Ethical Dilemas? Multi-national Business and Tourism

By Dr. Andree Swanson

I personally have never worked for a multinational company, but I have worked for an organization that was bought out by a British company.  This was a small national rental company (rental as in chainsaws and party items).  I was eager to learn some of the training methods that the Brits would bring to this company.  The problem was they had a different vision.  Renting is far different than in the United States.  In Britain, they tend to rent more products, whereas, in the United States, Americans tend to buy, buy, buy… so they can own… and later have garage sales!

The business was not a good fit for this British company, and they let the company go.  It did not survive.  I share this not so much as a story on business ethics, but on how multinational companies must be aware of the different standards and norms of the countries that are involved in during the operations of their company.

Ramu (2001) stated: 

Many multinationals which operate in more than one country face ethical dilemmas.  As different countries have different standards and norms, it is not always easy to determine either the risks or the appropriateness of certain ethical standards.  A rim can either go along or lose business in such cases, he warns.  He particularly voices concern over sexual harassment that has become an important workplace issue in recent years. (Abstract)

Ethics and Travel

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“you’re looking for safe, affordable medical
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This book is an easy-to-read,
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helping people just like you find the quality
medical care they want overseas.

What you’ll find is a book that’s chock full of
the tools you’ll need to plan a safe and
successful health tourism voyage of your own.

While doing research on this topic, I thought it would be easy to write about, but then I realized there is an entire ethical chapter when it comes to ethics and travel.  Who knew?

The globalization of healthcare has brought up several ethical issues surrounding the practice. The fact that people travel from their home country to a medical tourism destination to avail certain treatments that are illegal or unavailable at home brings up several ethical concerns. Besides that, several facilities catering to medical tourism are utilizing unethical practices to woo potential medical travellers. (Prem, 2012)

Here is one side of the ethical issue, but as I pursued my discoveries I was quite shocked by this video.

Medical Tourism in Taiwan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqYNLPIGCmY&feature=related

 

This poses another question… is this appropriate?  Would you be willing to vacation in Taiwan and have a little surgery on the side?

References

Prem. (2012). Understanding ethical issues of medical tourism. DrPrem.com. Retrieved from http://www.drprem.com/ueimt/understanding-ethical-issues-of-medical-tourism.html

Ramu, S. S. (2001). India: Stemming the damage. Businessline, , 1-1. Retrieved from ProQuest database.