Ethical Dilemmas in MNCs' International Staffing Policies a Conceptual Framework

Multinational corporations' (MNCs') international staffing policies have been evaluated in terms of cost and efficiency arguments. Research has not addressed, however, the ethical impact of these policies on diverse stakeholder groups. This paper presents a conceptual framework by which et...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of business ethics 2000-06, Vol.25 (3), p.221-235
Main Authors:	Banai, Moshe, Sama, Linda M.
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Business enterprises Business ethics Corporate culture Cost-effectiveness Countries Decision making Distributive justice Employees Ethical dilemmas Ethics Ethnocentrism Expatriates Host country Human resources International aspects International business enterprises Management Multinational corporations Multinational enterprises Parents Personnel management Philosophy Profitability Profits Rationality Social ethics Staff Staffing Stakeholder Stakeholders Stockholders Studies Subsidiary companies Workforce planning
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Summary:	Multinational corporations' (MNCs') international staffing policies have been evaluated in terms of cost and efficiency arguments. Research has not addressed, however, the ethical impact of these policies on diverse stakeholder groups. This paper presents a conceptual framework by which ethnocentric, polycentric and geocentric staffing policies are theoretically linked to underlying decision-making modes of instrumentality, bounded rationality and economic rationality, respectively. It goes on to describe the ethical rationales associated with each policy type, namely, distributive justice, moral rights of man, and utilitarianism. An investigation of resulting ethical dilemmas affecting relevant MNC stakeholder groups is incorporated and offered as a tool for analyzing the true and full costs of trade-offs when choosing one policy over another. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the conceptual framework for theory and practice and directions for future research.
ISSN:	0167-4544 1573-0697