ADMS 3930 Study Guide - Final Guide: Suharto, International Business, International Trade
Document Summary
Foreign businesses should conform to local customs even if that means accepting gender or racial apartheid, child labour or bribery. The challenge of relativism is arising in very practical terms in international business. The fact that cultures have different values does not imply that there are no objective standards for deciding between conflicting values. One issue is that we must not conclude that diverse cultures do in fact hold diverse ethical values. For example, the case of business in indonesia during the time of president suharto on p. 265. Corruption scandals that topped governments in japan and italy demonstrate that acceptance of bribery and kickbacks in those countries was not as widespread as some would have thought. Second issue is the distinction between ethical principles and the application of those principles. Imagine a case where you have to pay bribes to have phones installed. For a local business, a failure to pay bribes could literally mean the end of the business.