Module IV: Global issues in different sectors

❖ Current Scenario Globalization of MNCs, International Trade, World

Summits

In this session, the focus was on the ethical issues faced by businesses
operating at a global scale. As more companies expand their operations
across multiple countries, they need to navigate a complex business
environment and adhere to higher standards of care and concern for
various stakeholders. Globalization has transformed the world into an
integrated market, leading to the rise of multinational corporations
(MNCs) and international trade. The session covered several key points:

Growth of Global Corporations:

International business has become a significant economic force due to

reduced trade barriers, political reforms, technology advancements,
and more countries joining the global market.
MNCs operate in multiple countries while maintaining a domestic
identity, aiming to maximize profits on a worldwide basis.

Ethical Considerations in a Diverse World:

Businesses operating globally face diverse cultures, religions, and belief

systems.
Ethnocentric perspective considers the country of origin as dominant,
whereas the geocentric perspective employs talent globally,
irrespective of their origin, promoting a more inclusive approach.

Multinational Corporations' Dilemmas:

MNCs often face ethical dilemmas, such as decisions related to human

rights violations, government collaboration, and censorship, especially
in countries with restrictive policies.

Ethical Issues in International Trade:

International trade involves selling products and services in foreign

countries. Businesses must adhere to legal and ethical standards
prevalent in each country, including employment practices, human
rights, environmental standards, and corruption prevention.

Improving Global Business Ethics:

To be responsible global citizens, companies should strive for higher

ethical standards, avoid intentional harm, contribute to host countries'
development, respect human rights, cultural beliefs, and cooperate
with governments to enforce ethical institutions.
 In summary, businesses operating at a global scale must be cognizant
of the diverse ethical challenges they face and work toward improving
global business ethics by adopting inclusive, responsible, and culturally
sensitive practices.

❖ Business Ethics and Corporate Governance

In this session, the focus was on the importance of business ethics and
corporate governance for multinational corporations and businesses
operating at the international level. Here are the key points discussed:

Business Ethics:

Business ethics involve the application of ethical principles, integrity,

and fairness to business behavior.
Stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, customers, and
society at large, are impacted by business operations and must be
considered.
Ethical practices contribute to a positive company image, foster lasting
business relationships, and create value for stakeholders.

Corporate Governance:

Corporate governance addresses issues arising from the separation of

ownership and control in companies.
It involves the relationship between a company, its shareholders, and
society, emphasizing transparency, accountability, and responsibility.
Ethical values for managers include impartiality, responsiveness to
public interest, accountability, honesty, transparency, and integrity.

Challenges in Corporate Governance:

Challenges include distinguishing the roles of the board and

management, board composition, separation of CEO and chairperson
roles, committee appointments, directors' re-election, executive
remuneration, disclosure, audit protection, shareholder rights, dialogue
with institutional shareholders, and investor involvement in social
responsibility.

Relevance of Corporate Governance:

• Corporate governance ensures the flow of capital, protects

stakeholders, promotes industrialization, and contributes to economic
prosperity.
• It boosts shareholder confidence, enhances company valuation,
prevents fraud, and ensures compliance with laws and regulations.

In summary, the session highlighted the vital role of ethical practices

and corporate governance in guiding businesses, both large and small,
 toward responsible conduct, stakeholder protection, and sustainable
growth in the global economy.

❖ Environmental Ethics

In this session, the focus shifted from the business world to the natural
environment. The natural environment encompasses all living and non-
living things occurring naturally on Earth, including interactions
between living species, climate, weather, and natural resources. It is
crucial to protect the environment to reduce the destruction of
ecosystems caused by various human activities. Protecting the
environment is not just a practical need but also a moral obligation for
humans.

Environmental Ethics:
Environmental ethics involve applying ethical standards to
relationships between human and non-human entities. These ethical
decisions depend on individuals' ethical standards and their concerns
for the environment. Environmental ethics address various dilemmas,
such as cutting forests for human consumption, environmental
obligations for future generations, and using and conserving space to
secure life.

