• 1. Discuss ethical uncertainty in view of international gifts and bribery for business managers and employees to do business overseas with ethical certainty. 2. Explain the meaning of cross cultural ethics in the business world as described in this case study. 3. In this case study, the writer is using the term "culturalist". What meaning do you think the writer intends to make with this term in view of the business world?

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Cultural Ethics and International Bribery Gift or Bribe or Both? The Entrepreneur magazine article posed a problem for Americans going overseas to do business. In some places, passing money under the table is necessary to spark negotiations and win contracts. However, bribery is illegal in the United States, and US law makes it illegal for Americans to do that kind of thing abroad. Gifts, on the other hand, are allowed. But, according to the Entrepreneur article, it can be difficult to determine the difference between a gift and a bribe. In some cultures, a gesture may be a gift, and in others it looks like a bribe. Looking at this uncertainty, what a culturalist sees is not ambiguity about whether handing the money over to a potential client is a legal gift or an illegal bribe. That is not it at all. A culturalist sees it as both a gift and a bribe. In one culture-a nation overseas where the payment is occurring and where similar payments always occur when business is getting done there are no moral qualms. It is right to give a cash gift because that is the rule of the country; it is the way things are commonly and properly done there. By contrast, from the perspective of American business culture, the conclusion that is drawn with equal force is that it is an immoral bribe because that is what US customs and normal practices tell us. International Bribery Culturalists see moral rules as fixed onto specific societies, but that does not help anyone to know what to do when confronted with an unfamiliar set of beliefs. How, the important question is, does a culturalist act when forced to make decisions in a place and among people whose beliefs are different and unfamiliar? The Entrepreneur interview with Steve Veltkamp provides one answer. What can you do if your overseas associate demands a bribe? Veltkamp does not recommend asking embassies or consulates for assistance, as "they have to stick to the official line." Instead, he believes the best resource in almost every country of the world is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where you can find Americans who live in the country and understand how things are done." Cultural Ethics and International Bribery Gift or Bribe or Both? The Entrepreneur magazine article posed a problem for Americans going overseas to do business. In some places, passing money under the table is necessary to spark negotiations and win contracts. However, bribery is illegal in the United States, and US law makes it illegal for Americans to do that kind of thing abroad. Gifts, on the other hand, are allowed. But, according to the Entrepreneur article, it can be difficult to determine the difference between a gift and a bribe. In some cultures, a gesture may be a gift, and in others it looks like a bribe. Looking at this uncertainty, what a culturalist sees is not ambiguity about whether handing the money over to a potential client is a legal gift or an illegal bribe. That is not it at all. A culturalist sees it as both a gift and a bribe. In one culture-a nation overseas where the payment is occurring and where similar payments always occur when business is getting done there are no moral qualms. It is right to give a cash gift because that is the rule of the country; it is the way things are commonly and properly done there. By contrast, from the perspective of American business culture, the conclusion that is drawn with equal force is that it is an immoral bribe because that is what US customs and normal practices tell us. International Bribery Culturalists see moral rules as fixed onto specific societies, but that does not help anyone to know what to do when confronted with an unfamiliar set of beliefs. How, the important question is, does a culturalist act when forced to make decisions in a place and among people whose beliefs are different and unfamiliar? The Entrepreneur interview with Steve Veltkamp provides one answer. What can you do if your overseas associate demands a bribe? Veltkamp does not recommend asking embassies or consulates for assistance, as "they have to stick to the official line." Instead, he believes the best resource in almost every country of the world is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where you can find Americans who live in the country and understand how things are done."

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