The Gray Zone

In the culture of modern business, what is wrong and what is right often becomes a hazy line. For example, when a client extends an invitation to dinner or a weekend trip, should you take this as an innocent gesture or as a possible bribe? These same ethics and situations become even more difficult to separate when business taking place in foreign lands.
The author presents two different views on this subject. There is a broad spectrum as to how business scholars weigh ethics while managers are working abroad. The first view is that of cultural relativism. By definition, this is the idea that no one culture is better than another, therefore ethics in one country may not be tolerated in a country fifty miles away. For example, in the United States, bribery is not a tolerated business practice. If a manger from the United States traveled to Indonesia, he or she would find that bribery of a public official is not only legal, but a common practice.
The second view is ethica...