Types of Environmental Ethics:

Different types of environmental ethics have emerged, including:

• Social Ecology: Focuses on humans, their capabilities, and

requirements concerning the environment.
• Deep Ecology: Promotes the intrinsic value of all beings and
advocates their protection at all costs.
• Eco-Feminism: Draws parallels between the treatment of women
in society and the treatment of the environment, emphasizing
the need to care for the Earth as a woman.

Managing Environmental Issues:

Approaches to managing environmental issues include investing in
environmental processes and products, managing environmental
regulations, investing in environmental performance improvement
without increasing costs, changing the basis for competition, and
viewing environmental issues from a risk management perspective.
Businesses can respond to environmental regulations by improving
their processes, cutting waste, and taking a proactive stance toward
environmental damage.

Business Responses to Environmental Regulations:

Businesses are becoming increasingly conscious of environmental
issues for several reasons, such as boosting management morale,
reducing costs through waste reduction, benefiting from pollution
 prevention measures, taking a proactive stance toward environmental
regulation, and saving through pollution prevention measures.

Environmentally Friendly Business Practices:

Businesses can adopt environmentally friendly practices by changing
packaging methods, improving product efficiency, and reducing their
carbon footprint. These changes contribute to safeguarding the natural
world and preserving it for future generations.

In summary, the session emphasized the importance of environmental

ethics, discussed various ethical dilemmas related to the environment,
and explored ways in which businesses can contribute to protecting
the natural world through responsible and sustainable practices.

❖ Sustainable Development Goals

In this session, the focus was on the Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), both of which
are international initiatives aimed at improving the world's socio-
economic and environmental conditions.

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs):

The MDGs were established in 2000 following the UN Millennium
Summit. They consisted of eight international development goals
targeted for achievement by 2015. These goals were:

• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality and empower women
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
• Ensure environmental sustainability
• Develop a global partnership for development
• While the MDGs guided global development work for 15 years,
there were still challenges and gaps, including persisting gender
inequality, disparities between rich and poor households,
environmental degradation, and the impact of conflicts on
human development.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

The SDGs, also known as Global Goals, were adopted by the UN in 2015
as a blueprint for a more sustainable future. They address global
challenges, such as poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental
degradation, and aim to ensure peace and prosperity for all by 2030.
There are 17 SDGs, covering a wide range of areas including poverty,
hunger, health, education, gender equality, clean water, renewable
energy, economic growth, climate action, life below water, life on land,
peace, and partnerships for these goals.
 Examples of Organizations Contributing to SDGs:
Several organizations, including Tata Steel, HSBC, and Jockin
Arputham's initiatives, are actively contributing to the SDGs. Tata Steel
focuses on sexual and reproductive health in Jharkhand, reducing
mortality rates and improving well-being. HSBC operates an integrated
water and sanitation program in Rajasthan, promoting water
conservation and sanitation practices. Jockin Arputham's Nutrition
India Program aims to improve nutrition during pregnancies, increase
institutional delivery, reduce stunting in children, and enhance health-
seeking behavior in Maharashtra.

Importance of SDGs:
The SDGs serve as a guiding force for businesses, governments, and
individuals. Achieving these goals requires collective efforts, with
governments creating appropriate policies, the private sector taking
action, civil society advocating for change, and individuals contributing
at the individual level. SDGs are essential for the welfare of the planet,
people, and businesses, emphasizing the need for sustainable
development practices.

In summary, the session highlighted the significance of MDGs and SDGs,

emphasizing their role in guiding global efforts towards a more
equitable, sustainable, and prosperous future for all.

❖ Ethics pertaining to discipline: Manufacturing, Marketing, technology-

Ethical Hacking, Teaching Ethics, Media Ethics, Bio Ethics, Legal ethics,
Business ethics, management law, journalism

In this session, the focus was on the ethics that govern the
manufacturing and marketing functions of a business. Both of these
functions have a significant impact on customers, as the quality,
features, and contents of a product are determined by the
manufacturing process, and the marketing process influences the
information shared with the public. Given this influence, ethical
conduct in manufacturing and marketing is crucial.

