Risk management plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Risk management plan - Essay Example The risk management strategy also explains and outlines specific responsibilities that the campaigners should take into consideration in responding to various threats posing dangers for their project. The campaign on elimination of violence against women is has risks associated with it whereby it focuses on the fight for a specific gender group, which puts of the other gender in any participation to the campaigns Violence against women is commenced and administered by men; hence a campaign towards the eradication faces a major problem in the family set up whereby the male is in charge and feels justified to cause violence whenever necessary for example in those countries that women are regarded to be submissive to their husbands regardless of the situation. The campaign has a major problem on fiscal issues following that it is a not-for-profit move, which solely depends on the donations from well-wishers and donors. Procedure of creating a competition to determine the donors contribu ting the highest amount publicly on online communities such as Facebook or twitter is also a problem involved with the campaign. This specific Campaign pose a problem in such a way that they are more focused on reaching the persons on the social network whereas the majority population is well covered by mass media including radio and TV networks. The other main problem is the specific choice of the donations from the funds solicited during the campaigns as other areas which face violence on women will fill not considered; hence not fill adequate to participate on the walk day as well as through the campaigns. Finally, the campaign is time consuming and involving following posting daily blogs and pictures on the social networks and elimination of violence against women website respectively, making regular donations, and participating in the August delegation The unruly of publicly display of donors lies in the fact that those donating small donations will fill inadequate to continues supporting the campaign once the highest are rewarded. Consequently, the campaign should encourage more on the importance of any donation no matter how small it is instead of setting up competitions for donors. In addition, this competition is prone to divert the peoples focus from the main theme of campaigning towards the elimination of violence against women to a winning competition. However, it is important to recognize those who donates high amount of funds, not by rewarding them, but issuing them a public certification to feel honored, which is a great strategy to motivating more potential donors. The problem of finance in the campaign strategy is evident from the fact that the success of the commencement of the campaign depends solely on the analysis of what it will achieve in terms of soliciting funds for the walk. The virtual walk to be scheduled prior to the final walk day campaign has a challenge following its financial requirement to make it a success, which will make do nors fill like there are two walks for the day marking elimination of violence against women. To avoid this, the campaign should focus more on convincing individual to fund the walk on the actual day and encourage the mass the

Memo Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 14

Memo - Assignment Example This is known as sand box testing or file emulation (Malik). Another technique of doing a heuristic test is decompiling the suspected software’s source code and comparing it to known malware source code. If it marches the known malware source code, the user is also notified. This is known as file analysis. Keeping track of known viruses should also be done and investigations done to detect any possible new variants of the same (tools). This is referred to as generic detection. The basic detection functionality of heuristic detection involves finding false positives and false negatives. A threat to heuristic detection is the constant change of viruses which then may easily infiltrate into the computer system. To curb this, the number of false positives need to be limited and this leads to identification and quarantine of files which are not threats. Heuristic detection can also be bypassed through code injection. Code injection is when the virus software code is split into two parts. The core code which performs the malicious activities and the interface code which provides a mechanism for injecting the core code into the memory and executing it. Heuristic antiviruses cannot detect this. Metasploit framework is also used to bypass heuristic antiviruses. A stronger form of virus protection software is the use of antiviruses that implement a real time port monitor. This monitor actively identifies any malware that may have bypassed the antivirus

A Study of Internal and External Effects on Entrepreneurship in The Dissertation

A Study of Internal and External Effects on Entrepreneurship in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Dissertation Example The development of the telecommunication technology since the beginning of the current century has played a major role in the process of bringing a massive technological evolution and enhancement in the lives of the masses around the world. The rising level of internet connectivity and Wi-Fi penetration in various markets and regions around the world along with the factor of rising popularity of various sophisticated technology enabled gadgets like the Smartphones, tablets and laptops has played the role of a major catalyst in diffusing the technological and communication related advancement in markets around the world. It is important to state that the high levels of internet connectivity coupled with the rising acceptance of various end user technological devices has helped in the process of transforming the world in to a single highly connected entity. As a result of this technological