2.3.7 Bribery
In international business, bribery has two forms. The first involves large sums of money offered (generally) to political figures to give multinational enterprises an unfair advantage. This form of bribery is illegal and generally frowned upon in most cultures.
The second form involves the payment of relatively small sums of money to minor officials to expedite some government procedures such as clearing goods through customs. These petty bribes are often called tips or gifts and are thought of by some as analogous to the tips given to waiters in restaurants. Other examples may be hiring extra employees, 'sponsoring' a host country manager's child by providing them accommodation in your own country and assisting their application to a university. These bribes are not seen as harmful or even illegal: they represent reasonable payment for services by civil servants who are often grossly underpaid by Western standards. However, they present a dilemma for managers from cultures where even the smallest bribe is deemed unethical.
Activity 2.4
- Visit the website of Transparency International (http://transparency.org) and examine the perceived levels of corruption in your own country and those with which your organisation conducts business.
- What forms of corruption might you expect to be dealing with in the countries you selected above? How might they be avoided?
- Explain the difference between bribery and using payments to facilitate or speed up bureaucracy or performance.
Turn now to your textbook's review of the major religions - Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism - and their economic implications.
In your text
Hill 2005, Chapter 3, pp. 98-106.
Activity 2.5
How might the cultural factors discussed in this section affect attitudes to your organisation's operations in:
- an Asian country
- a continental European country
- a Middle East country
Pick one country in each of these regions on which to focus.
Previous Page