Manufacturing Ethics:
Manufacturing ethics involve ensuring the production process is
conducted ethically and responsibly. Manufacturers have a duty to take
special care to ensure that consumers' interests are not harmed by the
products they offer. The due care theory emphasizes that
manufacturers, being in a more advantaged position, have a
responsibility to minimize risks and design products that prioritize
consumer safety. This involves researching the risks associated with
product usage, designing products with minimized risks, employing
strict quality controls to eliminate defects, and providing users with
information about safe product usage. Manufacturers should also warn
users about potential dangers and avoid marketing products to
vulnerable groups, such as children.

Marketing Ethics:
Marketing ethics refer to the moral standards applied to marketing
decisions, behaviors, and institutions. Marketing actions can be judged
as right or wrong based on ethical standards. Ethical marketing
involves a positive role where companies communicate about their
products to increase awareness and demand, as opposed to a negative
role where products are pushed aggressively to boost sales. Companies
should voluntarily adhere to high marketing ethics to avoid detrimental
effects on both the company and its customers. Ethical marketing
practices are essential due to market compulsions and societal
expectations.

Examples of Ethical Marketing:

An illustration of ethical marketing is the enterprise Toms, which sells
vegan shoes. Toms has made giving back a core part of its business.
Since 2006, Toms has donated millions of pairs of shoes to children in
need worldwide and provided glasses to visually impaired individuals
without access to eye care. Toms incorporates social and
environmental philanthropy into its branding, reinforcing its brand
values consistently across all channels. Toms' approach to ethical
marketing demonstrates genuine concern for the welfare of
underprivileged communities, making it an exemplary case in the realm
of ethical business practices.

In summary, ethical conduct in manufacturing and marketing is vital

for businesses. Manufacturers must prioritize consumer safety by
minimizing risks, employing strict quality controls, and providing users
with information about safe product usage. In marketing, companies
should focus on positive communication, avoid aggressive sales tactics,
and adhere to high ethical standards. Ethical practices not only benefit
consumers but also contribute to a positive brand image and
sustainable business success.

In this session, we explored various disciplines and the ethical issues

faced by professionals working in these industries. Each profession has
unique requirements, and individuals pursuing these careers need to
mold their behavior and actions accordingly. Ethical conduct is crucial
due to the significant influence these professions have on people's lives.

Bioethics:
Bioethics involves applying ethics to the field of medicine and
healthcare. Ethicists and bioethicists raise important questions and
navigate difficult ethical dilemmas related to physician-patient
relationships, resource allocation, assisted reproductive techniques,
genetic testing, clinical research ethics, mental health treatment, and
ethical treatment of research subjects in trials. Professionals in
bioethics include philosophers, scientists, health administrators,
lawyers, and anthropologists.

Journalism and Media Ethics:

Journalism and media serve as the fourth pillar of democracy, shaping
public opinion and holding the government accountable. Ethical
journalism involves honesty, fairness, objectivity, respect for privacy,
distinguishing between facts and opinions, and not prejudicing the guilt
of the accused. The rise of the internet and social media has introduced
new challenges, making ethical standards even more critical.

Ethical Hacking:
Ethical hacking involves authorized attempts to gain unauthorized
access into computer systems to identify and resolve security
vulnerabilities before malicious attackers can exploit them. Ethical
hackers, also known as white hat hackers, follow protocols such as
staying legal, defining the scope of their work, reporting vulnerabilities,
respecting data sensitivity, and erasing all traces of the hack after
assessments.

Legal Ethics:
Legal ethics refer to the code of conduct regulating behavior within the
legal profession. Lawyers and legal practitioners must navigate
conflicting interests, maintain client confidentiality, and ensure
service without discrimination. Breaches of legal ethics may include
neglect, misrepresentation of client funds, conflict of interest,
malpractice, and solicitation.

