372 Global Ethics for Leadership
the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce. At the time when the rule was con-
sidered to apply, it was respected in the Shell Riyadh office at the time
of an inspection only, with a suitable system being put in place to an-
nounce any arrival of inspectors. If this put Shell in a state of non-
compliance with national law, which I do not think it did, I am sure it
was the correct decision. In the case of Saudi Aramco, from my observa-
tions over more than twenty years, I do not believe that strict dress rules
were ever applied in offices.
What is practised in businesses in terms of behaviour and govern-
ance does have some effect on society as a whole, positively and in
some cases regrettably negatively. For this reason, I believe responsible
companies should be positively encouraged to invest and develop busi-
ness in countries in which regrettable behaviour or misplaced govern-
ment policies are common. As I have said in earlier chapters, I believe
that their very presence with decent standards and the economic growth
and engagement that they generate contributes more to positive change
than programmes of sanctions and other exclusionary approaches. The
question for a company operating in any country is not whether the gov-
ernment or general approach in that country to such matters as human
rights, equality and corruption is in line with the principles and values of
that company, but whether the company is able to uphold its own princi-
ples, within its own operations and in relation to its own staff and those
outside it interacts with. In my experience it is almost unknown for laws
or government policy in any country to make it impossible for a compa-
ny to apply its own global standards within its own operations.
Over the years I have found that, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the
area where corporate principles are most likely to come in conflict with
national policies is employment. Responsible companies work hard to
remove all aspects of discrimination in their employment practices. At
the same time most governments do apply some sort of regulation to
employment. The most common regulations apply to work permits for