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XXI Century Ethics:
a Global View
Dr. Roberto Artavia L.
Costa Rica
November 12, 2009
6,782,662,630
people in the world today
3,2 billion live in poverty
26500 more since we started
this morning
Globalization of:
trade
capital
technology
brands
organizations
people
culture
>69,000 MNCs
>823,000 international
subsidiaries
integrating the business
dynamics of the world
And still most of the companies and work is
local, run by millions of micro, small, and
medium entreprises
One way to look at the
structure of today’s
world
Productive private
sector
NGOs
State,
government, and
international
institutions
New borders make analysis and
decision-making more complex
Flexible political borders
New borders make analysis and
decision-making more complex
Flexible political borders
Permeable trade borders
Corporate borders open to technological
integration
Capital markets are interdependent
Technology eliminates distance
Financial markets
Transfer risks across borders
Make the movement of capital
an easy and safe flow
Operate on an ever more “virtual”
platform
Are becoming more heavily
regulated
Scientific and technological progress
New frontiers
Space…
Deep oceans…
Polar
regions…
Scientific and technological progress
New frontiers
New concepts and ideas to be
managed and traded
How fast is
technology
changing?
Synthetic
biology
109
Sequencing
technology
108
107
Moore’s Law
106
105
104
1000
100
1970
1985
2000 2005
Scientific and technological progress
New frontiers
New concepts and ideas to be
managed and traded
Poor global distribution
Mitigation of new challenges and
risks
Moving to a world of
scarcity and volatility
Oil and gas, nuclear sources
Metals and other key materials
Water
Biocapacity and
climate change…
Future energy sources
Moving to a world of
scarcity and volatility
Oil and gas, nuclear sources
Metals and other key materials
Scarcity of key materials
30
29.2
27.9
15
4.5
4.6
Brasil
China
0.6
0
India
Japón
Aluminum consumption in Kg/yr
U.S.A.
Moving to a world of
scarcity and volatility
Oil and gas, nuclear sources
Metals and other key materials
Water
Biocapacity and
climate change…
The resulting scenarios
Technological progress and adaptation
Future
Negotiation and adaptation
Conflict, war, control…and segregation
Ethics
1. Set of principles of right conduct.
2. A theory or a system of moral values.
3. The study of the general nature of morals and of the moral
choices to be made by a person.
4. The rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or
the members of a profession.
Ethics of development (scarcity)
" [Scarcity] ethics is useless unless it can be translated
into public action. By public action is meant action taken by
public authority, as well as actions taken by private agents
[which have] important consequences for the life of the
community. The central question is: How can moral
guidelines influence the decisions of those who hold power? "
International Development Ethics Association
Corporate social responsibility
"Corporate social responsibility is the
continuing commitment by business to
contribute to economic development while
improving the quality of life of the workforce
and their families as well as of the
community and society at large"
Can corporations do this and at the same time
fill the expectations of their stock- and stakeholders?
What are some possible responses?
But also…
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19141333
Can we redefine our concept of ethics in time?
What are the implications for the legal, accounting, and
audit professionals?
the end