Corporate Wars:
Corporate wars involve conflicts between mega corporations and may
include methods of industrial espionage, spreading disinformation,
leaking confidential information, and damaging a company's
information systems. This competitive landscape often resembles a
war-like situation, where businesses need to strategize and safeguard
their interests.

Teaching Ethics:
Teachers play a significant role in students' lives, imparting academic
knowledge and invaluable life lessons. Ethical teachers must be
empathetic, ensure student safety, commit to professionalism,
cooperate with colleagues, and engage with parents and the
community.

In summary, ethical conduct is vital across various professions,

ensuring fair practices, professionalism, and a positive impact on
society. Professionals must adhere to ethical standards, respecting the
rights and well-being of all stakeholders involved.
 Module V: Research Ethics and Academic Integrity

❖ Best practices in research / standards setting initiatives and guidelines:

COPE, WAME, etc

1. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE):

COPE is committed to promoting ethical practices in publishing and
provides resources and support to editors, publishers, and individuals
involved in publication ethics. COPE has established objectives to
extend resources, increase awareness, and be responsive to ethical
issues in scholarly work. Core practices of COPE include guidelines
related to handling allegations of misconduct, authorship and
contributor ship policies, conflicts of interest, data and reproducibility,
ethical oversight, intellectual property, journal management, peer
review processes, and post-publication discussions and corrections.

2. Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ):

DOAJ is an independent database containing over 16,500 peer-reviewed
open-access journals from various disciplines. DOAJ promotes
transparency and best practices in scholarly publishing. Journals
included in DOAJ must adhere to guidelines related to their website,
journal name uniqueness, peer review processes, ownership and
management transparency, governing body information, editorial team
contact details, copyright and licensing policies, author fees,
identification and handling of research misconduct allegations,
publication ethics, publishing schedule, accessibility, archiving, revenue
sources, advertising policies, and direct marketing practices.

3. World Association of Medical Editors (WAME):

WAME is a global nonprofit association of editors of peer-reviewed
medical journals. WAME aims to facilitate worldwide cooperation
among editors, improve editorial standards, promote professionalism in
medical editing, encourage research on medical editing principles, and
ensure high ethical and scientific standards in medical journalism.
WAME members are dedicated to publishing high-quality, well-
documented peer-reviewed articles, providing continuing education,
improving public health, fostering responsible debate, promoting peer
review, achieving ethical medical journalism, and addressing non-
clinical aspects of medicine and public health.

4. Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA):

OASPA is a trade association established to represent the interests of
Open Access publishers globally. OASPA encourages collaboration, sets
standards, advances models, advocates for OA publishing, provides
education, and promotes innovation. OASPA organizes conferences,
webinars, and discussions to facilitate the exchange of ideas, sharing
of information, and highlighting best practices within the open access
publishing community.
 In summary, these organizations play essential roles in promoting
ethical publishing practices, ensuring transparency, and supporting the
scholarly community in various disciplines.

❖ Academic misconducts: Falsification, Fabrication and Plagiarism (FFP)

1. Fabrication:
Fabrication involves intentionally making up data or results and
presenting them as genuine research findings. This can include
reporting experiments that never occurred or manipulating accurate
data to fit desired outcomes. Fabrication is a form of scientific fraud
that undermines the integrity of research. It can be challenging to
distinguish intentional fabrication from unintentional errors or
incompetence, making it a complex issue to address within academic
institutions.

2. Falsification:
Falsification differs from fabrication in that an experiment may have
taken place, but certain aspects such as measurements are altered or
misrepresented. Examples of falsification include removing outliers
from data, changing measurements to appear higher or lower, adjusting
image brightness selectively, adding error bars to suggest multiple
measurements, reusing images to represent different experiments, or
presenting data from one source as if it came from another.
Falsification can blur the line with fabrication, making it difficult to
categorize certain cases.

