Can U.S. companies keep up with Washington's ethical demands abroad?

Cyndy Aleo-Carreira — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:54:47 -0400

Yesterday, Yahoo VP & Deputy General Counsel Michael Samway posted an article describing Yahoo's progress in developing a human rights code of conduct for the company. While the Senate had requested that companies have such codes in place within 48 hours (obviously based on the speed and efficiency of the House themselves), Yahoo feels that they have made progress, and hope that the code will be in place sometime in the next few months. As requested, Yahoo isn't waiting for the final code to be approved, and has already:

"Established a human rights fund to assist political dissidents and their families;

Implemented a human rights assessment as we explore doing business challenging markets and established a dedicated business and human rights program within the company; and

Founded academic fellowships at Stanford and Georgetown to advance free expression and global values."

There's a problem with this effort, however. It demonstrates how the U.S. refuses to acknowledge that U.S. law is not world law. The U.S. expects its own laws be followed by foreign companies doing business here, yet also expects that U.S. companies follow an American-centric code of ethics when doing business abroad. The reality is that following the local laws is a requirement of doing business in that country, no matter how much a code of ethics or personal feelings would dictate otherwise.

As an example, Google faces a similar situation in India. One issue is a lawsuit demanding the identity of an anonymous blogger who disparaged an Indian company on his or her blog, while another involves Yahoo and Microsoft as well and involves "sex selection" content being displayed, when it's illegal in India. As we move toward an increasingly global economy, conflicts between corporate ethics and the law of the land in which the corporations do business will become more frequent, not less. It's doubtful that a cooperative effort, even if adopted by every U.S. company, would change those requirements.

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Can U.S. companies keep up with Washington's ethical demands abroad?

Cyndy Aleo-Carreira — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:54:47 -0400

"Established a human rights fund to assist political dissidents and their families;

Implemented a human rights assessment as we explore doing business challenging markets and established a dedicated business and human rights program within the company; and

Founded academic fellowships at Stanford and Georgetown to advance free expression and global values."

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Special Feature: The Digital Home of 2013: 10 consumer technologies that will succeed, and five that will fail
Special Feature: Where are they now? The Industry Standard tracks down 10 dot-coms from the Web bubble of the late 1990s
Special Feature: The Industry Standard's Top 25 B-to-Z List Blogs