transformation in to a well connected single virtual entity, various new trends are emerging fro m marketplaces around the world. The new trends which are emerging in the markets of both developed as well as emerging regions are often a by product of globalization as well as new innovation of incremental or radical nature in case of product or services. The rising globalization powered innovative product and service trends are playing an important role in triggering the consumer demand for various innovative products and services in the globally connected markets. As a result of the growing demand for new kinds of products and services in markets around the world, various new opportunities of business are emerging on a regular basis. To tap the new business opportunities that are emerging in various international markets, business organizations and enterprises located in different markets around the world are focusing on engaging in cross border trade activities like engaging in trade export or directly entering the new markets of growth. With the entry of new players of foreig n orientation in a particular market, the dynamics of market competition gets enhanced in a tremendous manner. The entry of new players in the market significantly increases the availability of homogeneous products and services in the markets, which directly leads to a rise of substitute products and services for the consumers. As a result, it can be simply said that the rise of consumer choices alters the power dynamics existing in the market from the sellers to the buyers. Apart from the rise of competition in various new markets, it is very important to consider the multiple macroeconomic issues that currently exist in the global markets. The current trends reveal that the growth prospects in most of the developing economies has slowed down in the recent times because of the influence of a variety of factors like high debt, corruption, tremendous currency fluctuations as well as lack of proper policy development. A region by region analysis of the various macroeconomic factors

Economic Distribution in the U.S. ,Why The Rich get richer Term Paper

Economic Distribution in the U.S. ,Why The Rich get richer - Term Paper Example This brings us to the basic question, and incidentally the title of this essay, why the rich get Richer? This paper strives to offer a basic understanding of the economic distribution of income and wealth in America and the reasons for such discrepancies, which further widen the gap between the rich and the poor, making the rich – richer in the process and at the same time, pushing the poor towards stark poverty. During the early 1980s era, several economists as well as researchers initiated reports concerning the average wages of American workers, and pointed out the fact that their wages were stagnant ever since the early 1970s and that the allocation of their earnings was, in fact, becoming more and more unequal, thereby widening the gap between the rich and the poor. Several explanations and suggestions were offered for such an occurrence. However one of the most significant of them was that the reason behind such a turn of events was the unemployment reallocation in the industrial composition of the country or the deindustrialization of the United States away from manufacturing industries to service oriented ones. It was believed that the average earnings of the workers in the service industry were relatively lower than that in the manufacturing industry. The repercussion of such a transformation with respect to the breadwinners belonging to the ‘middle – class’ hous eholds was evident, and the news of the steadily deteriorating American middle class, made headlines across the nation creating a great furore. Further apprehensions over mounting income disparity surfaced in the mid - 1980s with the publication of several books, reports and researches on the topic, which fuelled the anxiety that Americans were now facing an escalating disproportion of outlooks in accomplishing a stable middle class existence. The Economist stated that the gap between the rich and the poor is larger in the United States as

(poverty)socio-political factors influencing the mental health of an Essay

(poverty)socio-political factors influencing the mental health of an individual - Essay Example Poverty has a significant influence on physical and mental health. This paper presents a critique of the impact of poverty on the mental health of an individual. Poverty is strongly associated with social inequalities in the society. According to Nettleton (2006), unequal distribution of income leads to the emergence of a gap between different income groups yet such groups require the same basic needs. The underprivileged group suffers psychosocial anxiety that contributes to weakening health and death in case of prolonged stress. Poor social and physical infrastructures result in poor community health and mortality especially among the lowest social economic groups in such communities. In spite of stress, poor communities suffer frustration and unstable families and often exhibit tendencies towards domestic violence, criminal activities such as theft, murder and rape. These antisocial behaviors are also experienced in higher income groups but at a lower rate (Dalton et al. 2007). In one of my clinical placements I met a client named John who’s came from a poor neighborhood. He was worried about insecurity and was stressed after his d aughter was sexually assaulted by three young men. Hearden (2008) argues that the poor are exposed to hazardous environments and even when in employment are engaged in stressful, unfulfilling and depersonalizing activities. For example, John worked as a casual laborer in a skin tanning firm which was the only alternative available after his shop run out of stock as a result of rising cost of living that made him use part of the goods to feed his family of six. Such people often have no access to the essentials and services of life and are also subjugated by the main stream social class that is better informed regarding mental health. The poor are among the minority groups whose mental health is at risk due to the tendency to