3. Plagiarism:
Plagiarism involves presenting someone else's work, ideas, or words as
one's own without proper acknowledgment. This can occur through
verbatim quotation without citation, cutting and pasting from the
internet without acknowledgment, improper paraphrasing, collusion
(unauthorized collaboration), inaccurate citation, failure to
acknowledge assistance, use of material written by others, and auto-
plagiarism (submitting previously submitted work without proper
citation). Plagiarism is a breach of academic integrity, undermines
intellectual honesty, and hampers the development of independent
thinking and critical analysis skills.

Importance of Avoiding Plagiarism:

Avoiding plagiarism is crucial for several reasons. It promotes the
development of independent thought, critical analysis, and scholarly
integrity. Students are encouraged to assess others' work critically,
weigh different arguments, and draw their own conclusions. Proper
citation not only avoids plagiarism but also enhances the credibility
and quality of academic writing. Mastery of academic writing
techniques demonstrates a commitment to intellectual honesty and
scholarly ethics. Plagiarism undermines the ethos of academic
 scholarship and can have severe consequences for individuals' academic
and professional careers.

❖ Redundant publications: duplicate and overlapping publications, salami

slicing, Selective reporting and misrepresentation of data.

Redundant Publication:
Redundant publication occurs when a published work or substantial
sections of it are published more than once, either in the same or
another language, without proper acknowledgment, cross-referencing,
or justification. It also includes presenting the same or substantially
overlapping data in multiple publications without adequate cross-
referencing, making it difficult for reviewers and readers to realize that
the findings have been published previously. Redundant publication
covers not only the text but also figures and data sets previously
published. It is considered unethical and can distort the scientific
literature.

Salami Slicing:
Salami slicing involves breaking up a large study into several smaller
publications. Each segment, or "slice," should share the same
hypotheses, population, and methods. However, publishing the same
slice multiple times in different articles is unacceptable. Salami slicing
can distort the scientific database, waste the time of editors and
reviewers, mislead readers, and inflate an author's citation record. This
practice is discouraged as it leads to repetition, misuses resources, and
can potentially undermine the significance of the research findings.
Authors are expected to disclose any fragmented data and provide
justifications for dividing their research into multiple publications.
Failure to do so can harm their reputation and mislead readers. Proper
citation and acknowledgment are essential to maintain ethical
research practices.

❖ Violation of publications ethics, authorship, and contributor ship

Authorship and Contributorship Guidelines:

Authorship in scientific papers is crucial for giving credit and
accountability to individuals involved in the research. While there isn't
a universal definition, the International Committee of Medical Journal
Editors (ICMJE) provides guidelines: authors must make substantial
contributions to conception, design, data acquisition, analysis,
interpretation, and manuscript drafting or revising. They must approve
the final version and agree to be accountable for the work's integrity.

Guidelines for Authorship and Contributorship:

• Author order should be a joint decision.

• Contributors not meeting authorship criteria can be
acknowledged for specific roles.
 • Large trials publish lists of clinicians and centers.
• Some groups list authors alphabetically, indicating equal
contributions.

Unacceptable Authorship:

• Ghost authors: Substantial contributors not acknowledged, often

paid by sponsors.
• Guest authors: Listed without meaningful contributions to
enhance publication chances.
• Gift authors: Weakly affiliated contributors without substantial
involvement.

Authorship Disputes:
Disputes can arise due to misconduct, differing interpretations of
substantial contribution, involvement without proper credit,
unauthorized use of ideas, or unauthorized inclusion of a person's name
in a publication. Unresolved disputes can harm scientific integrity and
credibility.

❖ Use of plagiarism software like Turnitin, Urkund and other open source
software tools

Definition and Detection of Plagiarism:

Plagiarism involves using someone else's work without proper
referencing or citation, including direct copy-pasting or modifying
original content. Plagiarism detection tools identify instances of
plagiarism within documents, ensuring academic integrity.

