adc_away wrote:
I think, it's integrity to do the right thing. An priority would be to develop the business of a company within the confines of the law. But then, I guess it's a very gray area on what is ethical or not. Acting with integrity opens up questions like is it ok to develop an advertising campaign for a cigarette company? And stuff like that.
Then, what is the right thing? Is it the pre-defined tradition, way of solving the situations you face or it is more of the philosophy you hold in your life, that was created by your own tears and sweat and you believe that acting according to this philosophy will be an advantage to the people around you? How to deal with the life philosophy of other people, who also could be right? I think, that the most appropriate approach will include the respect to the opinions of other people and making them accomplish the goal of the whole team/company basing on the motivation to accomplish their own/internal goals.
Working on emerging markets leads to interesting observations... there are ethical things from the point of view of developed country and following the same rules as for developed market can lead to a loss of important part of company competitiveness. From the other point of view, there are some companies that can compete, using the same business approaches to business like in other countries - Ikea, for example, struggled for several years to get the permission to build their centers in certain cities, but they are very patient.
At the same time, being transparent in emerging market can lead to the attacks from competitors by dealing with the state departments. And you should have very good lawyers... who can work in conditions of the laws having intentional/unintentional holes that can ruin all your business.