Tree of knowledge Essay Example for Free

Tree of knowledge Essay In the Paradise Lost, Milton has created the character of Satan with unparalleled brilliance and heroic energy. Satan, the leader of the fallen angels, rises to the occasion with unusual strength and inspires his comrades with his undying conviction in his own ability and that of his followers. He refuses to accept his defeat with his strong conviction that â€Å"Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n† (Book -I. line 263). Satan not only convinces his audience but also charms them to plunge into action with his seductive brilliance of verbal persuasion. It is evident in his compelling speech to Beelzebub, his motivational appeal to his legions and in the final seductive speech of Eve. Milton presents Satan with a singularity of grandeur, of suffering and a ruined splendor. He depicts Satan as embodiment of the spirit of pride and ambition- ambition not as a virtue but as the fevered lust for power, which springs from self-exaltation. Satan’s resolve to accomplish the fall of man is because of his jealousy and his desire to assert his supremacy. It is his pride that stands at the back of all his actions. This pride and egotism vitiate all that is noble and good in him. In his compelling speech to Beelzebub he acknowledges their plight but stresses the fact they are strong now as they are still united. His rises himself as a tower of strength and states that they are in a better position to having known the strength of God. Previously it was unknown as it was untried. He declares â€Å"All is not lost; the unconquerable Will, And study of revenge, immortal hate, And courage never to submit or yield: (Book I lines 106-109) Thus, he instills confidence in Beelzebub inspiring him not to yield or surrender. He claims that God’s rule was in danger with imminent revolt from them at any time. He outlines his course of action to fight against God. He expresses his desire to defy God’s authority once again as he is against to ‘bow or sue for grace with suppliant knee’. Obviously, Satan speaks boastfully and words his wishful thinking. Beelzebub understands Satan’s trial of God’s strength, but worries about the loss of Heaven and grieves for the punishment they were given. Satan aptly replies using all his skill and reminding Beelzebub that their task is never to do any good, but always to spoil or pervert what God does. He urges him to leave the lake and join him for reassembling their followers. It is noteworthy that Satan projects himself as infallible though he is actually fallen. He maintains that he neither changes nor fails. On the contrary his is a story of degradation and ultimate failure. As the poem progresses Satan becomes less compelling degrading himself from a heroic warrior to a snake ultimately. Satan’s extraordinary powers of persuasion and oration are best expressed in his most appealing and inspiring speech to the fallen angels. He begins his speech first by soothing them with words of hope. The very beginning of the speech raises the spirit of his followers with his address â€Å"O Myriads of immortal Spirits, O Powers Matchless (Book I, lines 622-23). He empathizes with their suffering by acknowledging their dire situation. He acknowledges that the better part remains with them and stresses that the power of mind. He tells him from his past experience and knowledge that a fitting answer to the God would be taking revenge by working in close design by fraud or guile. He tells them about the creation of new world and the new creatures. Then they build Pandemonium to assert themselves of their power. Being a valiant leader he draws his fallen angels together and instills confidence in them saying stirs them to action with his most inspiring words. Satan is presented with extraordinary powers of oration and persuasion. His words have become the most inspiring quotations in literature. For example the quotations â€Å"the mind is its own place, and in itself / can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven† (Book I lines 254-55). and â€Å"Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven. † (Book I lines 263) are electrifying and haunt the minds of his audience. Milton honestly builds the character of Satan to great heights only to show that all evil is powerful and seems attractive. It is this power and attraction that cause the down fall of all including Satan and his followers. It should be noted that beneath the attraction lies the inherent wickedness and false ambition. Satan’s seductive speech to Eve brings out all the skill and powers of persuasion in him. It involves trickery, flattery and appeal to the commonsense and emotions. The story of the Paradise Lost reaches climax in the Book IX as Satan successfully seduces Eve and takes revenge on God by degrading himself into the form of a serpent finally. Satan, who wished but never hoped to find Eve alone, finds her alone in the rose bower. He feels happy at it as it helps him to convince her easily when she is alone without Adam by her side. He feels he can use all his powers of persuasion without much defense from Eve. He is so overcome by her beauty, that for a moment, he forgets his evil intentions, and is ‘stupidly good. ’ She is gently supporting the stalks of flower plants and she herself is like the ‘fairest unsupported flower, away from her support. The spot where she is working surpasses all those famous gardens in mythology, history and the Bible. But the hot hell always burns in him and that reminds him of his present mission. He recollects his thoughts of mischief and takes advantage of the loneliness of eve as he wants of some marvelously beautiful tricks to engage her attention (Book IX, lines 494-531). He looks like a divine serpent with burnished neck of verdant gold and so on. He stands erect amidst circling spires. He is more beautiful than all the famous of myth and legend. Eve is first attracted by his incomparable beauty and when he starts speaking to her with human voice, she is greatly surprised; Satan begins with flattering the beauty of Eve, which is a method to win her favor. (Book IX, lines 533 -548). He says that such an angelic beauty is wasted in the lonely forest where she is looked at by only one man. She should be served by Goddesses. Eve expresses her sense of wonder at a snake taking sense like a human being. The tempter then fabricates his story. He says that he has obtained a recent promotion to human sense and status after eating and fruits of a tree in the garden, (Book IX, lines 568 -612). His strategy proves successful as Eve is surprised and wants to know where that tree is. The serpent (Satan in disguise) is too happy to lead her to that tree. Thus that leader of the devils leads (or misleads) the first woman to that fateful tree as a wandering fir origins fastuas or will of the wisp conducts a lost traveler into bogs and mires, where he is swallowed up, far from any help (Book IX, lines 634 – 642) . On seeing that tree, Eve immediately recognizes it to be the forbidden tree of knowledge. She tells the serpent that God has commanded them not to eat the fruit of that. So their coming there is fruitless, though the tree is full of fruits. The serpent is astonished that scandal should have been started about so excellent a tree. As if he is greatly concerned with Adam and Eve, he expresses anger at God, who deprived them of the pleasure and profit of eating the fruit. In a great emotional fervor, he begins his lecture, and looks more impressive than all the great orators of the world (Book IX, lines 665 -668). Satan is at his best in his seductive brilliance of persuasion. His words accompanied by his action have a compelling effect on Eve. First, he turns to the tree and plays a tribute to its great virtues. Then he turns to Eve and presents his long drawn argument (Book IX, lines 684 -733). He asks her not to believe in God’s threats of death. â€Å"Ye shall not die’, he declares. The fruit has no killing power, and he himself is the standing example for it. After eating the fruit he says he is not dead but his vital, mental and spiritual faculties are enriched. The serpent (Satan) first surprises her with his physical and intellectual abilities. Then he uses his logical reasons in and pretends very rational in his approach. He says that when it is not forbidden to the beast (the snake), it need not be forbidden to human being as well. God will not get energy for such a minor trespass but will praise the adventurous spirit of Adam and Eve: The fruit gives them knowledge of good and evil. Knowledge of good is desirable, knowledge of evil is also necessary for without knowing it, how can one avoid it? Here anyway, the fruit has to be eaten. God, therefore, cannot hurt them, and still he is just. If he is not a just God, he need not be obeyed at all. Hence, anyway, there is no need to follow God’s word. Satan excels in his brilliance in putting a series of reasons and questions to innocent and helpless Eve. He questions Eve why God has forbidden them from eating the fruit? He does it only to keep them ignorant, low and in his control. The moment they eat the fruit their eyes will be fully opened and become Gods, knowing good and evil. If he, a beast by tasting it, could attain human status, surely she a woman, by tasting the same fruit, ought to become at least a Goddess. If according to God’s words she dies the death only leads to a new birth as a Goddess which is good. Satan goes to the extent of proving that man is not inferior to God in any way and stresses that man also should have every thing as God has. He seems superb when he says that human beings have every right to become Gods for, how are they inferior to Gods? In fact, the earth created for man, is better than heaven, for earth is created later by God himself, with all heavens defects rectified. Above all how does man offend the Gods in eating the fruit? What do they lose if man becomes intelligent? Or if everything goes by Gods intention and Will, how does the tree impart knowledge without His will? (Satan means to say that tree has the intrinsic power and God has no claim or control over it anybody who eats the fruits becomes wise). Thus Satan concludes his speech saying. â€Å"These and many more causes import our need of this fair fruit,† (Book IX, lines 730-731) Satan’s guileful words have won any easy entrance into Eve’s heart. She believes his words to be true. She feels hungry as the lunch time approaches and the attractive color and fragrance of the fruit, in addition to the tempting words of Satan, encourage her to touch and taste them. Yet, she first considered it within herself (Book IX, lines. 745 -779), It is doubtless that the fruit is virtuous (powerful) which made the mute snake speak. God also did not conceal its merits and told them that it is the Tree of knowledge. But his forbidding â€Å"commends thee more. † Human mind runs towards forbidden things. If God has forbidden them from being wise such prohibition binds not. The threat of death also appears false as the serpent still lives. Then ‘For us alone was death invented? † The beast, ‘friendly to man’ has brought news about his good experience. So saying she reaches for the fruit and eats it. Eve falls an easy prey to the enticing words of the Serpent. Satan’s use of trickery, flattery and his seeming logical reasons had their effect on innocent Eve. Had she not been taken by surprise by the charming golden serpent with a human voice, Eve might have found his arguments specious. His reasons are not based on any truth or reality. All his reasons are based on self deception and pride and are aimed at tempting her to eat the fruit. Thus, Satan with his extraordinary powers of persuasion and heroic energy not only convinces his followers but also tempts them for taking revenge against God Obviously, his actions and conviction are based on self-deception and his false ambition. Works Cited Paradise Lost, John Milton http://www. dartmouth. edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/index. shtml

