A new look at ethics in international business

In many countries there are stated rules that gift‐giving and solicitation in business practice are unethical and prohibited. However, except for the American FCPA, all the rules and guidelines seem to govern only domestic business practices and there are no clear‐cut rules for international business practices in this respect. This study investigates gift‐giving and solicitation in international business practice, using the data collected from 111 New Zealand international business firms. The research findings show variable conduct and contradictory attitudes. These findings suggest that, with the variety of ethical standards and levels of morality which exist in different cultures, neither Deontology nor Utilitarianism could be the answer to the dilemma of ethics and pragmatism that faces today's international business managers. Instead, “Culturalism,” as developed in this study, should be the guiding principle to international business ethics.