Internationalization and Globalization, Essay Example

The antiglobalist position holds that globalism is inherently destructive. Among the primary antiglobalist arguments are the following: that globalism keeps the poor in an impoverished state to the benefit of the wealthy; that globalism is exploitative of natural resources and harmful to the environment; and that global financial institutions and trade organizations exist largely to serve the needs of large corporations while locking developing nations in cycles of debt and even economic ruin. Polls in several developed nations –ostensibly those that benefit the most from globalization- demonstrate strong antiglobalist sentiment among a significant percentage of the populations of those countries. Although the continuing growth of globalism appears in many ways to be inevitable, there is no question that the globalist agenda has hit many parts of the developing world particularly hard. Even the United States, one of the world’s wealthiest nations, appears to be recovering very slowly from the global economic downturn of 2008 (a downturn which was driven largely by issues related to globalism).
As the CEO of a domestic corporation I would likely view it as my responsibility to shareholders to expand internationally. Such expansion comes with ethical considerations; among these are the need to understand the ethical frameworks of doing business in other countries, and the impact that international expansion will have on the company’s domestic stakeholders.

At first glance it may seem as if the primary stakeholders in this scenario are the workers and supervisors at the facility. Further consideration reveals that, in the broadest sense, the public as a whole are also stakeholders, with the government serving as the organization responsible for ensuring the safety of the workers. The rules governing the use of sniffers in confined spaces were established by government regulatory and oversight agencies, not by the company. The stakes for the p0ublic are the safety of the public (specifically the members of the public that work for the company). The stakes for the supervisors include balancing the demands of regulation with the demands of production, while the stakes for the company are similarly oppositional. This scenario highlights the inherently adversarial relationship between businesses and government in a capitalist society.
It is difficult for me to know or say how I would respond under similar circumstances. The individual who was in this situation apparently did go along with the demands to sign off on the paperwork, knowing that the rules were being broken. According to the details of the case, “sometimes the supervisors and the workers forgot that we are working in a confined space and thus forgot the permit and the sniffer,” and the supervisors asked workers to initial the paperwork after the fact. This shows how difficult it can be for workers to balance the demands and pressures of supervisors against the demands of safety regulations, which can be even more difficult in a tough economy when jobs are scarce. Standing up to a supervisor may mean losing one’s job. I would like to think I would do the right thing, but sometimes that is easier said than done.

History has proven that some measure of government regulation is necessary in a capitalist economic and social system. Businesses are ultimately concerned with profitability; while some businesses operate with a sense of organizational social conscience, others will exploit any opportunity to get an edge over their competitors. Unfettered capitalism has led to serious abuses, and governments have been forced to take steps to rectify those situations. As the textbook describes it, this balance between business and government is not static, but operates like a pendulum, swinging between periods of looser and tighter regulation. While there is a role for governments in regulating business, it is also important to ensure that government does not strangle business. Finding the proper balance is an ongoing and never-ending process.