Legal and ethical implications of cross-cultural leadership

Legal and ethical implications of cross-cultural leadership

Addressing the subject of what is right and what is not can be a challenge, especially to leaders in a cross-cultural organization. The question of morality in conducting business transactions and partnerships with other countries is common (Brodbeck & Eisenbeiss, 2014). Additionally, leaders in an intercultural organization face issues to do with political repression, cultural interference, and violation of civil rights. It, therefore, leaves leaders with questions like, how should they deal with bribery expectations? What if one of their business partners violate the United States’ environmental policy or health rules? Should foreign employees in a cross-cultural organization abide by rules from their home country or embrace the attitude that “if you go to Rome, do as they do?” ethical and legal implications of cross-cultural leadership include bribe, culture, and nations values. To solve the dilemma, leaders employ tools like company culture code, international ethical standards, and attitudes and behavior of leaders in specific situations to address the cultural dilemma.

Most cross-cultural organizations focus more on business fundamentals like strong marketing strategy, efficient pricing, appropriate distribution, marketing research, promotions, and cutting-edge products (Eisenbeiß & Brodbeck, 2014). Focus on these fundamentals grows the business making it more competitive. However, detrimental issues can occur between the organization in the United States and other emerging giants in the market like China. The most significant implication is not found in products, prices, sales, place, promotion, or marketing. There are more issues of concern that significantly affect the success of the company. One of those issues is culture. In a cross-cultural environment and leadership, culture is critical. It affects business transaction, interaction, partnership, image, and leadership. It is, therefore, essential for leaders in a cross-cultural organization to take the legal and ethical consequences seriously.

Some countries’ bribe is normal, and one cannot seal a business deal without offering or receiving a bribe. To some states, a bribe is like a regular fabric of life. Leaders and organizations face the ethical problem as they have to identify who to Greece for the wheel to rotate. Most of the time, leaders undergo frustrations and mistreatment in the effort to keep their hands clean (Brodbeck & Eisenbeiss, 2014). That, therefore, means, in any case, a United States succumbs to pressure of bribing the foreign country to stay afloat. They try very hard to hide the transaction from reaching the United States authorities. In contrast, some nations are very lenient and tolerant of the whole bribe issue. For countries like Germany, bribes are viewed as tax-deductible.

The culture of a nation is directly related to the ethical behaviors displayed by their leaders. The behaviors are demonstrated in two ways; one is through corporate or public statements about their stand on ethical behaviors. The second one is through the collection of moral rules and values. One of the difficulties when dealing with culture is that it cannot be universally defined. Culture represents values, thoughts, actions, and feelings of a specific group. In as much as nations have modern infrastructure and civilization, the fact remains that culture defines how people interact with each other. Culture can only be understood by examining different levels of it (Eisenbeiß & Brodbeck, 2014).

The first one is the artifacts. It can be found in museums, public places, universities, and work of art. These places can quickly tell what people hold dear and what they value and uphold. Artifacts can explain the rules and guidelines that direct the people in a nation. Violation of these norms can instill anger and resentment and can lead to the offender facing adverse consequences. The second level represents assumptions and values that people perceive while faced with realities. For example, some people generally see foreigners as good, and some people view them from a pessimistic point. Attitudes and values are hard to differentiate. Nevertheless, they represent interaction among people and businesses.

Leaders can understand the values of a nation by understanding and analyzing the following questions (Eisenbeiß & Brodbeck, 2014). One, how does society perceive the goodness of foreigners and people in general? Does the culture assume all people are good or bad? Two, what does the society believe about interpersonal interactions, is it more about an individual or a group? Should a person act and behave freely as an individual, or should he or she consider the group first before acting? Three, how much value does the society have on personal space? In some societies, it is ok for people to stand close to each other while in other societies, it is offensive. It is an ethical reality that leaders should be ready to deal with, as it affects their behaviors and actions. Fourth, how does society define the relationship between people and nature? Is a person supposed to live in harmony with nature, or is he fee to dominate over it? And finally, five, what is the perception of change in society? Does the community appreciate the change of values and progress? These questions can help leaders and organizations determine how to conduct themselves in a cross-cultural environment effectively.

