Advice Cultural

It’s just no way to do business. You’ve already had to pay

two bribes on one shipment; if you keep it up, the word’s going to

get around and you’ll be paying at every level. Then all the profit

goes out the window—you know, once you start, where do you

stop? Besides that, where do we stand legally? The Foreign Bribery Act makes paying bribes like you’ve just paid illegal. I’d say

the best policy is to never start: You might lose a few sales, but let

it be known that there are no bribes; we sell the best, service the

best at fair prices, and that’s all.”

“You mean the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, don’t you?”

Frank asks, and continues, in an I’m-not-really-so-out-of-touch

tone of voice, “Haven’t some of the provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act been softened somewhat?”

“Yes, you’re right, the provisions on paying a mordida or grease

have been softened, but paying the government official is still illegal, softening or not,” replies Bill.

Oh boy! Frank thinks to himself as he replies, “Look, what

I did was just peanuts as far as the Foreign Corrupt Practices

Act goes. The people we pay off are small, and, granted we give

good service, but we’ve only been doing it for the last year or so.

Before that I never knew when I was going to have equipment

to sell. In fact, we only had products when there were surpluses

stateside. I had to pay the right people to get sales, and besides,

you’re not back in the States any longer. Things are just done

different here. You follow that policy and I guarantee that you’ll

have fewer sales because our competitors from Germany, Italy,

and Japan will pay. Look, Bill, everybody does it here; it’s a way

of life, and the costs are generally reflected in the markup and

overhead. There is even a code of behavior involved. We’re not

actually encouraging it to spread, just perpetuating an accepted

way of doing business.”

Patiently and slightly condescendingly, Bill replies, “I know,

Frank, but wrong is wrong and we want to operate differently now.

We hope to set up an operation here on a continuous basis; we plan

to operate in Latino just like we do in the United States. Really expand our operation and make a long-range market commitment,

grow with the country! And one of the first things we must avoid is

unethical . . .”

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