Universalizability and Reciprocity in International Business Ethics

Most writers on international business ethics adopt a universalist perspective, but the traditional expression of problems in terms of a discrepancy between (superior) home country and (inferior) host country values makes it difficult to preserve the symmetry required by a universalizability criteri...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Business ethics quarterly
Main Author: Hendry, John (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Cambridge Univ. Press 1999
In: Business ethics quarterly
Year: 1999, Volume: 9, Issue: 3, Pages: 405-420
Online Access: Volltext (JSTOR)
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Summary:Most writers on international business ethics adopt a universalist perspective, but the traditional expression of problems in terms of a discrepancy between (superior) home country and (inferior) host country values makes it difficult to preserve the symmetry required by a universalizability criterion. In this paper a critique of Donaldson’s (1989) theory is used to illustrate some of the ways in which ethnocentric assumptions can enter into a supposedly universalist argument. A number of suggestions are then made for improving Donaldson’s approach by careful attention to the requirement of universalizability, expressed in a contractarian theory in the form of agent symmetry or reciprocity.
ISSN:2153-3326
Contains:Enthalten in: Business ethics quarterly
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.2307/3857509