Foreign Bribary Essay, Research Paper

Since moral standards vary across cultures, firms that develop in global markets have to face more complex ethical issues than if they just made business in one country and one culture. Laws and customs in one country don’t necessarily agree with the laws and customs from another country and that is what makes the international business system so complex. In many cases it is recommended to honor customs in the country where business is being held, but there is a lot of controversy with this measure due to the fact that individuals or groups of people may be affected by this measure.

Global ethical issues should be addressed by a global organization such as the World Trade Organization and international laws should be applied to this matter. Today, exist many organizations that try to work these problems. In 1997 a treaty that outlawed the practice of bribing foreign government officials was negotiated and agreed by 29 nations that form part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The United States outlawed foreign bribing 22 years ago but it wasn’t until now that other nations followed suit. Ethical issues abroad is a topic that is still in a very early stage of development but is also a very delicate one. It requires a great amount of effort from all the nations to control the wrongdoings in the business environment according to a general concept of ethical values since they all differ from country to country.