Uses and Advantages of Plagiarism Checker Tools:

• Verifying Originality: Helps identify the originality of content

from unknown sources, ensuring authenticity.
• Tracking Content Misuse: Allows content creators to track if
their work is misused by others in publications.
• In-Depth Plagiarism Analysis: Confirms suspicions of plagiarism,
providing specific data on similarities.
• Highlighting Plagiarized Content: Highlights plagiarized lines or
phrases and provides sources, making it easy to identify and
rectify.
• Percentage Analysis: Provides a total percentage of plagiarism,
ensuring submissions meet required standards.
• Saves Time and Effort: Reduces the need for manual paraphrasing,
as it automatically identifies and highlights plagiarized content.
• Demonstrates Honesty: Submitting a plagiarism report shows
honesty, proving that necessary precautions were taken.
 Plagiarism Detection Tools:

• Turnitin: A widely used web-based tool creating a fingerprint of

uploaded documents, accepted by numerous institutions.
• Urkund: Web-based service offering an integrated and automated
plagiarism detection solution, prioritizing educational sources during
searches.
• Grammarly Online Plagiarism Checker: Popular tool among writers and
professors, offering multi-feature functionality including grammar and
spelling checks.
• Unicheck: A paid versatile tool for corporates and professors, providing
fast and accurate plagiarism checks.
• Ephorus: Web-based tool that compares text documents with online
sources, offering originality reports. Requires registration and is well-
known in European universities and organizations.
• Other tools include Copyscape, DOC Cop, iThenticate, Plagiarism Detect,
Safe Assignment, CopyCatch, and Exactus. These tools help maintain
academic integrity and prevent plagiarism in research and educational
content.

❖ Complaints and appeals examples and fraud from India and abroad

Case 1: Multiple Submission

Mr. X submitted a manuscript to the Journal of Pharmacology and

Pharmacotherapeutics (JPP) while the same work was under
consideration in another journal. After the JPP editorial staff identified
the duplicate submission, the author requested withdrawal. This case
illustrates a violation of publication ethics due to multiple submissions.

Case 2: Author Displays Bullying Behavior Towards Handling Editor

A corresponding author displayed aggressive behavior after his paper

was rejected without review. The author threatened legal action and
used social media polls to challenge the journal's decision. The journal
perceived this as bullying and declined the paper. The COPE Forum
suggested involving co-authors and providing more detail to de-
escalate the situation. The case was closed after the author's
resignation.

Case 3: Editor and Reviewers Requiring Authors to Cite Their Own Work

A handling editor repeatedly asked authors to cite his own work,

creating a pattern of behavior. The editor justified this by claiming
familiarity with his own work. The journal contacted the editor, who
resigned, and implemented additional ethics education for handling
editors. The COPE Forum commended the journal's actions and
suggested clarifying that acceptance is not contingent on adding
specific references suggested by editors.
Other Cases:

• Lead Author Disagrees with Editorial Content: A lead author

disagreed with the content of a linked editorial.

• Editor Found Guilty of Research Misconduct: An editor was found

guilty of research misconduct.

• Submission of an Already Published Case Report: A case report

was submitted despite being already published elsewhere.

• Unresponsive Authors Delaying Publication: Authors were

unresponsive, causing delays in publication.

• Institutional Investigation of Authorship Dispute: An institutional

investigation was conducted due to an authorship dispute.

• Data Manipulation and Institute’s Internal Review: Data

manipulation led to an internal review by the institute.

• Author Accused of Stealing Research: An author was accused of

stealing research and publishing it under their name.

• Multiple Redundant Submissions: An author made multiple

redundant submissions of the same work.

These cases highlight various ethical issues in academic publishing,

including duplicate submissions, bullying behavior, inappropriate
citation requests, author disagreements, research misconduct, data
manipulation, and unresponsive authors. Journals and institutions need
to address these issues promptly and ethically to maintain the integrity
of the scholarly publishing process.