Category: coursework

Describe some of the unorthodox strategies covered by Terris during this era that made Lockheed become “…a byword for the shady practices of American multi-national corporations, and a major impetus for new legislation…”.

2. On the issue of overseas bribes, Terris asks the questions, “Who was hurt by the [overseas bribes to secure sales of aircraft]? The competitors, of course, but what was unethical about beating out the competition that was playing by the same rules?” (p.59). What do you think about a situation where underhanded and back door deals are the way the game is played if everybody is on the same playing field? That is to say, if everybody is playing by the same shady rules, is it unethical to compete? In your reading you will note that defense contractors continued to find themselves in hot water well into the 1970s as a result of overpricing and additional charges of bribery. In the late 70s Lockheed established its first code of ethics and later the major defense contractors came to the table to level the playing field with the Defense Industry Initiative (DII), by agreeing on a set of ethical principles. This was an important turning point as was bringing Norman Augustine on board.

3. Why was the DII so important to the eventual success of Lockheed Martin’s ethics program?

4. Discuss Norman Augustine’s and Dilbert’s contribution in helping Lockheed Martin turn the corner with its ethics program.

Globalisation is a highly contested subject and invites many definitions and interpretations. Economics, politics, sociology, business studies among other academic disciplines can offer insights into the globalisation process, but none alone can explain it. The approach taken by this module is that of International Political Economy (IPE). It seeks to understand globalisation as a ‘totality’; an ‘epochal shift’ within capitalism, which transforms virtually everything we do and experience. This perspective puts emphasis on the historical background of globalisation, which in economic terms is principally associated with the deregulation of international finance, a technological revolution and the transnationalisation of production processes. Such developments are complemented and facilitated by ideological, political and social changes that have taken place since the post-war era; principally through the rise of neo-liberalism and the collapse of Soviet style communism in the 1970s.

These socio-political and economic trends have served to open up the world to market forces on different scales of action: local, national and transnational. In this environment there appears to be a shift of power away from the nation-state towards an external community of international financiers, multinational corporations (MNCs) and multilateral agencies, as well as internally towards the private and third sectors within one country and their links to transnational networks. To its advocates, globalisation represents the unshackling of the logic of capitalism and market forces, their ascendancy into a supreme and inevitable world system with the state playing a very narrow economic role. To its detractors, it is capitalism in extremis, temporarily unchallenged. Its logic lies not in its existence, but in its necessary demise. Between these two poles there are many intermediate interpretations and shades of opinion.