Author : Rumana Reza
Special Thanks : Adnan Riaz , MBA, Riphah International University,Pakistan.
During Prophet (Sm),
usury was controlled by the Jew. Still we see their influence on US President
Election .This is because, now they control the global economy. Besides, we can
also remember the strategy of British Raj. They took possession of this
sub-continent through capturing its economic system. They did this by involving
‘East-India Company’ here. On the other hand, we know about the contribution of
Tata, Birla groups on Mahatma Gandhi’s movement. Few years ago, we’ve seen that
when Sonia Gandhi was seemed as upcoming Prime minister of India then most
of the businessmen tried to protest it. As a result, Indian exchange market
fell down. If we take a look on Bangladesh,
we’ll find that there’s also a strong relation between politics and economics.
So, in national or international arena-whatever we say, business magnates,
MNCs, IOs play the most important role where international marketing known as a
vital determinants to measure the effectiveness of their activities. Globalization
and international marketing ethics problems are closely related to each other.
Globalization introduces international marketing as a unique system where a
product being created for whole world. Therefore, to produce a common product,
there arise some ethical problems.
Ethical
Problems in International Marketing
The moral question of
what is right or appropriate poses many dilemmas for domestic marketers. Even
within a country, ethical standards are frequently not defined or always clear.
The problem of business ethics is infinitely more complex in international
marketplace, because value judgments differ widely among culturally diverse
groups. That which is commonly accepted as right on one country may be completely
unacceptable in another. Giving business gifts of high value, for example, is
generally condemned in the United
States, but in many countries of the world
also in Bangladesh
gifts are not only accepted but also expected. Upon examination of existing
ethical frameworks in the field of international marketing from a macro
marketing perspective, it is argued that marketers cannot always rely on
universally accepted ethical norms, such as hyper norms or core values that
have been suggested by a deluge of marketing literature. Some basic moral
values could be used in evaluating international marketing ethical issues.
Violations of basic moral values in international marketing settings should be
accepted as ethical problems.
Problem discussion
Ethical problems faced by globalization
in international marketing are as follows:
Unethical steps by companies / Industries
In Bangladesh, companies &
industries often adopt illegal or unethical steps. For example, we can flash back on the Phulbari &
Barapukuria
case.
The devastating environmental impacts and human toll caused by mining in
Barapukuria strongly support concerns that was raised by Global Coal
Management’s aggressive efforts to establish an open pit coal mine in the
neighboring township of Phulbari . Similarly, recurring accidents resulting
from technical failures at the Barapukuria mine raised serious concerns about
worker safety. Like those cases, ship building industry creates hazard to manpower
because investors don’t provide necessary gadgets to the workers.Most of the
time it’s observed that industrialists
don’t care about their employees properly. Human rights are often
violated there. That’s why on 12th December, 2010, we observed that the Garment workers
demanded the implementation of a new minimum wage. Due to this, a clash occurred
with police at Chittagong Export Procession Zone (CEPZ).
BATC (British American Tobacco Company) campaigns
for greenery but at the same time it produces tobacco which is hazardous to our
people and soil. Foreign buyers want to buy good quality product .Cloth needs
dying which needs chemicals to dye but this chemical sometimes are not good for
health. So it needs treatment plant which costs a lot. Therefore, manufacturers
don’t want to treat the chemical. And it’s not ethical but the manufacturers do
it to compete with their competitors. Sometimes industries are tempering
or using gas from Petrobangla Company illegally. As a result Petrobangla as
well as buyer becoming loser but the employees are making money. Finally
bankruptcy occurs.
Impacts
of International Policy
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) plays as a key factor in Bangladesh’s national
policy making. It’s up to them if an institution
would run or not, railway would be added on Jamuna Bridge
or not, how many workers should be involved with government or non-governmental
organizations etc. After the cyclone of 1991, Govt. of Bangladesh decided to
build a coastal dam which was too expensive. Therefore, the Govt. collected a large
amount of money as grant from Saudi
Arabia & also got 25million US$ as loan
from World Bank, EEC & IDA. Those International Organizations gave that
loan against huge conditions. It had large amount of interest as condition
which was so tough to pay for that country. Planning, designing of the project,
consultants, conductor –all were controlled by the World Bank. Moreover, they
didn’t maintain the mechanical compaction of soil properly; instead of mud,
they used sands; stones were too tiny.4 which was totally unethical in international
marketing. On the other hand, as a part of the globalization, MNCs in
developing countries like Bangladesh have often discontinued local engineering
activities in order to adapt and improve product, process and technologies
provided by their parent companies.
Political culture of Bangladesh still being criticized. Though it’s a
democratic country after achieving the power, most of the political leaders practice
unethical favors for their own party. Some of them also involve with corruption
that destroy the country image. On the other hand, they often try to protest
opposition groups. Therefore, problems arise. It collapse national economy. Most
of the sectors like share market, price of
raw materials, international trade, tourism industry etc. are being affected
due to strike, hartal, violence. That’s why tourists from foreign countries are
being advised to “exercise a high degree of caution in Bangladesh due to the
unpredictable security and political situation.”5 Besides
this, the ‘Market Syndicate’ often control the total market system as a
political weapon. Therefore, price inflation is occurred and the consumers have
to be sufferer.