Bribery In International Marketing Marketing Essay

Bribery In International Marketing Marketing Essay Bribery and corruption is a way of life in many countries and these practices affect the way international business is regularly conducted. However, in most of these countries, it is illegal to offer or receive bribes or engage in corrupt practices. Yet these corrupt practices are a part of the culture or normal way of doing businesses. Unless companies conform to such practices, in many cases, international business cannot be transacted. This essay will try to provide discussion about bribery and corruption in international trade, with examples from very different point of view in according to the principal ethical system, despite whatever religious, realistic and nature. Analyses of the case of Siemens bribery scandal related to ethical issues will be investigated. Bribery is an important issue of concern for many companies. Confrontation of bribery vary across many countries, but everyone has a different concept about it, such as in Hong Kong and Greece, here, managers are less critical of bribery in certain situations than that of the Americas. Paying bribery carries with it a great risk to damaging the companys standing with the country which the briberies are paid, and at home too. Moreover, there is also the risk that the commercial culture of the company will become more open-minded of several of other practices at the legal issues. There is also evidence to suggest that those countries with the reputation for bribery and corruption damage themselves, as it reflects in their economic growth, has a low rates for high level of corruption, like that of Nigeria. It is true to say that bribery in international markets can lead to astonishment, bewilderment and misunderstanding for expatriates, at both organisational and personal levels. This essay examines bribery from two viewpoints and tries to develop procedures to bridge them. The first viewpoint is relativist, accepting that different cultures have different ethical values and not imposing an expatriates values onto another culture. The second viewpoint is universalist, averring that ethics apply anywhere in the world, and is based on psychological and economic grounds. To resolve these two approaches, it is suggested that trying to understand the cultural forces that determine home and overseas attitudes to the many forms of bribery, this is a first step to adjustment. The next step is the development of a global or regional code of conduct that allows flexibility within a gray zone. The result could be an evolving code that adapts to the many dimensions of bribery for each countrys situation, in a manner that is a negotiation between the cultural, psychological and economic values of an expatriates organisation and of local officials. Introduction International marketing is complex as foreign environments are different from home environments, as they differ on physical, cultural, legalpolitical, economic, competitive and distributive dimensions (Ball and McCulloch 1996). Due to these environments, marketers can adapt parts of the marketing mix for each overseas country or region (Hoang 1997), for example, a company might alter its packaging, distribution channels and advertisements in each of its international markets. These marketing mix issues are not the only ones facing international marketers. Cultural management issues are important too, and bribery is the most important of these, at least for Australian and US marketing managers (Armstrong et al. 1990). For example, should a firm pay a customs official to process a shipment through normal channels? Should a firm pay education expenses in its home country for the child of a prince in an overseas country that the firm wants to enter? Should payments to distributors be paid into two separate accounts when one is apparently illegal? Should funds in the public relations budget be paid to someone who appears to do nothing for public relations other than being related to someone in power? Issues like these are important to someone from a culture where these activities are unusual. 1937 Nevertheless, little research has been done on the ethics of international marketing (Armstrong and Sweeney 1994), and interest in ethical issues in general has been mainly empirical (Donaldson 1989). Moreover, levels of corruption vary widely around the world, as seen in a survey of 52 countries by Transparency International (1997). Furthermore, the issue of bribery in particular is often considered within only one of the six different environments above, and bribery is sometimes discussed in the legal environment chapter of a textbook for example, Keegan and Green 1997), where the effect of the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) on that countrys ability to compete with Europe in international markets is covered (Graham 1984). Alternatively, bribery is sometimes in the public relations part of a textbook (Phillips Doole and Lowe 1994), where it is discussed along with concern about corporate citizenship and employee safety. In addition to this, bribery can be treated as a separate, ethical issue, usually based on cultural issues (Donaldson 1996). However, the aim of this essay is to consider bribery from across several environments such as legal, cultural, economic and competitive, in order to develop a managerial approach to the issue. Contribution is an integrated and up-to-date review of these several viewpoints in a form that international marketing managers might find useful. As