International Businesses Adapt to New Cultures

This essay was written at 3pm on 26th February 2009 in the United States.  At present, the country is going through a major economic recession.  Among many problems accompanying this recession is the inaccessibility of healthcare due to high prices, which are undoubtedly led by high demand.  There remain around 10 to 20 million illegal immigrants in the United States today.  To many Americans it is obvious that immigrants are raising the demand of goods and services in the United States, thereby raising prices.  Only by checking the immigration policy and trying to control illegal immigration with stricter measures than before could the United States hope to achieve a balance in its health care needs, thereby making healthcare easily accessible to all.  But, America understands that immigrants benefit its economy.  Referring to them as ‘illegal’ is considered derogatory by many, just as racism toward African Americans is banned.

     Needless to say, it was not easy for African Americans to struggle against racism.  If the country had adopted the business mindset, however, the process of banning racism against blacks would have been rather swift.  Reid’s (2005) article, “Business is Business” describes the business mindset thus: international businesses selling to cultures beyond their own must adapt to those cultures if they must successfully market and sell their products in other countries.  Businesses, unlike nations and invaders, do not have to debate the question of whether to respect or disrespect other cultures or the sociopolitical environments of other countries.  Rather, as Reid puts it, ‘business is business,’ and international businesses are out to sell their goods and/or services instead of trying to change the politics of the nations they have opted to sell to.

     In this way, according to me, international businesses act as some of the best ambassadors of the nations they are based in.  Reid offers the following example of Microsoft’s presence in China to illustrate this point: because China is a non-democratic country, Microsoft had to ban the words, “democracy” and “freedom” from its Chinese bloggers’ website (Reid).  After all, the organization desired to go on selling its products to Chinese customers without hurting their political sentiments (Reid).

     Reid writes about a “trade-off” in this process (Reid).  But, I do not suppose it is necessary for Microsoft and other organizations adapting to different cultures to believe in this trade-off.  Microsoft and other international businesses desire to sell their goods abroad.  Promotion of democracy in foreign countries is not a part of their mission statements in any case.  This is precisely the reason why Reid’s article is titled, “Business is Business.”  In other words, there is a difference between business and politics.

     I believe if international businesses were to try to change cultures of other countries, they would be altogether banned from functioning in those countries.  Nobody likes invaders.  Five people contacted for their reactions to the topic agreed with this viewpoint, thereby validating Reid’s article.  As the author describes, businesses are not required to catch criminals either.  I trust the fact that businesses must be ethical regardless of where they function.  Still, it is unreasonable for an international business to expect all its customers to accept and adhere to all conventions of the country that the business originated in.

     Today, America is being led by an African American president and almost every school in the country discusses the importance of respecting diverse cultures.  Diversity of cultures, in my opinion, must be looked upon as richness on our planet.  Besides, globalization or the integration of world markets entail that international businesses must manage diversity.  Diversity management involves acceptance of differences; respect and tolerance for people representing all cultures and from varied backgrounds; and the achievement of organizational goals by making the best of diversity, e.g. by gathering novel ideas from employees of different nationalities.  As one of the people contacted for their reactions to the topic mentioned, even if international businesses were to try to change the cultures of their employees from varied backgrounds, they would fail.  Hence, international businesses are required to maintain relationships based on universal ethical principles, that is, trust, honesty, responsibility, and integrity.  Relationships that are founded on ethical principles with business partners, governments, customers, employees, and other stakeholders are expected to go a long way in helping the international business succeed.

     Another individual contacted for his reaction to the topic enhanced my knowledge of the topic with the following information.  As the developed world tightens its corporate governance laws to stop menaces such as financial fraud in their tracks – developing countries, providing cheap labor for the industrialized world, are asked to adopt the same laws for international organizations to achieve a state of near-perfect corporate governance.  This is another issue of importance in the field of international business today.  As an example, the Chinese organization cannot stop the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States from taking its safety measures before Chinese food and medical products are marketed and sold in U.S. markets.  Consumers in the U.S. have recently dealt with health-related threats thanks to international sales and marketing.  It is for this reason that the Food and Drug Administration of the United States also wants to institute its safety laws for foods and medical products sold to the U.S. consumer by the Indian, the Latin American, and the Middle Eastern organisation.  Products sold by developing countries are of particular concern.  And, of course, the consumer is the biggest stakeholder as far as international marketing and sales of foods and medical products are concerned.

     Seeing that markets in the United States are among the biggest in the world for goods produced in developing countries, it is in the best interest of the Chinese organisation to allow the Food and Drug Administration of the United States to assure that its foods and medical products are safe for the U.S. consumer.  ‘Business is business.’  Then again, the Food and Drug Administration is not allowed to cross the lines of reasonable business practices as it institutes American drug safety laws in a foreign country.  To put it another way, promoting liberalism in China or checking criminal records of Chinese organizational chiefs is not the task given the Food and Drug Administration.  Using the example of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Reid states that even “[g]ood works are on a different agenda.”  International businesses must be concentrating on profit maximization with ethics in mind, inclusive of respecting diverse cultures that they interact with.  None of the individuals contacted for a reaction to the topic disagreed with this.  In fact, one of them added that in international business, the Golden Rule, that is, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,’ is rather meaningful.  After all, American consumers would not appreciate if Chinese companies try to sell the opposites of democracy as well as freedom with their products in the American market.

References

Reid, D. M. (2005, Jun 19). Business is Business. USA Today. Retrieved Feb 26, 2009, from

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-06-19-oppose_x.htm.