Politicians are also the part of international marketing. So, this type
of activities means that they are not concern about their duties and hence we
can say that they also practice unethical way.
Weakness of National
Policy
Though developing countries like Bangladesh have lots of limitations and
international pressure , the weakness of the national policy can’t be ignored .We can remember
the accident that took place on June
14, 1997 when Occidental was drilling the well at Magurchhara. That
disaster caused gas reserve of about 245 billion cubic feet burnt in the
explosion while the environment, ecology and wildlife of the area were also
severely affected, as per the report of a probe committee. They said damage
caused by the explosion in monetary term is estimated at about tk 9000 crore. But the Govt. of Bangladesh didn’t take any fruitful
step against that company. In 2010,
Bangladesh involved with Aggreko company to open a power plant. The project
cost is about US$300 million. It’s true that people of Bangladesh are suffering from
power shortage but the policy makers
also have to think about cost and its demerits because it’s not possible for the Govt. to manage the money from own fund.
So,again the Govt. may have to seek help from donors like World Bank, IMF. And
here, we already discussed what were the
consequences of previous big projects.
Market is strongly affected by national policy like
the rising of price of fuel make every product costly because it affects the
price of more fuel consuming product as like as iron rod, fertilizer etc. Argument
has occurred between the customers and BERC to finalize the price of the
product.
Discrimination of International Marketing
System:
Bangladesh has to face some discrimination in
international arena due to present international marketing system. For example,
countries like US, India
get entrance easily in Bangladeshi market whether Bangladesh doesn’t get the same
facilities to enter their markets. Besides this, we also see the discriminative
role of World Bank on agricultural sector. This organization supports
agricultural subsidy in India
but at the same time, it pressurizes on Bangladesh Govt.
to stop introducing that system though it’s profitable for the country.Discrimination also has
been seen in the patent system. As an example, we can say about the medicine of
margose. Though the raw material is collected from Bangladesh but needs patent from UK to
distribute it in the market. Such types of discrimination create questions on
international marketing ethics.
Challenges for local industries
Due to open market
system, now Bangladesh
is full of foreign products. Therefore, the existence of its local industries
is being threatened. Industries like Adamji Jute Mill, Khulna Paper Mill etc.
are already closed. It’s hard for them to compete against foreign companies.
Moreover, unproductive sectors like shopping malls, super shops etc. are
increasing tremendously. As a result, it has negative impacts on the country’s labor
market.
Cross-cultural advertising
Cross-Cultural advertisement affects on
international marketing. For example,
increase of direct marketing and use of the online shopping to children raises
ethical issues because images are culturally sensitive.
Sometimes a few unscrupulous marketers design sites where children are able to
bypass adult supervision; sometimes they present objectionable materials to
underage consumers. In addition to, it is acceptable
to see pictures of women wearing short dresses on outdoor ads in London, but such images
would cause offense in Bangladesh.
Though religion is not
seemed as so important factor inside the country but it becomes a most
important factor outside the country. After the 9/11, People, especially the
businessman have to face hard situation as belonging the Muslim identity which
is unethical practice in international marketing.
In today’s
international market and globalize economy has an eye on foreign market whether
their projects are big or small. Sometimes customers are negatively affected
but not always. They are providing all required products timely near at hand of
the customers, making life easy and convenient. For example, we can claim GP
would charge too much for their services. But can we ignore their contribution
in the communication sector of Bangladesh?
When by paying 25 taka/minute, we couldn’t call from Chittagong to Rajshahi (when needed); they
paid far better service in 6.90 taka/minute. So, have to count their
contributions as well. I think, most of the cases the environment is fine. If
we consider the reality from the point of environmentalists or consumer rights
organizations, it will be unfair. Simply market mechanism will decide which
will exist or not. If something exists after years in the market (it means)
customers give value of their existence. Besides, international marketing is
not an individual entity, international politics is also involved with it. So,
the poor countries like
Bangladesh cannot remove
the obstacles, rather building relationships and negotiations can bring better
results. Some sectors are quite different like coal, gas or petroleum traders,
they are beyond our touch.....
otherwise its running fine! So, my
conclusion on the findings is that though sometimes people including both
producers and consumer are being victimized due to globalization and
international marketing ethical problems, a balance market mechanism with corporate
social responsibility keeping in mind may help to create a better and smooth
environment for international marketing.
Source:*গন্তব্য অজানা by Jasim Chowdhury Sabuj,First Edition:February 2009,published by Balaka, Bangladesh, page:13-14
*www.smart
traveller.gov.au
Copyright © 2014 by Rumana Reza