well as, the review is from a non-US view, while several other papers have a US view that is different from other developed countries (Donaldson 1996; Mayo 1992; Across the Board 1993). It is concluded that managers can develop a code of conduct for the several dimensions of bribery that bridges the relativist and universalist views. This essay has four main sections. Firstly, bribery in developing countries is looked at from a Western view point that aims toshow the roots of bribery may be common to both. This leads into a cultural, relativist view of bribery, which suggests that bribery is appropriate if it is normal in the culture of an overseas country. However, counter arguments to this relativist view are then presented, including psychological and economic arguments. Finally, facing these two contrasting positions, the essay considers how management could handle bribery. In this essay, bribery is defined broadly: bribery is offering, or promising to pay, anything of value to influence an act or decision by officials in a foreign government, including politicians, a political party or a bureaucrat to assist in obtaining, retaining, or directing business to any person (based on the FCPAs definition). This definition does not cover issues such as human rights or child labor use, sexual harassment or industrial espionage. Our definition of dealing with officials about business matters is the one of major concern to marketing managers in particular. 1938 Four Roots of Bribery From a Western point of view, bribery sometimes appears to be caused merely by the greed of locals, especially poor locals. however bribery has four, more complex roots which appear to exist in both Western and developing countries. Firstly, a bribe can be simply linked to a tip to insure promptness at a restaurant, just as a restaurant kitchen can sometimes have inefficient processes that require human involvement to overcome, so can the bureaucracy of a developing country. Bribes may be seen to be a way of purchasing government services when a government cannot afford to provide salaries that are adequate for the service to be provided free to every person (Tullock 1996). Thus, bribery may be a form of privatisation that makes the wealthy who can afford it, pay for a service. Indeed, the relatively high-principled FCPA that tries to limit the involvement of US firms in bribery, actually permits payments to officials to do their normal duties while disallowing payments to high-level officials for special favors. A prime example is a US business person can bribe a customs officer to expedite an inspection but not to skip it altogether. However, the next three roots of bribery may not be allowed by the FCPA. Secondly, a bribe can be considered to be a normal promotion activity. Such as that of BMW cars are provided free to family members of politicians in Western countries for the spillover effect on the prestige of the car. If the wife of the Premier of Victoria, Australia has free use of a BMW, why cannot officials in overseas countries who are close to real power also be given gifts to help promotion. Similarly, many Western companies provide corporate hospitality at sporting venues such as at the Ascot, Henley and Wimbledon in the name of promotion (Ramsay 1990). Therefore, how is this kind of promotion different from some bribery in developing countries? This leads to the third root of bribery, which is related to the general idea of gifts to show respect and gratitude to a person in a relationship, at certain times. Gift giving is common at Christmas time in Western countries, and gift giving at birthday and holidays may serve the same purpose in overseas countries (Onkvist and Shaw 1997). As interactions between buyers and sellers proceed, a social relationship is developed that can be enriched by gift giving. Social relationships are often characterised by the exchange of gifts and hospitality as trust develops between the parties. In seeking to build relationships of trust, the exchange of gifts may be seen as an entirely appropriate act of social bonding. (Wood 1995, p. 11). This reciprocal gift and favor giving is more important in some Asian countries than in the West, simply because of their cultural values (Hofstede 1991, p. 169). Finally, in food and other markets in developing markets, the occasional expatriate customers are usually asked to pay more than locals because the stallholder knows that his or her usual price is usually a far smaller proportion of the discretionary spending of an expatriate than that of a local. A dual price system 1939 reflects the dual economies that exist in many developing countries and do not exist to the same extent in western countries. That is, a poorly paid overseas official with an extended family living in his small house may consider it reasonable to ask a wealthy foreign business person staying at a five star hotel to pay more than the usual low prices for labor and other services in his or her country. Thus a bribe may be seen to improve equity just as a progressive taxation system aims to do in developed countries. The inequity without bribes in a developing country may be even greater than in a market or a taxation system of a developed country, because the official will have high local power from their immediate and extended family, friends and political party despite having low monetary wealth. In contrast to this , the foreign business person has lower power despite having higher monetary wealth. That is, bribery may not violate the Christian but sometimes be considered to be a universal doctrine of love you neighbor like yourself, but actually affirm it (contra Coady in Way 1996, p. 19). Overall in brief then, bribery is seen to exist and has roots that exist in both a Western and an overseas countries. Cultural View of Bribery Implicit in the discussion above is a relativist, cultural understanding of bribery that what is right or wrong, good or