A Framework of International Business

Chapter 4 Culture and Ethics in International Business

Learning Objectives

In this chapter, you will learn about:

• Culture and cross-cultural risk

• Interpretations of culture

• Overcoming cross-cultural risk: Managerial guidelines

• Ethics in international business

• Corporate social responsibility

• A framework for making ethical decisions

Culture and Cross-Cultural Risk

Culture is the learned, shared, and enduring orientation patterns in a society. People demonstrate their culture through values, ideas, attitudes, and behaviors. In international business, we step into cultural environments characterized by unfamiliar languages and unique value systems, beliefs, behaviors, and norms. Often, these differences get in the way of straightforward ...