With the current complexity of cross-culture interaction between the United States and other countries, leaders find it hard to depend on universal ethical rules to govern their organizations. In the United States, there are rules and codes of ethics that are not similar to other countries. For example, some states are very lenient on bribery issues (Brodbeck & Eisenbeiss, 2014). The United States takes that as a severe violation of work ethics. Other countries may be tolerant of rules regarding health or the environment. They can dispose of their waste anywhere without considering the implications. To the United States, that is a violation, and it can attract hefty fines that include the closure of the organization.

That is why leaders in a cross-cultural organization opt to go for the organization’s company codes. This is the first place to start. There are many challenges, as mentioned above, that relate to cross-cultural leadership. The code of conduct and guidelines may contain rules that forbid people engaging in bribery or engaging in deals that violate the United States rules (Eisenbeiß & Brodbeck, 2014). The company code can help unprepared leaders handle murky situations in a foreign land. At the same time, organization code can help leaders in a cross-cultural organization to be part of an ethical oriented organization. It can attract leaders to take part in creating a socially responsible organization. Managers and leaders need clear rules and guidelines to help them make informed decisions. Having a list of guidance on what is prohibited and what is allowed goes a long way to help the organization.

Still, company codes are not strong enough to help stabilize ethical and legal issues in cross-cultural organizations. For example, it is not a crime to give someone a gift. To some companies, it can be ethical, but to others, it can be unethical (Eisenbeiß & Brodbeck, 2014). Some view it as a sign of respect and appreciation, especially for countries like China. However, if the gift is to influence a decision or coerce someone to overlook something, it is termed as a bribe. Most company codes have that in their rules and guidelines.

There are international rules and code of ethics that help leaders in cross-cultural organizations handle legal and ethical implications. For example, consumer character for worldwide business and the United Nations Global Agreement (Eisenbeiß & Brodbeck, 2014). International standards and code of conduct exist in different forms. However, these organizations do not have significant implications and sharp ‘teeth’ that they deserve. Maybe it is because of diplomatic regulation, political influence, and other factors. However, they can assist leaders in handling ethical implications.

In the United States, many leaders benefit from help from the state to help them navigate through the challenges of cross-cultural organizations. For a small business entering the global market, leaders face diverse ethical frameworks that are different from their own domestic countries. It becomes harder to predict their behavior and their reactions to ethical conflicts around them (Eisenbeiß & Brodbeck, 2014). Leaders face problems of selling or buying defective products, engaged in illegal campaigns, withholding critical information to the parties concerned, and engaging in activities that are offensive to the community.

These are scenarios that can lead to a leader’s misconduct or an entire organization. It means there is no ethical code and framework to guide the leader and the organization. This is a cultural conflict that affects the business transaction. Even in the United States, ethical conflicts can affect business transactions. There is, however, a foreign corrupt practice act in the United States that not only guides leaders in a foreign environment but also keeps them in check (Brodbeck & Eisenbeiss, 2014). The act prevents individuals from running U.S. based companies in engaging in international business transactions that are in any way illegal to the United States. As an example, it is unlawful for any leader or a member of the U.S. Cross-cultural organization to take a business bribe, no matter the person, the business, or the location.

In summary, cross-cultural leadership has many implications that include but not limited to bribe, the culture of the nations, and values that each county holds dear. Culture cannot be defined from a universal perspective. It varies from one group of people to another, and from one nation to another. Some countries tolerate some things like a bribe, and there are others like the United States, a bribe is a severe violation of the state laws. Managers and leaders prefer to develop company codes to govern company affairs because the code of ethics cannot be universal acceptable by all organizations. There are international standards and ethical codes, but they are not enough. Leadership behavior and actions also affect cross-cultural interaction. The good news is that the United States has laws and mechanisms to help foreign leaders of small emerging business to handle the implications of cross-cultural leadership in the best way possible.

References:

Brodbeck, F. C., & Eisenbeiss, S. (2014). Cross-cultural and global leadership. In The Oxford handbook of administration and organizations.

Eisenbeiß, S. A., & Brodbeck, F. (2014). Ethical and unethical leadership: A cross-cultural and cross-sectoral analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 122(2), 343-359.