bad, depends on ones culture. However, this argument implies that there are no golden rules underlying most human behavior (Way 1996, p. 19), that is, ones own culture is the major influence on views about bribery. This concept of culture therefore deserves to be explored further. Culture has five dimensions: the relationship between the individual and the collective group, power differentials within society, masculinity and femininity, dealing with uncertainty and Confucian dynamism (Hofstede 1991). Several of these dimensions strongly influence views about bribery. The first dimension of individualism/collectivism would appear to be the most related to bribery (Tanzi 1995; in Onkvist and Shaw 1997, p. 175). Developing countries are more collective than developed countries, that is, officials place greater emphasis on their responsibilities to their own extended families and friends, than do Western business people. However individualism/collectivism is not the only cultural dimension affecting bribery. Developing countries are often high on the second culture dimension of power distance, that is, individual officials with which marketing managers deal have major obligations to their supervisors. Thus, the officials will support a bribery culture if it is related to power as some of the four roots of culture above were shown to be, and especially so if their own superiors accept and foster bribery. In addition to this, some Asian countries are more concerned with 1940 virtuous behavior than the abstract truth (which is related to the dimension of Confucian dynamism). An officials actual behavior toward his or her immediate and extended family, and toward friends and superiors is more important than abstract universal values applying to all humans, to which some Westerners cling (Hofstede 1991). Onkvist and Shaw (1997, p. 175) appropriately sum up this relativist, cultural view of bribery: the concept of arms-length relationships would seem strange and alien. It would even seem immoral. The idea that, economically speaking, one should treat relatives and friends in the same way as strangers would appear bizarre. In brief, a cultural view of bribery initially suggests that expatriate marketing managers should simply fit in with local bribery practices wherever he or she goes. However, the cultural relativism approach to bribery developed above cannot be the basis for a marketing managers approach to bribery, because awareness of cultural differences is only the starting point for international cooperation. That is, a marketing manager cannot completely adapt to a different culture and deal in bribes with no regard for his or her own cultural values, for an appreciation of anothers culture does not mean forgoing ones own culture. Successful intercultural encounters presuppose that the partners believe in their own values. If not, they have become alienated persons, lacking a sense of identity (Hofstede 1991, p. 237). To handle the issue of bribery comprehensively for a real world individuals involved in business, managers need to consider issues other than cultural differences per se, and we turn to these relatively universalist issues next. Economic and Managerial Issues of Bribery Economic advantages of bribery for the receiving official and for the company that receives preferential treatment ahead of its competitors, are obvious. However, there are economic disadvantages for both the taking and the giving country. First, bribery can send incorrect signals about demand price and supply cost in a market economy. More directly, bribery adds to the cost of contracts and goods roughly by five percent in Asia (Kraar 1995), this could perhaps be even more in some instances. Secondly, it distorts the decision-making processes too. When contractors are selected on the basis of what the decision-maker will receive personally rather than the contractors ability to do the best, lowest cost job, then the whole economy suffers misallocation of resources. This form of bribery was perhaps a major influence in the recent meltdown of some Asian currencies. Thirdly, bribery can lead to industrial standards being dropped with social and economic repercussions upon the firm. For example, workers may work in substandard conditions that may impair productivity, people may die in buildings that collapse due to building standards inappropriate, and the environment and firms future may be hurt by over-zealous timber-felling. 1941 Moreover, there are other disadvantages of bribery that are particularly important for the giving country. Firstly, home and foreign customers help pay for uneconomic spending in bribes, often for the enrichment of a few overseas individuals who become more wealthy than ordinary citizens of the giving country. In 1995, bribery cost businesses almost $45 billion worldwide (Kaltnhauser 1996). Secondly, bribery could be used against the giving organisation, in the case of managers returning to the home country and rejoining the salesforce at home could accept bribes for practices that the giving organisation does not want done at home. That is, a relativist position that allows a match between expatriate individuals and the corrupt organisations overseas, may also foster at home the separation of personal and organisational moral standards, with consequences at home that the organisation does not want. In brief then, bribery has economic and social disadvantages that a purely cultural understanding leading to a relativist attitude to it, may hide. How Can Managers Handle Bribery in a Competitive Market? Given the two contrasting views about bribery above, what can managers in a non-US company do to bridge the gap between a relativist and a universalist approach to ethics. The practices and what managers in a US firm do is clear, they obey the FCPA or get around it by channeling funds through an agent who then handles the bribery behind a screen. Some managers might try to offset a competitors