries as well as organizations, retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, importers, exporters, freight forwarders, foodservice purveyors, and farmers increasingly heed to ethics.
In “The Influence of Global Business Regulation: Beyond Good Corporate Conduct” (Business and Society Review), Philipp Pattberg discusses the dynamic of corporate social responsibility. He writes, “…Today there are a vast number of different codes of conduct, management standards, certification schemes, reporting guidelines, eco-labels, or more general behavioral norms operating at the global level. Regulations are targeted toward transnational corporations, but in many cases also influence smaller enterprises along the supply chain.”
In this vein, ethical questions of importance to food security and sustainable rural development became and continue to be the nucleus of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation’s (FAO) strategic objectives and ongoing international efforts toward 2015. Consequently, FAO designated “Ethics in Food and Agriculture” as a priority area for Interdisciplinary Action, and established an internal Committee on Ethics in Food and Agriculture.
According to FAO (Rome, 2001) “…The world’s 200 largest transnational corporations now account for a quarter of the world’s economic activity. In the food and agriculture sector, mergers and acquisitions are rapidly reducing to single digits the number of companies engaged in input production, food processing and food retailing…Improvements in communications and trans-
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