From the Los Angeles Times (free registration required):
The current debate raises questions about whether multinational companies have a duty to help promote political freedoms in a world where their power and global standing rival many governments’. Previous debates over corporate conduct have focused on environmental issues, fair wages and working conditions.
If international companies do not act roughly the same in various markets, they leave themselves exposed to charges of hypocrisy, said David Vidal, research director on global corporate citizenship at the Conference Board, a nonprofit group that advises management.
“It’s obvious that the biggest test case of this will be China,” he said.