bribe with a better, total product You might offer a lower price, a better product, better distribution or better advertising to offset the benefit of the bribe to the decision influencer (Keegan 1989, p. 201). This US position is an idealist position that many non-US managers may not adopt, for it assumes that the better, total product will win the contract, when in fact, bribery occurs to oftentimes successfully ensure that it does not. Moreover, competing firms from European countries and Australia are allowed to treat bribes as a tax-deductible business expense, reducing the after-tax effect of the bribe. In April 1996, the OECD passed a resolution saying bribes should not be taxdeductible and in 1993, Transparency International, a not-for-profit organisation with chapters in 40 countries, tried to increase awareness of briberys existence, but anti-foreign bribery legislation outside the United States does not yet exist. Moreover, one is never sure of the level of bribes that competitors are offering for a project, and so deciding on how much to improve the total product to fight bribery is difficult. In addition, bribery is sometimes paid for day-to-day operations as well as a project, and so discussion of a better, total product may be of limited usefulness. For instance, if bribes are not paid by an individual firm, it may experience bureaucratic delays on wharves and in warehouses and its goods may 1942 be stolen, while its bribe-paying competitors do not experience these costly problems. In brief, curbing bribery from an idealistic position may be quixotic until the United Nations or a similar organisation arranges for a multinational, legal approach to it. Given the present, imperfect world within which companies operate, some more options to handle bribery are available. One option is to choose to internationalise into the less-corrupt countries. Clear examples of corrupt countries are China, Indonesia and India, which are rated among the most corrupt countries to do business in the world after Russia; indeed, corruption in Indonesiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦is almost a way of life. Only Singapore is more squeaky-clean than most Western countries (Hard graft in Asia 1995, p. 61). Organisation code of ethics. There is another option to approaching the ethical gaps in international marketing. Firstly, within the home firm, managers could develop an organisation code of ethics for any non-home country within which it operates, or maybe for a particular region of many countries. For all these countries, this code would outline the degree of standardisation and adaptation in each of eight or so dimensions of bribery, such as expediting bureaucratic processes, promotion, corporate hospitality, gifts, dual prices, wage rates, occupational health and safety standards, and lobbying to influence government policies. The code would take into consideration the cultural, legal-political, economic, competitive and distributive environments of each foreign market and the home organisation. For instance, it might specify when bribes appear on an invoice and when they may not (adapted Cadbury 1987). Moreover, acknowledging the greatest differences between an expatriates and his or her home organizations ethical systems, and the local environments ethical standards, this code might specify when some purchases or tenders are outsourced away from the organisation to a local agent. familiarisation tour of the home organisation would help home country managers appreciate overseas operations, and helping with scholarships to home country universities would foster long-term links when the students return. Of course, managers need to know relevant national and international laws or hire reputable lawyers who know local laws and customs. Although local legal and judicial systems can be underdeveloped, flawed and flouted (for example, with bribes), a firm may have in its global code that local laws will always be observed, even if the risks involved in flouting them, even though competitors may be prepared to take the risks. Finally, to help implementation of the code, the organisation could institute and code of ethics sensitisation training before managers enter an overseas country and when they return, based on cross-cultural sensitisation sessions like those discussed in Hofstede (1991, p. 232). Ethics audits could also be carried out, emphasising improvement and learning about the processes used, such as TQM continual improvement programs do. Furthermore, these audits would foster an evolving awareness of ethical considerations for each of the eight dimensions in a particular organisation, and in a particular country. Conclusion Evidence suggests that bribery is a fact of life in international marketing that can lead to astonishment, bewilderment and misunderstanding for expatriates at both organisational and personal levels. Two viewpoints about bribery were examined. The first viewpoint was relativist, accepting that bribery has the same roots in Western and other countries and so different ethical systems may be simply the result of different cultural values. In contrast, the second, universalist viewpoint is that a set of ethical values applies anywhere in the world, based on psychological and economic grounds. To bridge these two views, it is strongly suggested to try to understand the cultural forces that determine home and overseas attitudes to the many forms of bribery, which will indeed be a first step to adjustment. The next step is to develop a global or regional code of conduct that allows flexibility within a gray zone for some situations in particular countries, based on win-win adjustments. The result could be an evolving code of conduct that adapts to the many dimensions of bribery for each countrys situation, in a manner that is a negotiation between the cultural, psychological and economic values of an expatriates organisation and of local officials. 1945