Chris Moon

Managing Cross Cultural Business Ethics

The Trompenaars database (1993) updated with Hampden-Turner (1998) has been assembled to help managers structure their cross cultural experiences in order to develop their competence for doing business and managing across the world. The database comprises more than 50,000 cases from over 100 countries and is one of the worlds richest sources of social constructs. Woolliams and Trompenaars (1998) review the analysis undertaken by the authors in the last five years to develop the methodological approach underpinning the work. Recently Trompenaars with Hampden-Turner (Trompenaars and Woolliams, 1999) have extended the concepts into a new model on dilemma reconciliation of cultural differences. This paper reviews these latest updates in relation to dilemmas of cross-cultural business ethics. The paper asserts that knowledge in relation to business ethics is culturally specific; and that ethnocentrism is not easy to avoid. Too great an emphasis on rational-analytic conceptions of reality may mean that syntheses, emotion, and intuition, are not adequately developed. This presents implications for doing business and managing across cultures and for resolving ethical dilemmas.

Ethical Issues of Teleworking

“Why does the major emphasis appear to be on using telework as a cost-cutting mechanism, rather than as an approach which treats people as valued long-term assets?” This important study exploring the ethical ambiguities and challenges of teleworking was first presented at an Imperial College Management School Conference on Ethical Issues in Contemporary Human Resource Management in April last year, sponsored jointly by EBEN-UK, the British Chapter of the European Business Ethics Network, and BUIRA, the British Universities Industrial Relations Association. Chris Moon is Senior Lecturer in Occupational Psychology and Human Resource Management at Anglia Business School, Anglia Polytechnic University, Danbury Park Conference Centre, Danbury, Chelmsford CM3 4AT, as well as teaching the MBA Business Ethics programmes at Imperial College Management School, University of London. Celia Stanworth is Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management at the Business School, University of Greenwich, Riverside House, Woolwich, London SE18 6BU, and has published widely in the area of teleworking.

Governance implications of the UN higher education sustainability initiative

This paper aims to review the progress of a sample of (n = 307) signatories in the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative which commits higher education institutions (HEIs) to make smart commitments to achieve one or more of the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs).,A preliminary survey of n = 307 HEIs via online questionnaire and database search was conducted.,Findings reveal a difference between HEI governance, that is “instrumental”, and governance, that is “holistic”, in relation to sustainability.,Implications identified for achieving SDGs in general and for academic–business partnerships, in particular.,Practical implications for enterprise (developing a tool to measure sustainability mindset) and for enterprise education (sharing of best practices from other HEIs).,Improved understanding of the sustainability mindset will inform decisions about approaches to governing and operationalising sustainability in organisations.,The survey is not original but the emphasis on sustainability mindset (compassion, empathy and connectedness to SDGs) is.

‘Rio+25’, The Global Compact in Brazil and Opportunities Presented by the UN Sustainable Development Goals

This chapter highlights the significance of creativity, innovation and collaboration in the development of sustainable solutions; and the role and mindset of the eco and social entrepreneur in enterprise and entrepreneurship education. Several research questions are posed: what is the history of CSR in Brazil? What current CSR issues are being faced in Brazil? Can tools such as the UN SDGs provide a way of bridging any gaps in CSR provision? What implications are there for ecosystem development in support of CSR? The methodology is thus based on literature review, case analysis, and conceptual overview focussing on instrumental approaches. The chapter concludes that ecosystems need to evolve to ensure that Higher Education Institutions develop and support the necessary eco and social entrepreneurial mindsets needed for sustainable innovation.

Ethics and Empowerment: Managerial Discourse and the Case of Teleworking

Empowerment is not only currently fashionable ‘management speak’, but also has important material implications for the situation of the workforce. It can be analysed as part of the postmodernist paradigm, as emancipatory, or as a new and more subtle manifestation of traditional managerial control. This chapter explores the discourse and outcomes of empowerment in work organisations, and in particular focuses on the idea as it is applied to telework. The premise of the chapter is that empowerment is being interpreted in many different ways, but is generally related to the ideas of ‘excellence’ held by managers, rather than to unequivocal rights to liberation for the workforce, so that the promise of self-actualisation for workers is at best a secondary consideration compared to ‘bottom-line’ outcomes. Thus it does not follow that empowerment is currently a basis for strengthening employee rights. A discussion is provided of ethical issues as they relate to the empowerment literature and to that on telework.