Anti-bribery laws in the U.S: Ethics and Airbus

International business is risky especially when companies involved play by a different set of rules. Knowing the differences in culture, politics and the primary legal environments of a host country, allows the companies to conduct business and make quality decisions based on the business climate, creating a marketing mix specific to each country and region (CSU, module 3, 2014). Detailed research helps companies create a solid marketing mix, but does not guarantee that the obstacles of payoff’s and bribery won’t hinder the outcome. Below the surface level of many sales negotiations, like those seen in our case study of Boeing and Airbus, are driven not on their marketing mix, quality, reputation or reach, but rather on power, bribery, politics and corruption, which plays a very real role in international business negotiations.

Anti-bribery laws in the U.S. were established to prevent the rampant corruption exhibited in the Airbus case study. Similar anti-corruption laws do not exist in many of the host countries the U.S. does business with. Host county’s laws and regulations take on different forms especially when power, money and politics are involved, manipulating or creating a new set of rules to benefit their own selfish needs. Savvy sales negotiators, like those at Airbus, seek opportunities through loop holes, off shore accounts and large sums of bribery money, to entice country officials or others with the authority to make purchases to commit to Airbus. A more uniform worldwide approach to international laws needs to be adapted, implemented and more importantly enforced, so all companies involved can conduct fair business practices under the same set of rules.

Legal or Illegal who Benefits

Airbus and...

... middle of paper ...

...d sets the foundation for companies to mitigate disputes through conciliation, arbitration, or, as a last resort, litigation. Most international businesspeople prefer a settlement through arbitration rather than by suing a foreign company (Cateora, Gilly & Graham, 2013). Based on marketing strategy, had Airbus adopted anti bribery laws prior to the many cases in question, the outcome might not be favorable to them. It would not have been in the best interest of Airbus to follow commonly accepted business practices established by the U.S..

Works Cited

Cateora, P., Gilly, M., & Graham, J. (2013). International Marketing 16th edition: New York, N.Y: Mc Graw-Hill Irwin companies, Inc.

Colorado State University-Global Campus. (2010). Case 2-4 - Ethic and Airbus [Blackboard ecourse]. In MKG 400 – International and Multi-Cultural Marketing. Greenwood Village, CO.