Comparison between United Arab Emirates and US
The US and UAE share some things but greatly differ in other aspects like business practice, ethical standards, bribery laws among other things. To do business in both countries you must be able to meet the legal and ethical standards that have been set by bodies that are concerned with regulating business in the respective countries. Businesses in most countries across the world are continuously being regulated as a result of bad business practices like bribery, money laundering and corruption. The United Arab Emirates and the US are two different countries and use different mechanisms to regulate businesses within their borders. The countries differ in things that are sanctioned because what might be a bad business practice in one country might just be a normal business practices in the country. Most firms that operate in the global market have codes of ethics that guide them in their business activities. UAE is a country with many expatriates coming from different parts of the world (Sujit, 2011). This essay compares the United States of America and the United Arab Emirates in terms of Business practice abroad, Law forbidding Bribery, Whose Ethics should prevail and Making Ethical Decisions Across Borders.
Business practice abroad, today many companies are moving across borders by executing business deals in foreign countries. Globalization has turned the world into a global village and companies have taken advantage of the advancement in technology to move their business across borders. Actors of many companies that engage in business activities across borders are put to test on their ethics. The ethics of many businesses and companies in the US are currently being scrutinized due to the existence of unscrupulous business practices in the country. The United Arab Emirates is a country that has put in place stringent measures to ensure that all those companies that operate within their borders conform to certain laws. Those actors who violate such laws are punished severely and even their licenses are revoked.
Laws forbidding bribery, both countries have formulated laws that are aimed and curbing bribery and other bad business practices. Both the USA and UAE have achieved many gains in the fight against bribery and bad business practices. UAE is ranked as the country which has achieved so much in the fight against bribery in the Arab world whereas the US is among the best counties in the American continent to do clean business in. The United States of America has taken giant steps in the fight against bribery and corruption. The US has passed laws that forbid its companies from paying to retain business or win new contracts. Bribery is a criminal offence in The US, those who are found engaging in it are jailed and companies are slapped with heavy fines. The US companies have complained that they lose millions of dollars because they have been place at a disadvantage with companies from other countries that have not outlawed paying bribes so as to win contracts and retain businesses. This is as a result of its stable government that has put in places measures to ensure that bribery does not prevail. Bribery” is punishable in the UAE according to the Federal Penal Code and other rules and regulations that have been formulated in the country that relate to bribery. Bribery is punished in a severe way in the country using the Sharia law and thus it has become less rampant unlike in other countries in the Arab word (Theunitedarabemirates, 2000). In UAE it is criminal for public officers to attempt to obtain favors from people who require a service from them.
Whose ethics should prevail? Americans have been accused of trying to impose their views on ethics and morals on the whole world. The ethical standards that are used to differentiate between good and bad business practices in UAE and USA differ in some ways. Business entities in both countries adhere to certain ethical standards for smooth operation. Business ethics are the behaviors that those who engage in business and business entities have to adhere to in carrying out their day to day activities (Broni, 2010. Ethical business practices in UAE are premised on religious laws which are mainly the Sharia laws whereby religion writings are used to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong. Ethical business practices in the US are based on theories of ethics like the deontological and the utilitarianism theory. The utilitarianism theory argues that ethical decisions are those which bring happiness to the greatest number of people (Robinson, 2003). Ethical business practices in the US are those that are executed within the bounds of duty and bring happiness to the greatest number of people.
Making ethical decisions across borders, making decisions that are ethical in different parts of the world is difficult for the reason that different standards have been set in different regions. Decisions which are ethical in UAE are mostly those that are premised on the religious laws whereas in the US, they are those that are within the bounds of the law.
References
Broni, J. V. G. (2010). Ethical dimensions in the conduct of business: Business ethics, corporate social responsibility and the law. The” ethics in business” as a sense of business ethics. In International Conference on Applied Economics–ICOAE (p. 795).
Robinson, D. A. (2003). Ethics & ethical dilemmas: introducing the business ethics synergy star.
Sujit, K. S. (2011). Comparing Ethical Attitudes of Expatriates working in UAE. Middle East Journal of Business, 6(1), 10-23.
Theunitedarabemirates(2000) I. Measures Against Corruptibility, Gifts and Gratification±“Bribery”in the Middle East.