Business Ethics - A Cultural Perspective July 12, 2007

Globalization has increased demands for business transparency, the rule of law and universal standards and norms. In addition, some advocate expansion of managerial goals beyond shareholder profits to include social responsibility to multiple stakeholders including employees, environment, local economy and neighbors. Moreover, governments and NGOs press for more regulation, including financial securities, privacy and information protection, homeland security and export restrictions, money laundering and corrupt practices, IP protection, quotas and tariffs, environmental and human rights, wage and union rules, and occupational safety.)

This month's panel will grapple with the following questions:

1) How should a corporation conduct its operations when laws, standards and values of the home country conflict with those abroad?
2) Should corporations work for improvement of civic society in each country, or stick to bottom line concerns?
3) How is Social Responsibility manifesting in the managerial role; what are examples of dealing with "externalities"?
4) Where are laws and norms converging towards universal standards and where are they diverging? Why?
5) How does the increase in governmental regulation affect corporations?
6) How does the increasing role of Non-Governmental Organizations affect corporations?
7) Where can managers find the resources to help work through these complex issues?

Co-hosted by Silicon French, Hispanic-Net, CSPA, GABA, and SIPA.

About Hispanic-Net:
Founded in 2001, Hispanic-Net is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose members are entrepreneurs, business executives and professionals in high technology, software, and Internet-related companies. The organization's mission is to encourage entrepreneurship by providing a professional networking infrastructure to existing and up-and-coming high tech executives of Hispanic heritage and others.

Preregistration: $15 members/$25 non-members. At the door: $20 members/$30 non-members.

Official Website: http://www.hispanic-net.org