Assume you are managing a company division in a country where bribes and kickbacks are “customary.”
If your company has a code of conduct that prohibits this, how would you deal with locals who “expect” it?
Note that not following custom puts your company at a disadvantage.
Comment on, or make suggestions about, at least two of your classmates' responses to handling this issue.
DQ RESPONSE 1
All the companies have their code of conduct and it expects that all the employees will follow it. This presents a true image of the company. It helps in maintaining the same culture throughout all the location of the company.
We can take the example of this case. In this case, the company is against bribery and kickbacks types of actions while if we have to run the business in another country, all such types of actions are considered as customary. So it creates the ethical dilemma and make the things difficult to do. I have only two options. First of all, I convinced my executives for the customary things of the other things because if we would not follow the practice of the other country, it would be difficult to run the business in the country. So it is important to consider and do as In Rome do as the Romans do. If my parent company does not allow me to follow this practice. I would have only one alternative either to convince the local officials for not following such type of the practice because it is against the law or to accelerate the matter to the higher officials. But it can be very time consuming. In the second option of accelerating the matter to the higher officials can create more hurdle for the company. But it will help in doing the business by following all the corporate values and norms of the company.
DQ RESPONSE 2
If I worked for a company where bribes and kickbacks are customary to the locals. I would report it to upper management, as this is not fair for the companies employees. Some employees may not want to participate in this kind of work environment. Companies should have code of conducts, that they expect their employees to follow. This allows them to maintain the same culture throughout all their locations. It also shows the true image of a company.
Using this as an example. The company is against bribery and kickbacks actions, but the locals are see it as customer. This crates an ethical dilemma and will make things difficult to do. I would consider two options; I would try to convince the executives of the company that we should not follow this practice of the other country, as it would be difficult to run this business in another country where this type of actions where customary. It is important to consider and do business as a thriving company, that wants whats best for their employees. I would also, try to convince the locals, that this type of code of conducts is not acceptable as it is not fair to employees. The second option would be to report this matter to higher officals, however, this could reate a hurdle for the company. This would help the compaby doing business by following all the corporate values and norms of the company. I believe if any country where bribes and kickback are alound, a company should not place their business in that country.
Sample Solution