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ACCA Strategic Professional · Strategic Business Leader · Professionalism, ethical codes and the public interest

Dara Engineering's CEO is asked to approve a policy in a country where bribing officials to speed permits is routine. He says: 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do; what counts as right is set by local custom, so our group code should not apply here.' Which view of ethics does he hold?

He holds a culturally relativist view. He believes right and wrong are defined by local custom, so bribery can be acceptable where it is routine and the group code need not apply. Universalism takes the opposite position, that core ethical standards apply in every country.

  1. ACultural relativismCorrect
  2. BUniversalism
  3. CDeontology based on the categorical imperative
  4. DPluralism in stakeholder theory

Explanation

Cultural relativism holds that moral standards depend on the norms of a particular society, so no single code applies everywhere. The CEO uses local custom to justify bribery. Universalism, by contrast, says certain standards apply everywhere regardless of local practice.

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