MNCs are often caught between being placed at a disadvantage either by refusing to go along with a country$$s accepted practices, such as bribery, or being subject to criticism at home for using unethical tactics to get the job done. Large companies that have refused to participate have led the way in taking a moral stand because of their visibility; their potential impact on the local economy; and, after all, their ability to afford such a stance. Some other large companies, however, have not always taken a moral stand.

Whereas the upper limits of ethical standards for international activities are set by the individual standards of certain leading companies$$or$,$ more realistically, by the moral values of their top managers$$it is more difficult to set the lower limits of those standards; that limit is set in each situation by whether the laws are actually enforced in that location.

The bribery of officials is prohibited by law in all countries, but it still goes on as an accepted practice; often, it is the only way to get anything done. In such cases, the MNC managers have to decide which standard of behavior they will follow. What about the $$100$ bribe to get the computer off the rainy dock? William Norris says he told his managers to pay the $$100$ because to refuse would be taking things too far. Generally, Control Data did not yield to such pressure, though it said sales were lost as a result$\mathrm{.}57$

A specific ethical issue for managers in the international arena is that of questionable payments. These are business payments that raise significant questions of appropriate moral behavior either in the host nation or in other nations. Such questions arise out of differences in laws, customs, and ethics in various countries and whether the payments in question are political payments, extortion, bribes, sales commissions, or grease money$$payments to expedite routine transactions. Other common types of payments are made to speed the clearance of goods at ports of entry and obtain required certifications. They are called different names in different countries: tokens of appreciation, la mordida $($the bite,$$ in Mexico$),$ bastarella $($little envelope$$ in Italy$),$ and pot$-$de$-$vin $($jug of wine$$ in France$).$ For the sake of simplicity, all these types of questionable payments are categorized in this text as some form of bribery. In Mexico, for example, companies make monthly payments to the mail carriers, or their mail gets lost.

Most managers perceive bribery as $$endemic in business and government in parts of Africa and south and east Asia. Corruption and bribery are considered to be part of the culture and environment of certain markets, and will not simply go away.$58$ In some parts of Latin America, for example, customs officers are paid poorly and so are encouraged to take bribes to supplement their incomes. However, developed countries are not immune to bribery$$as demonstrated in $2015$ when the FIFA president of World Cup Soccer was under criminal investigation for bribery.

The dilemma for many managers operating abroad is how much to adhere to their own ethical standards in the face of foreign customs or how much to follow local ways to be competitive. Certainly, in some societies, gift giving is common to building social and familial ties, and such gifts incur obligation. Nevertheless, a bribe is different from a gift or other reciprocation, and those involved know that by whether it has a covert nature. In his book on bribes, Noonan takes the following position:

Bribery is universally shameful. There is not a country in the world that does not treat bribery as criminal on its books. $...$ In no country do bribetakers speak publicly of their bribes, nor do bribegivers announce the bribes they pay. No newspaper lists them. No one advertises that he can arrange a bribe. No one is honored precisely because he is a big briber or bribee. No one writes an autobiography in which he recalls the bribes he has taken or paid. $...$ Not merely the criminal law$$for the transaction could have happened long ago and prosecution be barred by time$$but an innate fear of being considered disgusting restrains briber and bribee from parading their exchange. Significantly, it is often the Westerner with ethnocentric prejudice who supposes that a modern Asian or African society does not regard the act of bribery as shameful in the way Westerners regard it$.$

However, Americans must be able to distinguish between harmless practices and actual bribery, between genuine relationships and those used as a cover$-$up$.$ To help them distinguish, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act $($FCPA$)$ of $1977$ was established, which prohibits U$.$S$.$ companies from making illegal payments, other gifts, or political contributions to foreign government officials for the purpose of influencing them in business transactions. The goal was to stop MNCs from contributing to corruption in foreign governments and to upgrade the image of the United States and its companies operating overseas. What is Bribery $($according to Deresky$).$ Why do MNCs engage in Bribery?